A time capsule can bring you back to a moment in time and put things into perspective.
At least, that’s what happened on This Is Us “The Cabin” when the Big Three reunited in their family cabin to mull over their problems.
By the end of the hour, they all had some clarity about their next steps.
Randall realized that he was done letting the anxiety control him as it did his whole life and vowed to seek out counseling. Randall’s storyline continues to be one that normalizes mental health not only in a general sense but also as it pertains to African American males.
He may seem like he has it all together, but Randall has been a ticking time bomb since the break-in. It’s important to check up on your family and want to make sure your house is safe, but the incessant way that Randall goes about it is indicative of a bigger, underlying issue that he’s repressing and refusing to acknowledge.
Digging up the time capsule and realizing that his anxiety stemmed all the way back to when they were young and over something as basic as what to bury in the ground made him realize that he needs to get it under control.
Kate dug up a game of MASH, which revealed her one wish was to “live happily ever after.”
It’s a common dream for young girls, sure, but in the context of Kate’s current situation, it was a cold, hard truth smacking her in the face.
While things may seem bleak for Kate as she questions her relationship, I’ll continue to argue that Tobias (I love that Randall calls him that) is doing just fine in the daddy department.
He may have been hesitant about embracing his blind son, but all he needed was a little push. As the two spent time together, they had a chance to really bond and without Kate around, Toby was forced to step up to the plate.
Being alone with his son helped him realize that while life may be different than he imagined with baby Jack, it isn’t any less special.
His first major realization was that baby Jack needs him in his life. He’s always going to need a father to support him, teach him right from wrong, and help him on his life’s journey.
Related: This Is Us Review – Finding Your Way Home (4×13)
Parenting doesn’t always come as naturally to everyone, but I have no doubt Toby will get the hang of it.
When he saw baby Jack choking, his fatherly instincts kicked in and, in that moment, he realized just how much his son needed him.
But most importantly, Toby realized that he can still introduce Jack to all the things he loves, he just has to take a different approach.
The scene with him showing Jack all the Star Wars characters and imitating the sounds was such a sweet moment and something Jack Pearson would have done for his child.
Kate’s past storyline with Marc was also wrapped up, and it ended better than I thought it would.
After Marc, the asshole, broke Jack Pearson’s cup on purpose, Kate finally told him off, which triggered Marc’s angry meltdown.
In a fit of rage, he locked her out in the blistering cold and ignored her knocking as he knocked back a few cold ones.
Honestly, this dude couldn’t be kicked out of the house fast enough when Rebecca, Kevin, and Randall arrived.
However, I was expecting something much worse like the family finding Kate on the brink of hypothermia, so seeing them happily making pancakes and pretending everything was fine took me by surprise.
It was Randall who realized that a window was broken, noticed Kate’s gloves, and realized that something was sickeningly wrong with this “perfect” image.
Kate did her best to protect Marc because that’s what she was used to doing, but she needed to get to a point where she acknowledged how messed up their situation was.
I’m just glad she was in a safe space where Rebecca, Kevin, and Randall all had her back and that nothing worse happened to her while she was with him.
Also, Rebecca is such a strong woman who fights for the people she loves, and now, in the future, she needs them all to fight for her.
Kevin came to the cabin to cope with losing Sophie, and the time capsule reminded him that it’s always been her as he dug up a picture of the two of them when they were children.
He was also forced to come clean to Kate about sleeping with Madison after Madison blurted it out to Kate in a voicemail after telling him it should be their little secret. Thanks a lot, Madison.
Kate wasn’t entirely on-board with Kevin and Madison, but she seemed more upset about the fact that Kevin kept it from her than anything else.
Related: This Is Us Review – Why Kevin’s Hook Up Upset So Many Fans (4×12)
But I have to be honest, I still don’t think Madison is Kevin’s wife in the future or the woman pregnant with his baby. Unless it’s an “oopsie” and Kevin steps up to the plate, he doesn’t seem emotionally invested in pursuing anything with Madison. The “sparks” weren’t there, and that’s telling. Plus, he’s still pining over Sophie.
If I had to guess, the writers are going to pull the rug right from under us and offer a major twist just like that house.
When we first saw the flash-forward to the night the family gathers at Kevin’s to say goodbye to a sick and frail Rebecca, we assumed the house Kevin was living in was a mansion somewhere in LA.
Turns out, it’s the dream cabin that Jack Pearson sketched and planned to build for his wife one day.
Grab your tissues, it’s an emotional sucker… but you already knew that because Tuesdays are for crying!
The Big Three dug up the renderings with the time capsule and listened to a cassette that was recorded by Jack in 1993, which detailed his plans and how Rebecca always believed in him.
Kevin became inspired by the sketch and made the decision to build the house as they were leaving from their weekend getaway.
Kevin has always been the most emotionally vulnerable character, so it’s such a fitting twist to his narrative, one that has mostly found him bopping around and trying to find purpose in life.
We see a glimpse into that future scene towards the end as he returns home and greets Beth. We’ve already seen an “elderly” Randall and Beth prior to this episode, but whoa, older Kevin was just as hunky in the future.
While we know the scene is going to be heartbreaking, a part of me is looking forward to seeing elderly Kate and Toby. It will also clear up the speculation about where they are in their relationship in the future and, of course, who Kevin is married to.
As for Rebecca’s big memory secret, Randall let that out of the bag when he slipped up about a recent trip to LA.
They were forced to come clean to Kevin about Rebecca’s illness, which triggered the expected response from Kevin that they were all afraid of.
But, I don’t think any of them give Kevin enough credit. Rebecca didn’t want to tell Kevin the truth because she was afraid for his sobriety, but he’s been juggling a lot of emotional baggage and has never lost his focus or reached for an alcoholic drink.
Just like Kate and Randall, Kevin is a fighter.
But since the big secret isn’t what caused the rift between Kevin and Randall, what is it?
Does something trigger Randall during therapy? As we saw in the promo, Randall finally went to talk to a therapist and it seems that he was hit with the realization that he wasn’t the glue that held the family together.
What did you think of the episode?
Who do you think Kevin settles down with?
Will Toby and Kate make it through? How advanced will Rebecca’s cognitive impairment get?
Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments, Cravers!
There is no show like This Is Us on television; it’s a wholesome family show that takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll be angry all before the hour is up.
However, there are many shows that come close to giving you those same fuzzy feelings and will have you falling in love with the cast as quickly as you fell in love with Pearsons.
5 Possible Theories About Who Madison’s Doctor and His Daughter Sadie Could Be on ‘This Is Us’
While we’re waiting for This Is Us Season 5 to boot back up (and it’ll be awhile due to the coronavirus postponing productions), you can binge-watch these shows instead.
They’ll help fill the void and guarantee an ugly-cry or two. Sometimes, a good cry is just necessary!
This isn’t the news This Is Us fans were hoping for.
Jon Huertas, who plays Miguel on the NBC drama, revealed that production on the series may be delayed until January 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“I was just on the phone with [creator] Dan Fogelman, and we were talking about, you know, we may not go into production until January, depending on whether or not there’s a second wave,” he said in a conversation with Gov. Gavin Newsom and other industry leaders, per The Wrap.
The video-streamed call occurred as officials brainstorm plans to release guidelines for filming in a post-coronavirus world. Guidelines will be revealed next Monday and will likely adopt the protocols implemented in South Korea, Sweden, and Iceland, according to Variety.
“When we talk about the protocols and the guidelines that we may be following when we go back into production, it’s really kind of daunting to all of us. The actors, we talk all the time. We have a crew of 200-300 people who work in close proximity. We consider ourselves a family. As much as we would like to get back online, we are very much concerned about our crew,” Huertas revealed.
5 Possible Theories About Who Madison’s Doctor and His Daughter Sadie Could Be on ‘This Is Us’
Of course, if production is pushed to the beginning of 2021, it means that the tearjerking family drama won’t return as part of the fall 2020-2021 TV lineup, and is likely to premiere either in the spring of 2021 or even be pushed to the fall of 2021.
FOX and The CW have both released fall 2020 lineup’s that have bypassed most of their scripted dramas, which are all set to return in 2021.
CBS is the only network that released a schedule with most of its scripted dramas in-tact leading many to believe that they’re feeling confident that they’ll resume production in time.
The good news is that This Is Us was renewed through season 6, so the show isn’t going anywhere, it just might not return as quickly as we expected.
And while it may be upsetting, at least we know NBC is prioritizing the safety of the actors and crew!
Okay, so you watched the season 4 finale of This Is Us and found yourself thinking, “who is the doctor and his daughter, Sadie.”
Honestly, same.
The episode spent so much time and attention on the doctor’s backstory, before we even knew that he was Madison’s obstetrician, and introduced his daughter.
Some may say that there’s nothing to it, it was just a way to introduce a character, but avid watchers of This Is Us know that’s absolutely false.
There has to be some bigger meaning and connection that simply hasn’t been revealed yet. Plus, they wouldn’t give us so much insight into Sadie being a horse-whisperer unless it was relevant.
Check them some of favorite theories about who Dr. Mason might be below and let us know if you have any ideas:
It cannot be a coincidence that Dr. K was heavily featured in this episode talking about his own loss of a child, right?
There’s a huge probability that Madison’s OB-GYN, Dr. Mason, is Dr. K’s son aka the child that he and his wife had after the first miscarriage. *a fan pointed out that child was a daughter, but Dr. K had other children. Someone pointed out that those children would be older and that he once mentioned having grandchildren, so it’s possible Dr. Mason is related in some way.
The doc seemed to have a knack for giving some really great advice just like Dr. K. He told Madison not to write off Kevin before she even talked to him and told him about the pregnancy, which led to Kevin being “all in” with the twins. There may be proof of this Dr. K and Mason are related because in the very first scene he tells Sadie that her horse is “is just a lemon.” And we know Dr. K loved his lemon metaphor.
Considering Dr. Mason gave great advice just like Dr. K, many fans believe he’s going to be a huge part of Kevin and Madison’s pregnancy journey. He might be the one that they turn to for advice, guidance, and assurance just like Kevin’s parents did with Dr. K after he delivered Kevin and Kate. It would be a sweet way of bringing things full-circle. And hey, this still allows the Dr. Mason to be Dr. K’s son. Dr. Mason might be Kevin and Madison’s person.
Credit: NBC/ This Is Us
Okay, this theory is kind of wild and if This Is Us was a thriller drama/ telenovela rather than an inspirational, heartwarming family drama, we might consider it to be true, but sadly, we don’t think it is. That being said, we’re including it because it’s fun to imagine “what if.”
What if Dr. K was so desperate for a son that he stole one of Rebecca and Jack’s children instead. Imagine if Kyle never died but was taken and raised to be Dr. Mason, who reunites with his biological family, the Pearsons, years later by sheer coincidence when Madison walks into his office pregnant with Kevin’s twins. Again, if This Is Us was that kind of show, which it isn’t, this would be an incredible plot twist.
However, Dr. Mason seems older than Kevin, Randall, and Kate, plus, I wouldn’t want anything to tarnish the sweet, innocent Dr. K, who is a gem in this world.
Maybe Sadie and Dr. Mason were only necessary so she could give her dad that he then gave Madison about Kevin: “Little early to give up on him, don’t you think? You haven’t even give him a chance to be himself yet.” Sadie is a horse and Kevin whisperer.
Madison knows she’s not Kevin’s great love story, and she’s fine with it. Maybe through all of this, she falls in love with the doc and Sadie becomes her step-daughter. There’s no confirmation that Madison becomes Kevin’s wife simply because she’s carrying his children, so it’s entirely possible they both move on while being connected by their twins.
Showrunner Dave Fogel told Deadline that Dr. Mason will 100% become instrumental next season: “The doctor becomes an important character next season to Kevin – he’s having twins with a virtual stranger, not a normal birth experience. It’s no coincidence he was introduced in the same episode that Dr. K returned.”
That has to confirm Theory #1, right?
Read the This Is Us Season 4 finale review right here!
What are your favorite working theories?
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