This Is Us Season (4×04) Flip a Coin Review

For our review of the last episode of This Is Us, click here.

Synopsis: Kevin reflects on his past. Rebecca visits Randall at college. Beth’s mom comes to visit. Kate and Toby share new experiences with baby Jack. (IMDb)

This week’s episode of This Is Us, entitled Flip a Coin, kicks off in the past, in a not so distant future following Jack’s death. Randall and Kevin are away at college and in New York, while Kate is at home with Rebecca. The family is still struggling to move forward, but things are slowly beginning to heal. Which brings us to Parent Day Weekend at Randall’s college. As we’ve seen in previous episodes, a young Randall has been on one date with a young Beth, but it didn’t go that well. However, he’s as smitten as ever.

So, when Rebecca comes to visit him, she can see how head over heels Randall is for Beth. While eating in the cafeteria, Rebecca suggests sitting with Beth and her mother, Carol, which at first, seems like the most awkward idea ever. However, Rebecca and Carol seem to connect over pain and loss, but it proves to Carol that the Pearson family is still struggling with loss. And she can’t have Beth caught up in that.

Oh silly Carol, didn’t you know that telling your daughter not to be with someone would lead her right into his arms? Yes, that’s right, by the episode’s end, not only does Beth show up at Randall’s dorm room, but gives him the cutest kiss ever. I’m loving the origin of Beth and Randall’s love story, it makes them more real and relatable.

While Rebecca is away visiting Randall, Kate stays back home. She decides to visit the record store to pick up some new CDs and meets a cute young man who she seemingly hits it off with. It’s all very adorable, and ends up with him offering Kate a job!

In the present day, Beth and the rest of the Pearson family are all set for the opening of Beth’s new dance studio. Or so they think. When they walk into the building, they’re hit with a horrible stench that only a dead animal could be responsible for–specifically a possum. Considering the entire wall has to come down for the dead animal to be removed, the opening is taken outside. However, Carol is pushing for them to postpone the opening, but an annoyed Randall steps up to shut down the idea STAT. Go, Randall!

When all is said and done, Beth has a wonderful opening, and Randall manages to snag the respect of his skeptical mother-in-law–finally. Unfortunately, Randall is thrown for a loop when Deja invites Malik. It seems like it might be alright at first until Malik spills the beans on being a young father to a two-year-old daughter. Uh oh, the look on Randall’s face says it all and Beth isn’t too eager to let Deja hang around him either. This is definitely not going to end well.

Meanwhile, Kate and Toby take Jack to a music class, and it doesn’t go well. Because he’s blind, he is easily overwhelmed by loud noises and has to be eased into everything. This is something that they didn’t warn the music class about which results in Jack crying during the entire class and prompting them to leave. Toby and Kate end up fighting over it, but ultimately end up at the beach to get some calm and peace for everyone.

Kevin ends up having an unexpected day with Nicky and their new friend, Cassidy after an AA meeting is scheduled for the wrong time. Cassidy is in desperate need of a meeting because her husband officially wants to split, and she’s not ready to do that–at all. The day takes them to the RV dealership where Kevin is eager to buy his uncle a new RV. Nicky couldn’t be less interested, so Kevin ends up buying one for himself later and parking it next to Nicky’s.

It’s a tough episode for Kevin because he finds out the Manny has been canceled. It was his first big show and flashbacks show how a failing pilot turned around very quickly when Kevin saved the day with a crying baby. We’ve never really understood the whole Manny thing, but after seeing this episode, it’s totally understandable why it means so much to him.

The episode ends with Rebecca coming home from visiting Randall in college, and sharing a very sweet moment with Kate as they danced to Carole King’s song. It makes Rebecca realize that they need to move out of that apartment and somewhere nicer, more brighter, and Kate couldn’t agree more. As mother and daughter are thinking about the future, they hear a message from Kevin on the answering machine–saying he and Sophie got married.

Uh oh!

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