This Is Us (4×14) The Cabin Review

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

Synopsis: The Big Three reconnect at the family cabin. (IMDb)

This was a great episode of This Is Us. Granted, it’s easy say that about every episode, but there was something special about this one. Between the conclusion to teen Kate’s story with her horrible boyfriend, Marc, to the Big Three working through their problems in the present, there was a lot going on this week.

Starting with the past, we last left teen Kate with Marc at the Pearson family cabin. Their night was off to a horrible start as Marc had been pretty awful to her and left her on the side of the street. And then after he tried to drink out of Jack’s mug (how dare he!) and Kate asked him not to, he proceeded to lock Kate out of the cabin in the freezing cold. Rebecca, Randall, and Kevin were already on their way to the cabin because Rebecca felt something was wrong when she spoke to Kate earlier. They couldn’t get to them, unfortunately, because of the storm and showed up the next morning. Not only did they find that there was a broken window, but Kate had a huge gash in her hand.

Basically, she had to break the window to get back into the cabin, and finally, everything horrible about Marc was revealed. This was a very jarring arc for teen Kate because it was likely the start of her body image issues. She had already struggled long and hard with them, but it certainly didn’t help that Marc called her overweight (in much more horrible terms) any chance he got. He was so awful, and I’m so glad Rebecca kicked him out. Let’s hope he’s gone for good!

In the present, the Big Three meet at the cabin to tuck away their real-world problems. Each one of them has been going through something, and they always find solace in coming together. Well, sort of. Kevin ends up finding out that Kate and Randall hid the truth about Rebecca’s cognitive impairment from him. He’s not too happy to learn about that, just like Kate isn’t too happy to learn that Madison and Kevin slept together. And of course, there’s Randall, who has been a ball of anxiety ever since the break-in at his house. He can’t seem to shake it off, but I think the Big Three coming together was exactly what they all needed. Their arc connected well with the arc of the past where the Big Three, Jack, and Rebecca are at the cabin for a trip.

During this trip, they make a time capsule that they were meant to open up when they were 18. Obviously, that never happened, at least not until the Big Three in the present decided to do it. In the past, the family struggled to figure out what they would put in the capsule. Randall was the most anxious about it, but it’s Kevin who helps him out. He gives him a piece of a puzzle that made a picture of their family. It was part of Jack’s face, which reminds present Randall about the capsule.

As the Big Three in the present look through the capsule, they find the things they put in there, along with a sketch of a house and a tape. The sketch of the house was one that Jack drew, hoping to build on the land above the cabin. And the tape, well the tape was of Jack leaving a note. It was heartbreaking and exciting all at the same time to see the adult Big Three listening to their dad’s voice.

On the tape, Jack reveals that Rebecca saw him sketching the house plans, and he got embarrassed and threw it away. When he went back to get it later, he didn’t find it and assumed either a bird got to it, or Rebecca put it away as her item for the capsule. Luckily, it was the latter.

The final seconds of the episode shows us a flash-forward where that very house is built (cue the awws), and an older, white-haired, and still very handsome Kevin pulls up to the house. It aligns with the scene where the family has gathered at the house for Rebecca, who seems to be on her deathbed. An older Beth greets Kevin at the door…and that’s where we stop.

We need to know more, This Is Us! What do these flash-forwards mean!? Tell us everything–please.

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