This Is Us Recap, Season 5 Episode 9: ‘The Ride’

Last week we watched a whole bunch of Pearson babies being brought into the world. It’s now time to get them home. But it’s not just Frannie and Nick and Hailey who go along for the obstructed ride from the hospital: this episode falls on a whole slew of Pearsons driving newborns home. If it all feels vaguely familiar, your mind may wander off to the season two episode “The Car” in which yes, we got several storylines that played out in the Pearson Wagoneer. That’s not it. Yes, the montage at the end of the episode felt a lot like the Wagoneer stuff, but where ‘The Car’ was more about a family car, a kind of memory book and a way to look back and live a life together Remember, “The Ride” is about starting a journey together.

Let’s start with Jack and Rebecca leaving the hospital for the first time with the Big Three, because this is the most emotional of the different car rides we get in this episode. And also because I think I decided that Jack and Rebecca are my favorite Jack and Rebecca in the late ’70s / early’ 80s. Why? Who says that. That probably has 73 percent to do with Jack’s beard. 86 percent. How frightening it must be to leave the warm, supportive cocoon of the hospital with three newborns? No one can blame the security guard who sees Jack installing the car seats incorrectly and after learning that he has triplets, just answers ‘oh god, God bless you’ before walking away. Jack and Rebecca are very brave people and no one wants to get involved in that situation if they do not have to.

Jack and Rebecca are also very overwhelming people. Of course they are! On top of that, let’s not keep three people alive, but just a few days ago, Rebecca lost a baby in childbirth. She and Jack had barely begun to process the loss. It’s no wonder she looks anxious when she realizes she can not see the babies’ faces from the front seat to make sure they are okay during this ride.

And then the babies start screaming. So, Jack, who is trying to prove to Rebecca and himself that he is a competent supplier, is already hitting it on the highway when a real driver pinches him. They pull into the same gas station and Jack is about to drop this man off, but Rebecca talks him down. To calm himself down, Jack steps inside, buys him a small bottle of whiskey and finishes it off. He lets Rebecca drive the rest of the way home.

When they are finally in their driveway, all three children are asleep. They decide to wait it out in the car, which leads to them finally opening up to the emotional spirals that both have internally. Oof, this scene is so good. It’s just the right amount of emotion and sentimentality and also pushes some character development. Rebecca is afraid she’s going to be a bad mother because she’s too sad – she’s watching her mother happen after she’s had a miscarriage – and she’s feeling like a very different person from the one who’s gone her babies just four to let go. days ago. What had just happened to her, of course, changed her – how could it not? – but Jack assures her that does not mean she will not be a wonderful mother.

He cannot give the same kindness to himself: he is terrified that he will be exactly like his father. He tells Rebecca about the whiskey and how much anger he wanted to unleash on the driver. It’s his father. His father hated being in his own family and ‘he sucked the air out’ of every room he was in. Jack’s relationship with his father was an addition to the series, but it’s gotten a bigger spotlight this season and I hope It’s us go further. We have yet to see what happens to the Pearsons in the immediate aftermath of the return of Jack and Nicky from Vietnam. And we know that Jack asked Stanley for money to buy his and Rebecca’s dream home and that he refused to see him when he died, but is there anything in between we need to know? There are interesting things waiting to be dug up.

Anyway, Rebecca tells Jack he’s not going to be like his dad. ‘You do not suck the air out of the room is the sky, ”she tells him, which is cheesy, but I like it too. They realize that they are doing well because they have each other and it is very sweet and maybe we should all just sit in cars while babies sleep behind so we can feel things again, I do not know, it is strange time.

Meanwhile, Kevin shows us again that he is much like his father in the best and worst ways. He also finds himself engulfed in the car ride from the hospital with his newborns. He should also be turned off by his partner before doing anything he regrets. However, Kevin’s problem is not a reckless driver, it’s the paparazzi who follow him to get a chance from the Manny with his new babies. Madison – which, by the way, is like, the calmest new mother on the planet, who’s wild because I think Madison has never been calm for one moment in her entire life – can see that Kevin is very sleepless (will we ever talk about how he pulled a man out) from ‘ a burning car and struck on a flight without an ID? So much follow up!) And she takes over the management service and forces him to sleep. In this afternoon nap we get some mature Kevin and Jack interaction.

Kevin dreams of walking into Jack (interesting that it’s Mustache Jack from Kevin’s childhood and not Bok boss Jack from Kevin’s teens, no?) Who is holding his new grandchildren and ready for a heartfelt heart with his son. Dream Jack tells Kevin that he should stop trying to comply with him. Look, Jack has devoted so much time to becoming his father and Kevin is stressed because he’s not like his father, and all they do is waste time by being scared. He tells his son to decide what he want and go get it. It’s all in Kevin’s head, of course, but it feels to Jack after a lot of speech on the brand.

What Kevin wants is his family. For real and eternal time. That’s why he officially introduces Madison (well, “officially” with his hospital bracelet). They do, I think?

And what about Jack Pearson’s other son? One of our other car rides after the hospital follows Randall and Beth after the birth of our one true savior, Annie. All Beth wants is a Snickers Blizzard from Dairy Queen. All Randall wants is to talk about a third child. Randall is SO MUCH. I know we already know that, but sometimes we need to be reminded of it. Beth is like ‘another human came out of my body recently, gets me a fucking blizzard, dude’ and Randall is forced to know he’s A LOT, but he also explains where he’s coming from with this extremely bad request.

A nurse at the hospital said Annie has her father’s eyes and that’s a big deal for Randall, who never looked like his family. There is a difference between knowing your family and knowing where you come from. This, of course, is the same thing we see Randall struggling with today. He wanted to be tied to something bigger, he wanted to understand his roots, which is why the search for his birth parents was so important to him. When it comes to children, he wants to build a family tree full of branches. The man likes plant metaphors, okay? Randall hopes that even if he and Beth no longer have children, his daughters will have babies and his family tree will continue to grow.

This is where the lightning forward comes in. We meet the adult Deja and the adult Annie, who drive together to Uncle Kevin’s house to say goodbye to everyone at Rebecca, and Deja is secretly pregnant! Annie knows but no one else. Our tater to has her own tater to! Randall will be so excited that his tree gets a new branch. But even better: we learn that Deja is becoming a doctor. We are all so proud!

• Kate and Toby’s plans are thrown out the window on their drive from the hospital when a visibly upset Ellie tells them that she knows they have agreed to a public adoption full of visits and photos, but she just can not share be of Hailey. living in the moment. She wants to say goodbye and move on. Kate is devastated, especially after seeing what Randall went through without knowing his birth parents, but Toby tells her it will all be well. And who knows, Ellie might want to meet Hailey in the future. They have it. Do you remember how messy Toby was when Jack was born? He is so reassuring and steadfast now! What a twist.

• It’s an intense day at the Pearson-Damon home because Toby must also inform his wife that he has been fired. Then it’s Kate’s turn to be reassuring. These two seem to be in such a good place right now.

Well, just as Old Randall is about to enter Old Kevin’s house with his Adult Daughters, pulls up another car, squeaks and Old Randall says “look who’s it” while he and Deja, Adult, waving with confidence. With most of us other big players in charge in the forward (is Miguel still alive? Is Madison Kevin’s wife?), It looks like It’s us is preparing us for some kind of revelation with Kate. Are the answers in this car? When will we find out? It is possible that I was excessively invested in this flash-forward!

• Beth’s deep love for her DQ Blizzard was very relatable. I mean, she’s going for Snickers and I’m more of a Butterfinger girl, but I’ve really seen.

• To learn that Randall would be weekly Felicity partying with his mother is the most precious gift.