This Is Us (4×10) Light and Shadows Review

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

Synopsis: Kevin searches for romance; Kate meets Toby’s CrossFit friends; Randall travels to Los Angeles to be with Rebecca. (IMDb)

Oh, how we have missed you This Is Us! Is it just me or was the hiatus too long? Okay, maybe it wasn’t that long but it sure as heck felt like it. The midseason premiere gets right down to business from the get-go and as usual, this reviewer found themselves glued to the television screen from start to finish.

Light and Shadows focuses a lot on hope and what happens when that hope is taken away from you unexpectedly. Let’s start with Rebecca in the present, who is currently experiencing memory loss and confusion. The last episode alluded to the fact that her illness may be advancing, and Randall was eager to make sure his mother was seen by the best of doctors.

Which is why he flies out to L.A., after pulling some strings, to get Rebecca seen by a top neurologist. There’s just one, well maybe two, problems here. First, Rebecca doesn’t want Kate or Kevin to know, so Randall is keeping it a secret. And secondly, the diagnosis isn’t all that positive after Rebecca’s preliminary tests show some inconsistencies.

It’s a heavy moment to watch as Rebecca, Miguel, and Randall try to make sense of what the doctor is saying. It’s a wait and watch game now, but being patient is not going to work well here.

Then we have Kevin, who we feel, at least momentarily, has found the woman of his dreams. While at a coffee shop with Kate, Kevin just asks for a sign, one that will lead him to his wife, who he plans on finding and marrying before the age of 40. Enter Sophia Bush, who plays this mysterious and beautiful woman that magically appears just as Kevin asks for her.

The two of them spend the day together, and Kevin even goes as far as getting the Hollywood Bowl to just themselves as John Legend performs for them. It’s all very elaborate for a first date with a woman you’ve known for five minutes. Because he didn’t know her, he was shocked (as were we) to find out that she’s already married–and Kevin is her celebrity hall pass. Sigh, can the guy ever catch a break?

Toby and Kate are showing signs of a troubled marriage in the winter premiere, and it’s not good. Over the last few episodes, it’s becoming obvious that there is distance growing between them. This, of course, started when Toby started hitting the gym in secret. Eventually, Kate found out and came to know that Toby was part of a CrossFit group at his gym. Unfortunately, there was a woman in the group who seemed a bit too comfortable with Toby.

Even then, Kate tries to go above and beyond for Toby’s birthday by surprising him. However, she finds out that Toby has been going to a new gym for weeks. Waiting for what Toby was going to say after being confronted was admittedly nerve-inducing.

So, no, he did not cheat on her. In fact, it was very much the opposite. He confesses Kate was right to worry about the woman from his class because she tried to kiss him. And as a result, he switched gyms to keep away from her. That conversation went way better than how it looked like. It was heart-breaking to hear how defeated Toby feels about Jack’s blindness, while Kate tries to be optimistic. It feels so relatable yet devastating all at the same time. Sigh.

But hey, baby Jack can see lights! How exciting is that?!

The episode ends with a flustered Kevin returning to set after being told that he was just a hall pass. But as he walks away to get on set, we see his phone ring–and it’s Sophie.

Oh wait, there’s more–and it’s scary. After his trip to L.A., Randall returns home to his family. You could feel something was about to go wrong in the final seconds of the episode as Randall made his way into the kitchen.

There’s a man in their kitchen–and we have no idea who he is.

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