Randall and his family were still at the cabin following Thanksgiving. Deja ( Lyric Ros) lashed at her adoptive dad after Malik ( AsanteBlackk) broke up with her. He assumed that he did this because Randall had told him to. Deja left her cabin to see Malik in Boston in the middle of night. Randall set out the next morning to find her and Rebecca ( Mandy Moore) offered to accompany him.
After Randall and Rebecca found out that Deja was safe, Rebecca gave Deja some time to talk with Malik before they went to pick her up. Rebecca learned that Randall was being approached by a retired senator to be his replacement. Because he was so busy in his personal life, he wasn’t sure if he should run again for office. But Rebecca encouraged him to try.
Later, Rebecca recalled the sacrifices Randall made for her throughout the years, particularly after Jack’s ( Milo Ventimiglia) passing. She explained that Kate ( ChrissyMetz) was her executor because she couldn’t let him stop living for her. Randall knew that he would win the Senate race and couldn’t imagine his political future. Randall decided to talk with Senator. (Fans had previously speculated that Randall was running to be president in a flash-forward which showed an article that referred to him as a “rising Star”.)
Randall was told by Deja that Malik didn’t want to end their relationship because of his directive. Malik understood that staying together was unfair to them both because she wanted to leave school to be with Malik. Deja said that Malik’s entire relationship was so intense and that she believed they would find a way to be together again in the future.
Flashbacks show Randall (Niles Fitch), Kevin(Logan Shroyer), and Kate (Hannah Zeile) almost being arrested for trespassing on the community pool one evening. Randall said that he had been carrying his family since Jack’s passing and was unsure if they would survive if Rebecca discovered they were taken to jail. Randall said that he couldn’t have an arrest on him because he might become president in the future.
Tuesday’s episode marked end to the last Big Three trilogy. After the episode ended, Kevin (Hartley), Madison (Caitlin Thomson) and Toby (Chris Sullivan), returned the twins back to Madison. Toby informed Kate that the smoker he ordered would arrive just in time to attend Rebecca and Miguel (Jon Huertas’) anniversary party. Toby was also informed by Kate that she wasn’t ready to move to San Francisco.
This is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC ET.
