This Is Us is really on a hot streak lately.
That's not to say it's not always on at least a warm streak, because it has consistently been one of the best shows on TV for four and a half seasons now, but there's something about the recent episodes that have delivered in a way we couldn't have imagined a couple of seasons ago. Everybody's growing up, talking things out, going to therapy and saying the things that have only been bubbling under the surface since the first episode. Turns out daddy issues run deep and last long into adulthood, especially when that daddy is Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia).
For the last few weeks, we've been watching Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Kevin (Justin Hartley) come to significant moments in their lives. Kevin is now a father and a fiancée, hoping to have his estranged brother as his best man. Randall now knows the truth about his birth parents, and has been coming to terms with his complicated feelings about all the different facets of his family.
Tonight, Kevin came to visit, and the two brothers were forced to deal with a lifetime of jealousy and anger while the audience was treated to a little bit of helpful context, thanks to Mr. Rogers.
When the Big 3 were around four years old, Jack had a boy's weekend with Kevin and Randall. He got them tickets to see Mr. Rogers, and one moment early on in the trip was very telling. A PA was handing out badges to all of the kids in the audience, and he assumed that Jack's two kids were Kevin and another random white kid on the other side of Kevin.
Jack had to explain that Randall was also his son, and to help make things less awkward, he went on about what a big fan Randall was, and how much Randall would like to sit in the best possible seat. Little Randall was clearly uncomfortable while Kevin was seething at the special attention Randall was getting, and even though both boys ended up sitting next to each other in equally good seats, that's not how either kid saw things.
Basically, Kevin spent his whole life jealous of the special attention his Black brother got, while Randall just wanted to fit in without his brother constantly reminding him how different he was. It took a while for grown-up Kevin and Randall to get to admitting this to each other, but they did eventually, after a couple of mishaps that involved getting locked out of the house and one botched apology—plus a whole lot of "I'm not racist!"—on Kevin's part.
By the end, both men were taking back all the horrible things they said last season in the front yard. Jack was proud of Kevin, and so is Randall. And Randall's arrival was definitely not the worst day of Kevin's life. They're not totally BFFs yet and still have a lot to work through, but they've definitely cleared the air enough for Randall to happily be Kevin's best man.
It was an acting showcase for both Brown and Hartley but it was also just a meaty, satisfying hour of TV that put a new lens on the family we've been falling in love with for five years now. We might now be wondering where they go from here, but we have no doubts it'll be somewhere good.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)