This Is Us Review: Every Version of You (Season 6 Episode 10)
It remains Thanksgiving at the Pearson cabin, and the Big Three continue to deal with Rebecca’s plea for them to “make moves.”
What that means for Randall is at the center of This Is Us Season 6 Episode 10, “Every Version of You,” but it takes a backseat to a bit of emotional turmoil.
To add to the holiday drama, Randall’s involvement in Deja and Malik’s break-up finally comes out. Deja goes for the jugular with a one-two punch of a “you’re not my father” variation and runs away.
So, the road trip teased in previews is not an exercise in mother/son bonding but rather Randall’s mission to retrieve Deja from Boston, with Rebecca inviting herself along.
Still smarting from being passed over as secondary executor of Rebecca’s end-of-life plan, the last place Randall wants to be is stuck in a car with his mother. Still, he obviously isn’t going to say no. (Too bad cars can’t run on passive-aggressive energy, though, am I right?)
I believe that Rebecca knows exactly what she is doing during this entire episode, and she plays Randall like a fiddle.
Randall isn’t one to calm down or relax when it’s highly suggested that he should, so Rebecca uses other means instead. First, she gets him to put his phone away. Then, she makes him stop for lunch; they have wine, play darts, and take selfies.
I mean, she is good! She is firing on all cylinders today for a woman who isn’t always in control of her faculties.
In the end, she manages to distract Randall long enough for Deja to decide on her own and reach out to him for help, knowing full well that if Randall had done it his way, the constant pursuit would have only driven Deja further away.
This is an advanced course in parenting your adult child. (Psst, Rebecca, does this method also work when pursuing people to date? Asking for a friend.)
Along the way, we get a scene between Rebecca and Randall that is so beautiful and necessary after six years!
There has always been something different about Randall and Rebecca’s relationship. They have a more unique bond than any other pairing on the show.
It’s no secret, either. It has always been there, contributing to the tension between Kevin and Randall, with Jack commenting on it to Rebecca.
The only ones who seem oblivious to its depth are Rebecca and Randall themselves. Except, of course, when one or the other feels smothered, it’s examined in a typically dramatic fashion.
But never before has it been identified so strongly as it is during “Every Version of You.”
Rebecca takes responsibility for relying on Randall, not just for support when Jack died but as her friend, sometimes more than her son.
Later on the episode, Randall inadvertently gets to the crux of his relationship with Rebecca when talking to Malik about Deja.
Randall: That’s the thing about first loves, man. They form you and can stay with you for the rest of your life.
Because Rebecca, for all intents and purposes, is his first love.
All little boys want to marry their mommies at some point when they’re kids. (I mean, right? Come on, fellas, don’t leave me hanging here.) I’m not a psychologist, but I’m guessing it has something to do with not knowing how to channel their emotions any other way.
The evolution of those emotions is to seek reinforcement of that motherly love by getting praise and admiration or being reliable and steadfast.
If that isn’t 41-year-old Randall Pearson, I don’t know what is.
This Randall is clearly the culmination of 1980s Randall at the pool, getting his family in the water at the same time when Jack and Rebecca couldn’t, and 2000s Randall with his siblings after the awkward Thanksgiving in the early 2000s, keeping them out of jail and saving their stability.
It has always been Randall’s nature to keep his family together because that is how Rebecca imprinted on him and how he needed to be for her.
Rebecca: Because you and I both know you would move heaven and earth to see me get better and you would stop your entire life for me, and I can’t let you do that. Not anymore.
Now, at this stage of her life, she recognizes that what they have is unique but a hindrance at the same time, which is why, ultimately, she chooses not to make him the executor of her end-of-life plan in the event Miguel is unable to.
So, it’s time to “make moves,” Randall or, should I say, Senator Pearson?
But if I’m being honest, I’m surprised Randall is going deeper into politics. There has not been a lot of focus on that side of Randall’s story lately, and from what I remember, Randall isn’t very good at his job.
Since we hadn’t seen much in the way of his city council work, I expected there to be a new avenue, but I’m willing to see where we end up.
It may have been Thanksgiving for four weeks, but that was only a pause for effect. It looks like This Is Us is revving up to go hard for the rest of the season.
Stray Thoughts:
- I have to mention what a stellar job Justin Hartley did directing this episode! You can see the care he put into it.
- Sterling K. Brown needs to wear more pink. That sweater at the end was fire!
- I would love for Annie and Tess to get more screen time. Deja has grown on me, but I feel like we just kind of stopped acknowledging the other Pearson girls. Annie is practically a grown-up now, and I know Tess’s struggles haven’t stopped.
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This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
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TJ O'Connell
TJ is a former east coaster, now residing in Los Angeles. There's a very good chance he has served your food sometime over the last twelve years. Since childhood, he has had a running IMDb in his head and is thankful to finally have an outlet for that information. He is very single and hopes to someday support a dog.