All Beth ever needed was the music and the mirror and the chance to dance…
When her dad canceled on her, Rebecca came to the rescue with a Jack Pearson-worthy speech.
While Toby called in the big guns, a.k.a.
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All of which left us wondering just when each of these Pearson pressure cookers might explode.
How did you decide you wanted to tell that story?
When we had both of those in play, it changed how we thought of everything.
In the future, we know Beth does have a dance studio of some kind.
Is this the end of the road for this studio or might it have a second life?
How complicated is the journey to that future point career-wise for her?
There are really no easy answers.
And it’s also not as easy as just walking away.
We see how hard it is for her to hang it up again.
It’s going to be a very complicated story for her going forward.
We really, really wanted to make it clear that there’s no pity party going on.
How did you choose the song that she and Randall dance to?
Were there any alternate tunes there?
So, we took it out and we just said “a ’90s love song.”
I was like, “Yes, let’s do that song.”
Kevin is also facing a crossroads.
First off, it looks like his behavior on set is finally catching up with him.
Why was now the time to address it?
FALLS:We were starting to segue into what he wants to do.
Does he want to stay an actor?
Or is he looking for something more meaningful in life?
Because it feels like he’s been searching when he went looking for [Nicky].
Even though a lot of us see it as noble.
So we just thought we might as well lean in to it.
“Was it really bad?
Well, he did do this.
Well, there were these extenuating circumstances.
He also did this, and then he did this.”
It was like, “Oh God, Kevin has had a rough couple years.”
How precarious a position is his career in right now?
Will this precipitate a true fall from grace?
For Kevin, it’s hard to say.
People aren’t willing to take the risk that maybe they would have been.
He’s got his own crossroads to decide on.
Zoe’s compliments really seemed to shake him, with her remarks that he’s pretty adaptable.
What does this mean for him and for his relationship with Madison?
GOMEZ:We love the character of Zoe; we love the actress Melanie Liburd.
And then he kind of didn’t.
This is a big leap.
Till death do you part."
They’re both going through a little bit of that.
It’s simply they’re re-examining all the reasons for getting married.
Speaking of re-evaluating, though, we’ve seen his old flames in a previous episode.
Might this trigger some re-connection with Sophie?
But then Toby turns around and lies to Kate about how easy it was to fix.
How soon might he burst just like that pipe?
So, he’s actually speaking from experience.
We’ve seen that in the past that they do that.
Kate is finally fulfilled in her work, but Toby clearly can’t stomach the stay-at-home dad life.
Is he being selfish?
A different parent becomes the working parent sometimes.
It’s a perception shift that he’s grappling with right now.
We’ve seen that in the relationship.
But I have hope for this couple; I really like this couple.
Let me get through it."
Maybe it’s starting to get selfish when you go, “Listen.
Then I think you’re starting to get into territory that may be a little bit selfish.
But I don’t think we’ve seen Toby do that yet.
They have some pretty major expenses in their life with a new house and a child with special needs.
These are expensive things, and I think he’s trying to keep all of that afloat.
We’ve watched their mother-daughter relationship grow and evolve so much these last few years.
Is this a pinnacle for them?
Is this as healed and whole as this relationship is going to be?
GOMEZ:It feels as healed as we’ve seen it.
I think we just love seeing an adult child and their parent reconcile.
We’re all very happy with where Kate and Rebecca have got their relationship to.
You’re able to be nicer and sweeter in that moment.
Sooner or later, Rebecca is going to be like every in-law.
She would have fallen into that jealousy and that frustration, but she’s grown.
Will we meet Madison’s father?
How much might he complicate things for her and Kevin?
We have one more season to go and a few more episodes to go.
It’s the time where we have to service a lot of things.
Some we will, and some we won’t.
Can you tease the next episode?
FALLS:Who doesn’t like a bachelor and a bachelorette party?
These are two very, very unusual bachelor and bachelorette parties, like you’ve never seen before.
GOMEZ:Revelations will be made.
You’re also going to have, in classicThis Is Usstyle, a lot of emotional breakthrough.
FALLS:We guarantee nudity.
