It’s us
A long road house
Season 5
Episode 5
Editor’s rating
Photo: NBC
“And that, my friend, is what they call closure.” Okay, this is Rachel Green when she called Ross drunk to tell him she was over him before throwing her date’s phone in an ice bucket (an iconic Friends moment, of course). This is also, I think, the atmosphere that Kate Pearson carries with her as she walks back to her car after telling Marc what she discovered 20 years after their horribly toxic relationship. Although Kate’s closure feels like a real closure while Rachel’s was, hey, this is a reservation for another day. But look! Kate Pearson is really making some moves, isn ‘t she?
We’re here because all the Pearsons are very damaged people, and at first it seemed like Kate was the one suffering the most. But if you look at her record, she may also be the one who does the most to rectify her situation. She exclaimed it during the drum aerobics class; it was a moment. She finally scattered her father’s ashes before her wedding, and it was big for her. And now, here she is dealing with the emotional trauma she loves from literally everyone in her life.
It seems to Kate and Toby a bit of an interview to drive to San Diego after she found out where Marc works via a mutual Facebook friend and Marc’s MySpace page (MySpace still exists; I looked at you) so she can tell him? Sure, but which Pearson has little maintenance? I mean, even Annie is there to try to incorporate Little women dialogue in everyday life. High maintenance is their way! But this is what Kate feels compelled to finally be free from the pain she has been through. The woman calls her demons and casts them out, and we must allow her!
It’s cathartic to watch Kate find that rubbish, still working at a record store, and talk about how the band he runs is about to break down and drop him off. He admits, of course, that their six-month relationship has sometimes become intense, but doesn’t really think much about it. This is when Kate goes: she was 18, he was 24; she was vulnerable and grieving, and he took advantage of it. “You held my self-esteem in your hands, and you decided to crush it,” she tells him. She lets him have power over her for too long, but now she has the love she deserves and lets Marc go. You almost want Kate to put on a white skirt and sing a verse or two of “You Don’t Own Me”, but alas, It’s us is not the kind of show.
The confrontation is extra cathartic, because while it’s going on, we also look at 18-year-old Kate as she visits Marc before undergoing her abortion. You know, just so he can be a dick to her one last time. At least this time she realizes he’s a dick. She leaves without telling him she’s pregnant. After her abortion, there is one moment when Kate can open up to Rebecca and tell her what’s going on, but we’ll see how she inflates everything – the beginning of what will be decades in which Kate buries her emotions. So yeah, it’s nice to see how good Kate feels after seeing Marc again today and letting him go. It’s also nice to see her so moved by the fact that, instead of solving her problems for her or treating her like a victim, Toby was simply supportive. They’re in a really good place, which means it’s the point in my summary if I remind you all that we still have no idea where Kate’s in our forward is, but we know she and Toby are no longer together is not. Divorced? Death? Who says but something must be hatching, right?
Kate Pearson is not the only member of the Big Three who is rising with emotional well-being. Were you about to guess Kevin? Because it’s hilarious. Kevin is a disaster. No, we’re talking about Randall! Randall was getting a therapist and then finally revealing how alone he felt growing up as a black man in a white family were some important steps in his healing process. (Although we must never forget that he still did not apologize for emotionally manipulating his mother to participate in an Alzheimer’s trial, which she did not want to participate in. Randall is always going to go Randall!) In this episode however, we see some of this therapy bearing fruit in a positive way.
Randall is still at the stage “colleagues mocking you with costumes” after his casual striptease video – which, let’s be honest, would be a much bigger issue than what we see here, especially after people found out the stripping board member related to the actual Manny. There’s be a magazine without brothers without brothers or something, and we’ll all eat it, because that’s the kind of content we deserve during a pandemic, and you know it. Either way, Jae-won removes his fake pecs – he’s a professional – to deliver a curious letter posted through their website by a man named Hai who lives in New Orleans claiming he’s Randall’s birth nut , Laurel, ken. Hai was with Laurel when she died … in May 2015.
This is the date Randall really throws. If Hai’s story is true, it means that William’s story about how Randall’s mother died of an overdose just after he was born was all a lie. This is a scenario that Randall cannot handle. His first instinct is to ignore it, run and live in denial. The old Randall (unlike the old Randall) would certainly have lived that way, and the ghost of his mother and the thought that William might have been lying made him haunt until he slipped-under-the-wall again while crying had a collapse. But this is not the old Randall (nor the Old Randall). This is kind of new, in therapy Randall. Finally he calls his therapist. The good doctor (not The Good Doctor) reminds Randall why he spent so much of his life looking for his birth parents: Randall wanted to know where he came from, but also to feel connected to something bigger. Getting to know William helped Randall so much, and then would he not know that his mother was doing the same? Dr. Vance tells Randall that he is already traveling; he might as well commit fully.
And so does Randall. With Beth by his side, he calls Hai. Mercifully, Hai immediately places Randall out of his misery by assuring him that the story William told Randall about Laurel was what William believed was the truth; he did not know Laurel was alive. This is an incredibly big relief for Randall, and you know that Sterling K. Brown Single Tear is coming out. It is effective every time. Now Randall can focus on learning more about his mother. Hai says he wishes he could show Randall ‘the places [Laurel] lived ”and“ the things she loved. Randall and Beth exchange a glance and it looks like we’re on our way to New Orleans.
• Kevin and Madison are having problems. Apparently they did not really think about how Kevin’s work went on for long periods of time. He assumed that Madison and their babies would come with him all the time, but that is not the life Madison envisioned for them. She says he needs to think about his role in their family while he’s in Vancouver for his filming. It seems really fast to give up on this ultimatum. Whether Kevin has a career or a family? Is there no room for compromise?
• Hey, do you remember when Madison was weird, stupid and awkward? What became of that character? There are no traces of her.
• The Madison situation reminds Kevin of what finally ended his and Sophie’s relationship, and we learn that a talent manager who wants him gets attention for a young, newly married Kevin – fresh from his acting showcase, if you ‘ need a timeline reminder to go to Los Angeles for pilot season, it’s Randall warning him not to do so. Randall can’t fathom anything between him and Beth, and he doesn’t know how to leave Kevin Sophie. Kevin does not take his advice, and well, we all know how it worked out.
• Kevin currently does not want to make the same mistakes again – he wants Randall’s advice this time. He tells his brother that he is constantly thinking, What would Randall do? And honestly, Randall’s reaction to the sentiment moved me. “It’s a nice thing to say. It’s a nice thing to know, ‘Randall says, tearing. These two thing-dongs start to correct: Kevin admits the horrible things they did not shout at each other too long ago and says he’s sorry Randall felt so alone growing up. But they still have a long way to go. I can not wait until they can express it. Is it just the social distance that speaks, or is it real emotion? Time will tell!
• Are Rebecca Pearson’s two favorite comedies Aircraft! and Borat? Discuss!