This Is Us Season 2 Episode 4: Still There Review

If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.

Synopsis: Chickenpox and Grandma strike the Pearsons; Deja brings a new dynamic. (NBC.com)

Writer: Vera Herbert

Director: Ken Olin

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 45 minutes

This Is Us is one of those shows that is destined to leave a mark in our lives for years to come. Tonight’s episode continued to carry the tradition of teaching life lessons and the struggles that come with it.

The episode began with a major throwback, as the Pearsons perused the aisles of a video store. This outing is cut short when Rebecca realizes young Kevin (Parker Bates) has a fever. This kicks off the premise of the episode as they come to find out the Big Three have contracted chicken pox. Well, young Randall (Lonnie Chavis) not quite yet, but per the doctor’s orders is told to expose himself to it and get it over with.

The episode takes a slight dramatic turn when Rebecca’s mom (Elizabeth Perkins) shows up to take care of the Pearson bunch. Having a strained relationship between them, Rebecca struggles to have her mom around criticizing her every move. More so, Rebecca is irked by her mother’s behavior towards Randall, which she suspects is due to her mother’s racism. By the end of the episode, Rebecca has had enough and calls her out on it, asking her to leave.

Meanwhile, Randall and Beth continue to attempt to form a relationship with Deja (Lyric Ross), who doesn’t seem to be adjusting to her new home. They face a hygiene problem with Deja, and struggle to find a way to confront her about it. The tensions continue to rise as Randall takes the girls out for bowling, which results in him getting into an argument. This stems from Deja getting into a fight with another girl at the bowling alley, and her father getting in Randall’s face about it. Leaving it up to Beth to intervene, she makes a breakthrough when Deja allows Beth to clean and do her hair. However, all efforts are wasted when a comment made by Randall breaks the trust that had just started building up between Deja and Beth.

Kate seemed to be very focused on her health this episode, and it left Toby slightly worried she was taking it too far. From her early morning yoga classes, to watching every single thing she eats, he became concerned that she may hurt herself in the process. But, as we come to find out in the final minute of tonight’s episode, she is pregnant! Toby has no idea yet, but next week’s preview shows us that he will find out! This Is Us, once again tugging at our heartstrings and making us cry.

Things weren’t exactly on the up and up for Kevin, especially after the knee injury he suffered in last week’s episode. For the time being, his production schedule was shifted to accommodate him getting surgery and recovering. However, he was determined to do whatever he needed to so he could be back on set. Ignoring the cautious heed of Toby, Kate, and his doctor, he continued to exercise and walk around on it. This urgency to feel better comes from the fact that his first knee injury prevented him from pursuing football as a career. A career, Jack really wanted for him, and a fact that haunts Kevin to this day. He refused to let it ruin his dreams again, no matter what the cost.

This episode was once again all the feels, as every week is. We continued to dive further into Kevin’s backstory, particularly the story about his knee injury and Jack’s significance to it. It seems that this injury (even with surgical intervention) will be his eventual downfall, especially given that the story is highlighting his use of pain medications. It seems that the story is pushing to show a possible addiction problem in the future for Kevin, just has his father had. Only time will tell how this will pan out for him. Next week will continue to dive into this, as well as reveal Kate’s big pregnancy announcement to Toby!

Score: 8/10

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