This Is Us Review: Our Little Island Girl (Season 3 Episode 13)

After an exhilarating two-part television event, This Is Us Season 3 Episode 13, “Our Little Island Girl,” makes the choice to take a break from the Big Three and focus on Beth Pearson instead — and rightfully so.

It has taken three seasons too long to get to the bottom of Beth’s upbringing and her backstory reveal did not disappoint in the least.

Beth’s strict, traumatic, and just plain sad childhood rivals that of her husband’s and lets viewers in on the juicy revelation that Kate isn’t the only one with mommy issues.

But in an episode that allows Beth to wallow for the first time in her life, a desire to revisit a long lost dream ends up being this episode’s saving grace.

Teen Beth might not have gotten the solo but thankfully someone had the right idea to give Susan Kelechi Watson her time in the spotlight with this Beth-centric episode.

“Our Little Island Girl,” graciously toys with a younger Beth, who is just as much a dreamer as Randall, and in true This Is Us fashion builds her backstory up beautifully just to tear the entire thing down in cruel and tragic ways that we can’t seem to resent.

Having that balance of the loving and stern parent makes the death of Beth’s father stick with the audience longer than it probably should. The man has a quieter exit than Jack Pearson, but the emotion of his death still carries in the lack thereof. It’s true, the most captivating moments of this episode are the ones that lack emotion.

Beth’s mother and her refusal to let her children give in to grief elevates Beth’s personal tragedies rather than lump them in with Randall’s and highlights a unique struggle she faces, like many kids who grew up in strict households, to be an emotional dreamer in a world that tells her to be ashamed of showing any weakness.

This Is Us doesn’t waste our time with the trivial of Beth’s origin story — but then again what is trivial when you come to the realization that you know very little about this character?

Even the tiniest of tidbits about her past feel like a success but one has to wonder if we should be impressed with the overall lack of development for such a powerful presence in this show.

Regardless of whether we should have seen more of Beth sooner, the timing for this episode is what makes the idea so appealing now more than ever.

We have just come off the cusp of Randall’s misguided campaign and an exhilarating but draining Nicky storyline. We needed a break from the baggage the Big Three have been carrying around all season, so I personally jumped at the chance to get in the car with Beth and drive.

Sure, it becomes a bumpier ride when you realize Beth’s mother and her strict ways will cross the line many times over the course of this episode and it will be uncomfortable for everyone.

However, the smaller moments spent with Beth and Zoe getting high in a laundry room and with Beth in the arms of her dying father are worth the segway from the season’s main storyline.

Beth coming to the realization that she wants to reconnect with the part of her that died when her father passed is a good a reason as any for This Is Us to dredge up all this awful crap from the woman’s childhood.

Seeing Beth passionate about something other than her relationship with her husband for once is so refreshing, but the fact that she was once in love with dancing is a double-edged sword this show explores with tragic beauty through the eyes of a hopeful dancer.

The moment Beth decided to pursue ballet professionally she put herself on a career path not many succeed at.

There comes a point in a dancer’s journey where being the little island girl that could dance before she could walk is no longer enough to succeed. Simply loving dance is no longer enough to succeed and that passion almost always ends in heartbreak, unfortunately.

So to see Beth give long lost ballet dancers and anyone that has given up on their childhood dreams incentive to revisit those dreams is just enough hope to give this episode some much-needed feeling.

“Our Little Island Girl” is the kind of episode that makes you want to call your mom afterward. It’s the kind of episode that makes you want to go out and pursue a childhood dream. An episode that makes you feel for all of Beth’s family regardless of how tough they can be on each other.

That being said, is This Is Us hurting itself with all this heavy material? I know we signed up for this kind of show where the heartbreak far outways anything else, but a lighter storyline might have made Beth’s special brand of sadness hit even harder if the dense material had been spaced out better this season.

All I’m saying is more sequin fights might not be a bad idea…

But that in no way takes away from the fact that a Beth-centric episode is one of the best ideas this show has had in a long time. This Is Beth is a show I am glad we got to see a small glimpse of even if it is just for one episode.

Extra Thoughts About The Episode:

• Beth’s style was just as fly as a teen — no surprises there.
• I was not ready to see Young Randall be gobsmacked at the first sight of Beth.
• Still not ready to see Beth and Randall bond over their dead fathers…
• Kudos to Zoe for hiding her joints behind family photos — you got to respect that kind of cleverness.
• Isn’t Phylicia Rashad a wonderful addition to the cast?

What did you think of this episode of This Is Us? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.

 Follow us on Twitter! 

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

24 Heartbreaking TV Moments from 2018