Birthdays and grief were at the gooey center of theseason sixThis is Uspremiere.
Last week, it wasfirst loves.
Of course, it’s the mothers who dish out key wisdom, but we’ll get to that.
For now, let’s start with Randall.
Randall (and Beth)
Randall excitedly takes Deja out for a driving lesson.
Soon, Randall and Beth are rage brainstorming about Deja’s punishment.
Eventually, Randall decides to cool off with a run, while Beth (calmly) confronts Deja.
However, Randall is no calmer when he returns.
He asks Deja to be patient while he works on accepting the grown-up version of her.
With that, it seems a major setback is coming for the wholesome bond Deja and Randall have built.
How will hypersensitive Randall handle such a rift?
Will it be a tidal wave that takes the whole family down?
Here’s hoping it won’t.
Amid his sorrow, Kevin joins hisThe Mannyco-stars at the bar that evening.
He bolts out of the bar and over to Madison’s.
However, the twins are asleep when he arrives.
Kevin berates Madison about their arrangement, which is causing him to miss special moments.
Madison reminds him he’s also missing the messy parts.
Could a custody battle or readjustment be coming?
The conversation gives Kevin a moment of levity, but once in bed, his mood sours again.
He then calls a different friend… Cassidy.
He unabashedly admits he’s called her to refrain from reaching out to his co-star for a booty call.
Cassidy feigns offense, but embraces the task.
Here’s to me being proven right or wrong eventually…
In the meantime, on to Toby.
However, he indeed foregoes Jack’s nap to spend more time playing with him.
Consequently, Jack is awake too late and cranky.
After the recital, Kate vents to her boss/co-worker Phillip about her fight with Toby.
In response, he notes he and his wife had a constant small fight for years.
However, it seems the real lesson in his story is small fights bleed into big problems.
saying his name, panicked.
Thus, we’re one step closer to understanding Kate and Toby’s future.
What piece of the puzzle will come next?
However, that day, things go awry.
Then, after Jack falls asleep during the movie, Kevin slips out of the theater into the mall.
When Jack awakes, he hurries everyone out to find him.
By that point, Kevin’s already in a mall office, with Rebecca.
He’d gone to the food court looking for free samples, and got lost.
He was found crying in front of a store.
Mall staff got in touch with Rebecca because she’d written their phone number inside Kevin’s shoe.
Rebecca tells Jack about a recent trip she and the kids took to the park.
Everything went wrong but the chaos ended with peaceful bonding over a ladybug.
Inspired, Jack sets up a home movie theater experience, and the family has a blast.
Rebecca’s lesson of it’s never too late to make things better suits Kevin and Toby’s situations.
They may not be able to make daily memories, but they can make great memories nevertheless.
All hail Rebecca’s mom wisdom.
Speaking of moms… Jack’s day unfortunately sours again, as he learns his mother has died.
Cue, I presume, a mom-centric episode next week.
It seems we’re about to get a look at the woman who made the man that started everything.
If so, brace yourselves.
