This Is Us: Season 2 | Episode 7 “The Most Disappointed Man”

This week’s episode opens up with a flashback to Rebecca and Jack’s adoption with Randall. They have unscheduled visits with the social worker to check on their family life. The social worker speaks to them about the next steps to the adoption which is going to court and accepting Randall as their own. They decide to take family pictures with the children to welcome Randall into the family.

We rewind back to William getting arrested for the first time and speaking with the judge about his drug charges. William tries to get sympathy for his case going on to explain how he has had a rough time with his mother passing, his girl leaving and his biological child is gone as well. He expresses how he is the most disappointed with himself than anyone else. He feels “If you want to lock me up, there is nothing out there for me anymore so go ahead.” I think at this moment William is vulnerable and wants someone to see his struggles and to have another chance to make a good decision in life.

Back in present day, Randall and Beth are speaking about Deja and her visiting with her mother in jail. Randall decides to take Deja to visit her mother for the first time in a while. Kevin is out of sorts speaking with Sophie and giving excuses as to why he is not coming to see her. She gives him the cold shoulder and tells him they should discuss this at another time.

Meanwhile, Toby and Kate are preparing for their announcement of their pregnancy. Kevin stops by to see them and tells them he needs to get to Sophie.  But to his surprise Kate and Toby unzip matching sweatshirts for their baby reveal! Kevin seems to be excited for them but expresses some distance towards their excitement. I feel as though Kevin might be jealous of his siblings and their families. He wants what they have but I think he may feel he doesn’t have what it takes to create that kind of life for himself.

In a flashback, we see Jack and Rebecca in court with Randall and the judge expresses his concerns with this adoption. He needs more time to speak with the social worker so they push the court date back. Jack and Rebecca come back to the court house to speak with the judge. He explains how he doesn’t think they are prepared to care for an African American child and the challenges he may face growing up. He has fears they won’t have access to the “tools” necessary to be a suitable family for Randall. Rebecca later writes a letter to the judge telling him that “The Pearson’s don’t give up, we will keep coming until you do your job.” A few weeks later they go before a different judge and are granted the adoption of Randall!

Randall and Deja are at the prison to visit her mother and the social worker tells Randall that Deja’s mother declined to see her. Randall breaks the news to Deja and she expresses how disappointed she is. She tells Randall she has something to give to her mother and he makes sure that someone delivers it to her.

This next part of the episode is when the tissues are needed. We see Toby sitting in the living room speaking to himself and looking at Jack’s urn. He talks to Jack about his feelings about the quick wedding and how he knows this isn’t what Kate wants. He wanted Jack’s advice and he knows Jack would know exactly what to say to make him feel better. I thought it was a very sweet moment for Toby and shows us an even nicer side to him that we already know.

Kevin finally makes it to New York to visit Sophie and seems out of it. We saw him earlier take his pain medicine and he takes some more as he waits for Sophie to get back from her case. He ends up falling asleep and missing her so he shows up at the apartment. He had a dream about their future and it was a disaster so he tells her about it. Kevin is worried he will never be a good husband or father and that is what Sophie deserves. She gets upset with him and slams the door in his face.

Randall goes to see Deja’s mother separately and has a conversation regarding Deja. Deja’s mother explains why they did not meet yesterday. He is upset and explains that she is not seeing the big picture and what is best for Deja. Randall makes it clear to her that he is willing to fight for her if it comes down to it.

Toby waits for Kate and makes a romantic gesture of proposing to her again. It was so sweet! He tells her about his “conversation” with Jack and she looked so happy. Toby tells Kate their relationship has been nothing but conventional and he wants to do it the right way. He wants Kate to have a big cliché wedding with the bridesmaid dresses and bridal gown shopping. Kate agrees that is what she wants!

Randall comes home to his family and discusses the visit with Beth. He goes over how he felt about William and his parents. They used to be the adults making the big decisions for them and now they are the adults making those same decisions. I feel that the ongoing theme of this episode is that every action we take means something to someone. Every move can influence the next thing we do in life and to see the bigger picture. We may not see how important those decisions are as we are making them but, weeks or even years down the line you recognize the effects of those decisions.

This Is Us airs on Tuesday nights at 9pm on NBC.