This Is Us turns Randalls anxiety into a horror movie – The A.V. Club

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After last weeks terrifying cliffhanger, its a relief that A Hell Of A Week: Part One isnt an hour-long home invasion thriller in which Randall has to fight to save his family. Instead, the break-in is resolved in the opening few minutes, as Randall gives the invader money and convinces him to flee before the cops arrive. Yet even once the physical danger is over, the episode doesnt shake the unsettled feeling that characterized last weeks unnerving ending. A Hell Of A Week: Part One explores Randalls anxiety by turning it into something akin to a horror movie via surreal nightmares in which Randall is rendered powerless and voiceless. For viewers who dont live with anxiety, the nightmare sequences are a way to make the experience tangible and relatable. For those who do, A Hell Of A Week: Part One delivers a powerful pang of recognition.

A Hell Of A Week: Part One kicks off a trio of Big Three centric episodes, which will unfold across the same week in the Big Threes present and teen years, with a childhood flashback to their first night in their big kid beds anchoring the whole thing. Its a format the show deployed to great success in its second season, and one Im excited to see the series tackle again. That also means that, for now, mysteries like what happened to teen Kate and how Kevin fared in Philadelphia will have to be answered in subsequent episodes. This week its Randalls turn to take center stage.

Randalls anxiety has always been central to his character, but this episode digs into where it comes from, how it operates, and why hes so unwilling to seek help for it. In a nice bit of character continuity, the only other time weve seen the show use this kind of nightmare imagery was way back in the first season episode The Trip, when Randall hallucinated his moms anxiety as its own kind of locked door horror movie. Some of Randalls nightmares play out with similar bluntness, with his loved ones in danger and him powerless to help. Others are more surreal and cerebral, like the one that places Jack at the family dinner from Storybook Love. What should be a happy image becomes an unsettling fever dream, as no one will listen to dream Randall as he tries to tell them that Jack is dead.

When it first debuted, the central thesis of This Is Us seemed to be that the Pearson familys trauma all stemmed from the tumultuous years following Jacks death. Yet the past few seasons have slowly picked that idea apart, bringing Jacks flaws to the surface and exploring the deeper issues that shaped the Big Three well before the loss of their father. So while, yes, the way that Rebecca unfairly leaned on Randall after Jacks death undoubtedly contributed to his anxiety issues and his refusal to ask for help, that wasnt the sole cause. By that point, Randalls imperfect coping mechanisms were already well in place.

One of the sharpest observations in A Hell Of A Week: Part One is the way that parents can unknowingly pass on neuroses to their kids. The first time little Randall comes to Jack to tell him hes scared, Jack responds, Its okay to be scared sometimes, bud. Im really happy that you were brave enough to tell me. See, that way I can help you fix it. Its a perfect moment of parenting, one that seems to cement Jacks status as the Worlds Best Dad. Later, however, once Jack is at his wits end after a long night of solo parenting, he half-jokingly asks Randall to please be his well-behaved kid because Kevin and Kate are kind of a handful. Its a quietly gutting moment because we know Jack doesnt really mean what hes saying and we also know that Randall is going to take it to heart for the rest of his life. You want to shout at Jack to take it back in the same way you might shout at horror movie protagonists who decide to split up to search the house.

Though Randall inherited his anxiety condition from William, his coping mechanisms are pure Jack: Build your identity around your love for a good woman, distract yourself with exercise (in Jacks case boxing, in Randalls case running), and, when all else fails, bury your issues and pretend everythings fine. Humor tends to be Randalls go to defense mechanism, but his pointed asked and answered to Jae-won calls to mind any number of moments of Jack Pearson stubbornness. We know that middle-aged Jack was just beginning to develop healthier coping mechanisms by attending AA meetings. Tragically, its a shift he never fully got to follow through with, and one that came at a time when his kids were less malleable to his influence anyway.

The central tragedy of A Hell Of A Week: Part One is Randalls almost pathological inability to accept the help thats so frequently offered to him. This episode is filled with moments where characters ask if hes okay, both in the present and the past. Even frazzled Rebecca doesnt let the arrival of Kevin and Sophie distract her from trying to follow up about the nightmares Randall offhandedly mentions. But at a certain point, Randalls refusal to admit that anythings wrong becomes a wall no one can break through, not even Beth, whos been a partner in his mental health struggles longer than anyone. A Hell Of A Week: Part One argues that for as strong as their marriage is, Randalls dependence on Beth is also part of the unhealthy, repressive way he manages his anxiety. And thats long put an unfair burden on her.

Yet for as much empathy as this episode clearly has for the outsized role Beth has had to play in helping Randall manage his mental health, I also think there are ways in which it gives her the short shrift too. For instance, she has virtually no reaction to the reveal that the armed intruder entered the room where she was sleeping, which youd think would traumatize even the most well-adjusted human being. Instead that reveal is presented as another stress for Randall alone.

Thats the biggest of the relatively few quibbles I have with this episode, which is otherwise a unique, thoughtful, emotional hour of television. One of the best things about This Is Us is the way its carved out space to tell appreciably specific stories, particularly about the black experience. Darnell puts aside his political frustrations with his councilman to reach out to Randall as a friendacknowledging that black men are often taught to mask their emotional vulnerabilities and opening up about how much hes benefited from therapy. Its a great scene for Omar Epps, and the type of conversation you rarely see on network TV.

A Hell Of A Week: Part One is also a fantastic showcase for Niles Fitch and Sterling K. Brown, who both do phenomenal work capturing the raw nerve energy beneath Randalls semi-put-together exterior. Randalls breaking point comes from whats publicly hailed as a heroic moment. But Randall knows that brutally beating a mugger was an example of him losing control, not regaining it. The final scene where Randall breaks down and calls Kevin is some of the best acting Brown has done on the show and a testament to how far their sibling relationship has evolved over the past four seasons. Now that weve seen this hell of a week from Randalls point of view, its time to see what Kevins been up to.

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This Is Us turns Randalls anxiety into a horror movie - The A.V. Club