This Is Us Review: R & B (Season 3 Episode 17)

This Is Us Season 3 Episode 17, “R & B,” gets candid about Randall and Beth’s seemingly perfect relationship with a look at the couple’s biggest milestones — and fights.

It is everything you could ask of a Beth and Randall centric episode.

We are with the couple from the moment Randall shuts that bedroom door to the moment he throws it back open. This Is Us has no problem throwing us into the middle of this very intense therapy session to analyze the missteps this couple continues to take in order to find a pattern – and atlas there is a pattern.

Beth always bends for Randall and in doing so she has let herself be consumed by him. And while this episode doesn’t consume us entirely in the whirlwind passion of a couple constantly on verge of bending past the point of breaking, Beth and Randall’s backstory is a cautionary tale we needed to see.

The most clever aspect of “R & B”  is surprisingly not the episode title. No, it is this show’s ability to take all the gooey, swoon-worthy, relationship goal moments Beth and Randall have shared over the seasons and throw them back in our face.

We get it This Is Us, no relationship is perfect but do you really have to shatter our perceptions of the dream couple like this?

Much like the show does earlier in the season with Jack during his time in Vietnam, this Beth and Randall storyline looks to give us an opposing look at the couple’s seemingly perfect marriage.

With a successful attempted to show Jack as an imperfect human being, it’s reassuring to see this storyline have just as much an impact on the way we see Randall and Beth’s characters.

This Is Us is still managing to change our perspective of characters we have known for several years now. If that’s not impressive, I don’t know what is.

Unfortunately for Beth and Randall, this new perspective on their relationship is not flattering.

For most of the episode, you find yourself siding with Beth when Randall really does become too much to handle. However, it is clear when Beth mocks Randall’s anxiety in the heat of their fight that This Is Us does not want us taking sides in this couple’s argument.

Both of them have pushed this marriage to its breaking point and done things to hurt each other. Now we have to see both of them make a decision on whether or not to put it back together.

Unfortunately for Beth and Randall, it is not about seeing one or the other as wronged. It’s showing how a strained marriage can make two people act like the worst versions of themselves. There is nothing more spot on than this show’s ability to relate to such a painful human experience with absolute transparency – whatever the cost.

The underlining disappointment with “R & B,” is not that we get to see Beth and Randall have the most prominent fight in their relationship, but that This Is Us thinks there’s something special or shocking about seeing these two fight all of a sudden.

This episode sets out to show us that yes, even Beth and Randall fight. Except this is no new revelation given all we’ve seen this season is them fighting.

While seeing one argument play out between them through the years is undeniably cool to watch, this episode can’t help but land on the same note we’ve been hearing all season long.

This episode could very well have benefitted from better placement earlier on in the season. Seeing just how rocky Beth and Randall’s first date and marriage proposal were is still very much a surprise but could have had more impact if we hadn’t already seen the end to their fight before it even began.

The strongest moments of this episode include lots of talk about nachos but for good reason as Beth uses the crunchy snack to give us the perfect analogy for her and Randall’s relationship — an analogy that sums up this episode’s purpose quite nicely.

Randall will always go for the nacho with all the cheese and toppings on it because that’s just who he is. But in doing so he inveterately leaves Beth with the crumbs.

Another strong moment is weirdly the biggest shock of this episode (and possibly the season) as we see Rebecca is in need of ageing makeup before she starts dating again. Meaning there is quite a big gap in time between Jack’s death and Rebecca’s decision to start seeing Miguel.

It is safe to say we had all assumed this focus on Rebecca and Miguel in the early years would lead to a fling sooner rather than later. But that’s what This Is Us has done since the start. It assumes that we will assume and in doing so catches us off guard with moments like this.

But arguably the strongest moment of this episode comes in the last five minutes as we see the show make a connection between Beth and Randall’s fight and the momentous fight Jack and Rebecca had earlier in the series — yes you know the one.

You see Jack didn’t want Rebecca to pursue her dreams to be a singer now that they were older and settled down. Randall witnessed that horrible fight and promises Beth he will not throw his father’s hurtful words in her face but it would seem he has already done so when he asked her to put her dance career aside to support him instead.

The echoing of Jack’s callous voice in the background of their argument, along with the quick flashes between Randall and Beth in the bedroom and Jack and Rebecca in the family living room is powerful and haunting.

This is absolutely how you should use multiple storylines to get your point across. Well done This Is Us!

With the penultimate episode behind us, This Is Us is ready to close another chapter in the Pearsons’ lives with the Season 3 finale.

Hopefully, we will see Beth and Randall come to a better conclusion on the state of their marriage but with so many loose ends to tie up and the Her storyline that has had little to no build up, it’s hard to say what we can expect from this show in the season finale.

It is safe to assume after this explosive episode we will not be seeing everyone’s favourite Pearson couple get back together anytime soon. Which begs the question, if Beth and Randall can’t make it, who can?

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

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

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