This is Us Season 6 Episode 1 review: Rebecca’s on the decline and the big three learn to deal with it

The Pearsons are back; the big three are 41 and dealing with personal demons and the prospect of losing their mom to dementia.

a still from the season premiere

This Is Us

Story: Kevin’s career is not going great since moving into Madison’s garage to help co-parent their twins, Randall realizes he has a lot to do as councilman to help his constituents after coming face-to-face with the man who broke into his home and waved a knife at him, while Kate is managing two kids and her job at the school, while Tobey is away on work. But the worst of it is that mama Pearson, Rebecca, is not getting better and her cognitive decline is beginning to show.

Review: It’s here, the sixth and final season of the family drama This is Us, is underway. Since 2016, we’ve come to care for the Pearsons, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and their three kids – Kevin (Justin Hartley), Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Randall (Sterling K Brown). Over the last five seasons, This is Us has taken us through the lives of the Pearsons into their 40s. That’s a long time to know someone. We cried with Jack and Rebecca when they lost one of their triplets and rejoiced when they took in an orphaned baby to complete their trio. We’ve been there with them, through all the joys and sorrows, savoured every moment of Jack and Rebecca’s life together, mourned his tragic passing and watched as the Big Three dealt with this personal loss in their own ways. This is a family we feel for, and we will get only 18 more episodes to do that.

We’ve known for a while now that Rebecca has early-stage dementia, her symptoms are still mild, but, sadly, it won’t be long before she won’t remember any of it. The Big Three have their own issues to deal with, on, as it turns out their birthday. They are 41, a day that Kate gets to pamper herself with a massage as Rebecca and Miguel take the kids for a day of fun, Kevin also has daddy duties, with Madison busy with her book club and one member in particular (is she moving on from Kevin already?), while Randall chooses to confront the burglar who broke into his home sometime ago over some hot and steamy time with Beth.

No episode is complete without a flashback with father of the year, Jack. This time, it’s the day of the tragic events of the Challenger rocket launch, which the kids see live on television at school. They’d been excited about it the whole day, with Jack asking them to fill him in on all the details when he’s back from work. The crash, though, meant that he and Rebecca had to tread lightly and figure out how the trio feel about the tragic disaster.

Verdict: After a whole day of trying to remember the word Caboose, Rebecca declares that Nicky’s constant jabber about the woman who got away (Sally) is giving her a headache. “Life is too short,” she declares, in what appears to be a sign that she will help Nicky reconnect with Sally. Watch the season premiere now, it’s streaming on Disney+Hotstar in India.

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