This is Us Season 6 Episode 7 review: No Pearson Thanksgiving is complete without some family drama

Thanksgiving comes early to the final season of This is Us, as Rebecca takes some tough decisions about her future care.

Family discussion for some tough decisions

This Is Us

Story: Every now and then, This is Us presents episodes with fragments from various timelines, often, in order to bring back Papa Pearson – Jack - or introduce a new plot altogether. On this episode we have newly-engaged Rebecca trying to put together the best Thanksgiving dinner together for her parents; Miguel finally telling Rebecca that she’s his favourite person, just after telling her that he’s moving to Houston and, of course, the Pearson’s in modern day making the most of the time they have with Rebecca.

Review: Okay, let’s divide this episode of This is Us into three parts, all set during Thanksgiving – 1) When Jack and Rebecca are engaged and still planning their wedding; 2) Two years after Jack’s passing, Rebecca is back on her feet and dating, while the Big Three have drama of their own happening and 3) Rebecca with early stage Alzheimers and the 41-year-old Big Three.

Part 1 was more about Rebecca’s parents fretting about not seeing enough of her while in the same city and how that will be even less when they move to Connecticut, where her father has found his dream job, than about her serving the perfect Thanksgiving meal. It was also just as much about mother-daughter relationships – Janet reminiscing about a time when young Rebecca wanted to be exactly like her to now barely spending time with her and finding fault with her ways. So much love and hate, but love always trumps everything else between mothers and daughters.

Part 2 was a flashback to Thanksgiving two years after Jack died. Rebecca has moved on and is dating Matt, who is a guest for dinner at the cabin, as are Miguel and his girlfriend Marguerite. Miguel has, for a while, been making snarky comments about Matt, but the bond that he shares with Rebecca clearly comes to the fore when the whole gang gets together for a game of Taboo. Rebecca’s clues are all about Jack and Miguel, meaning that he’s the only one who can guess the word she’s hinting at. It becomes apparent to everyone that Miguel likes Rebecca; even Kevin, who’s only been drinking since breaking up with Sophie, figures it out and berates Miguel that his best friend Jack would turn in his grave if he were to act on ‘whatever’ is going on with Rebecca. From the looks of it, though, it will take some time for him to act on these feelings, because Miguel’s moving to Houston. What is with people close to Rebecca moving far away from her?

Part 3 focused on the Big Three and Rebecca in modern day. Kevin, Kate, Toby and the kids are already at the cabin. Randall’s enroute and all excited about capturing some great family moments on his phone. But as Beth so well knows, no Pearson Thanksgiving is complete without some drama. There’s Toby worrying that Kate may not be feeding their kids the right stuff and given both their predispositions to being ‘fat’, he’s vocal about his disapproval. Kevin then takes a dig at Miguel for wanting a guest house next to the proposed cabin he’s building for Rebecca. A guest house for Miguel’s fishing buddies is not high up on Kevin’s to-do list, but, as it turns out, that idea comes from the probability of Rebecca needing full-time care in the foreseeable future and that caregiver would need a place to stay. Also, while she wants Miguel to take decisions on her behalf once she is incapacitated, should he not be around, it is then up to Kate.

Verdict: It’s been a while since Rebecca has had any memory issues, so, maybe we will get a few more good episodes with her old, present-day self, as we did this time around. This was, no doubt, a Mandy Moore show, and she shone right through.

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