This Is Us Review: Birth Mother (Season 5 Episode 6)
As Hai so brilliantly put it, “This isn’t The Notebook.”
A sentiment This Is Us Season 5 Episode 6, “Birth Mother,” looks to have taken to heart because Randall’s birth story is no love story, but it’s so much more than being left at a fire station.
It’s easily one of the saddest, gut-wrenching character studies this series has attempted in a long time. Yet through all the awful that shrouds Laurel’s life, the talent of the actors and the light of the characters’ perseverance outshines any doubts of this episode’s success.
“Birth Mother” is a masterpiece, a masterclass in storytelling, and easily the strongest episode this season has produced so far.
This Is Us makes the call to put aside the juggling routine for the moment and focus only on Randall and Laurel. It allows us to immerse ourselves entirely in Hai’s storytelling and still enjoy the occasional outburst from Beth, who tries her darndest to keep the tension from becoming too much.
But this episode finds victory in the overwhelming. When Laurel and Hai meet you are instantly consumed by their chemistry as a couple — I’m talking Rebecca and Jack levels of chemistry! And when Laurel is knocked down in nearly every scene, the emotion of wanting her to get back up overtakes us.
All so when this episode finally lets loose and allows us cathartic relief in the form of Laurel’s screams, it feels good to witness this woman just let it all out.
The greatest victory comes in those moments when we forget altogether that Laurel is a stranger to us as she yells into the obis. It feels like we have known this brave woman for years — or at least, we should have.
The comfort we find in the moments she shares with Hai doesn’t take away from William’s legacy. Instead, their time together carves out an entirely different love story worth watching as these two navigate a language barrier and awkward meet-cute to drive home a decades-long relationship.
This episode succeeds once again with two very simple and brief cut-aways from Laurel’s story.
One when Hai tells Randall what year she was released from prison and the scene cuts to Jack tickling a five-year-old Randall (seriously, how dare you This Is Us). The next comes when Laurel treads into the water after returning home and her scream is met with a cutaway to a silent and visibly distraught Randall.
Both cutaways instantly invoke powerful emotions from viewers that dialogue could never accomplish.
To think Jennifer C. Holmes once stood before us on This Is Us without one line of dialogue and now she’s running away with an entire episode.
She portrays Laurel with a vibrancy, determination, and devastating sorrow that captivates at every emotional turning point. She plays off the other characters in ways that only elevate the story and her presence in it.
Holmes is tasked with making us fall in love with Laurel in one episode, and she not only meets that impossible task head-on but she creates a character so beautiful that her goodbye is utterly heartwrenching to watch unfold.
It makes the injustices done in her name all the more unbearable to watch too. In the end, it’s not hard to understand the emotional roller coaster Randall is experiencing because we’re on that ride too.
The only critique I have comes when Randall converses with his mother’s memory in the lake. It’s a beautiful, sombre moment and acted beautifully. But so much of the conversation between mother and son is shown throughout the episode, that telling us isn’t necessary.
Simply leaving Randall in the water with the sound of his mother’s laughter and the desire to let go of his resentment would have been enough.
Even the cliffhanger setting up for a Kevin centric episode isn’t totally necessary. This episode stands without needing This Is Us to dazzle us with its tricks. That being said — Kevin, why do you do this to us!
That ending may not be peaceful but seeing Randall free of the grudges that have been weighing his character down feels like the closest he will ever come to peace.
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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Alicia Gilstorf
Alicia is a Rotten Tomatoes Certified Critic and a Critics Choice Association member. She credits her passion for TV to workplace sitcoms, paranormal dramedies, and coming-of-age stories. In her free time, Alicia loves to curl up with a good book and lose herself in a cozy game. Keep a lookout for her coverage of Ghosts. You can also find her work on Eulalie Magazine and Cool Girl Critiques. Follow Alicia on social media: @aliciagilstorf