This Is Us Review: Our Little Island Girl: Part 2 (Season 6 Episode 6)

The curtains close on another strong installment as this final chapter fights to find its footing.

This Is Us Season 6 Episode 6, “Our Little Island Girl: Part 2,” is by all accounts, an episode with perfect form. It dives in and out of the Pearsons’ lives, navigating storylines like a seasoned tourist that knows the best vacation spots.

This winning formula is second nature for the series at this point, and that makes juggling the less-explosive drama an effortless affair.

That said, there’s something oddly irritating about this episode’s desire to embrace what works.

The same winning formula that makes these dizzying multi-storyline episodes tolerable, even engaging, can just as quickly become tedious when new ground isn’t broken — or when the array of storylines lack those crucial over-arching threads.

This sequel installment does glide seamlessly from storyline to storyline, but it’s as if the firey passion in its movements has been extinguished.

Like a breeze, the episode brushes over a variety of intriguing new dynamics but passes on before a more profound connection can form.

“Our Little Island Girl: Part 2” is a delicious tease; what with that Rebecca and Miguel slow-burn. But its dance feels rehearsed at crucial points.

At least when This Is Us falls, it does so with the intent to aim for new heights.

There’s no falling when it comes to Beth Pearson, however.

It seems This Is Us is positioning Beth to replace Rebecca as the Pearson patriarch when the time comes, and I personally love that concept.

There’s no better way to set up for such a move than by showcasing Beth’s strengths through her greatest failure.

“Our Little Island Girl: Part 2” is the worthy sequel to her memorable dance storyline, reminding us of how powerful Beth’s confidence can be and how she only ever uses her strengths to help others get back up.

Beth’s character-arc feels complete, brimming with self-assured success and a demonstration of what makes her this show’s greatest weapon. Her empathy and strength are not lost within the complicated framework of this episode, not once.

The power of a dancer finding their footing is incredibly healing for those that have walked Beth and Stacey’s paths and for those whose passions were met with painful failure.

Not everyone will get the chance to chew out their role models. But we have Beth to live vicariously through, and boy, does it feel good to hear her say the words so many of us want to say to the teachers who let us down.

Randall sums up this quiet, sure-footed storyline well as he points to his wife and tells Deja, “Don’t you ever forget how incredible that woman is.”

I can’t say we will any time soon. This episode does a fantastic job of putting Beth’s greatness into powerful perspective.

Speaking of greatness, I don’t know what has gotten into Rebecca and Miguel, but I am here for this petty, friend-zone mess of a relationship.

You can’t tell me Jack Pearson isn’t thoroughly enjoying their chaos from beyond the grave.

Even Kate embraces the mess of Kevin and Sophie’s past. Her differing maturity in the face of two brotherly spats turns a mediocre thread into one that puts female friendships first and spins an admirable new perspective on her dynamic with Kevin.

Sprinkle in some necessary relationship growth for Kevin and Elijah’s unhinged street-roasting, and there’s really no character who isn’t attempting to do better here.

As much as the explosive drama has its draws, the Pearsons can be just as enticing when they are on their best behaviour.

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

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