This Is Us: Season 2 | Episode 12 “Clooney” Review

This week’s episode of This Is Us gave us some more insight on how “The Big Three” become who they are and more clues regarding Jack’s death. Kevin makes great progress in treatment and is allowed to go home which is with Rebecca and Miguel. He decides this is a good time as any to rebuild their relationship and the best environment for himself. We see Kevin struggling to get along with Miguel because he feels that Jack is still his father and still his mothers husband. As time goes on, he begins to understand his mother’s relationship with Miguel and just wants her to be happy.

On the other hand Kate is going to meetings again for her eating habits and makes a friend. Her new friend Madison offers to go wedding dress shopping with her and Kate agrees. She is not too excited with the idea but eventually feels comfortable with going with Madison. She notices Madison may have some issues as well with her weight and desire of being thin. In a flashback, Rebecca and Kate go dress shopping for her winter formal and Kate struggles immensely. Rebecca takes this opportunity to finally bond with Kate and share something special with her. In present day, we see Kate coming to Madison’s rescue when she takes a fall in her bathroom. They open up more about their issues and Kate shares how when she finally lost the weight before her father died, she realized she felt more comfortable in her body when she was overweight. She goes onto to explain that she wanted to keep listening to the angry voice in her head that told her she was heavy. I feel as though Kate had some clarity in this moment with Madison and realized she is happy no matter what her weight is.

Lastly, Randall spends most of his time this week going through old things of William’s to find out more about his father. Beth is worried Randall has lost his determination in life and wants him to focus on his interview. He gets side tracked with a poem and drawing he found in William’s belongings. it focuses on a woman which he spends a lot of time searching for. He even goes around the whole apartment building speaking with the tenants in hopes of finding this woman. He searches through William’s apartment and sees a picture of Billie Holiday which we find out later in a flashback that is where William got his inspiration for his poem and photo. William did not have anyone back then and he found some comfort in writing about this woman. At the end of the episode, Randall brings Beth to the apartment complex and reveals to her he wants to purchase the building and help all those people.

The final scene of this episode is from the past after Rebecca and Jack get home from their mall trip with the kids. They talk about how nice it was to spend time with the children that day mostly mentioning Kate and Kevin. Jack brings up wanting to start up his construction business again and Rebecca encourages him to pursue that. Coincidentally the company he originally had was named “The Big Three” which I found to be some foreshadowing to the future. Rebecca asks Jack if they forgot something while they were shopping and then we get a very clear view of the smoke detector missing batteries! Dum Dum Dum! I have a feeling this is the first of oh so many clues to finding out the details of Jack’s death.

This Is Us airs every Tuesday 9/8c on NBC.