“Every Version of You” will also return to the two pool scenes from the Big Three’s past, once as young children in the ’80s, and then as young adults around the year 2000. This time, we will see how those two memories were defining moments for Randall, and how they helped set him on his present path. The official episode summary for the episode reads, “Randall and Rebecca embark on a road trip and reflect on their past,” so we know we’re also getting a mother-son road trip, although we can only guess at the destination. Here’s everything we learned from the promo for This Is Us Season 6 episode 10, “Every Version of You.”
Is there a promo preview for This Is Us Season 6 episode 10?
The promo for “Every Version of You” opens yet again on the Pearson family’s trip to the pool during the Big Three’s early childhood. In a voiceover, as we see Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) splashing with the kids in the pool, Rebecca tells an adult Randall, “When your dad died, any time I needed you, you were there.” We then hear a college-age Randall (Niles Fitch) telling his siblings, “I’ve been trying to carry this family. I don’t know if I’m doing it well,” as we catch glimpses of the Big Three laughing in a diner and locked in at the pool, followed by a reflection of flashing police lights on Randall’s face. He looks worried, and we don’t blame him; as a Black teen, he’d probably have a very different emotional response from his siblings to the police showing up as he loiters outside a locked community pool late at night. But we don’t find out what happens at the pool, as the promo then jumps ahead to the present, once again returning to the cabin as all of the Pearsons depart after Thanksgiving. “The thing about being the parent of a teenager,” Randall tells Kevin (Justin Hartley): “Process.” We get some idea of what sort of “process” Randall is referring to when we see him talking to Déjà’s boyfriend Malik (Asante Blackk) on the street, followed by Déjà angrily confronting Randall for telling Malik to stay away from her. In a previous episode, we saw Randall ask Malik to break up with Déjà for her own good, which Malik refused to do, telling Randall that if Déjà found out about his request, it would ruin their relationship. This appears to have happened, as Déjà responds to Randall’s insistence in the promo that her plans with Malik are “not good enough for [her]” with, “I literally hate you.” The promo closes with Randall telling Rebecca, “I just don’t want to make any major life decisions with so much uncertainty in the family.” The two close out the trailer sitting somewhere outside, with a tearful Rebecca squeezing Randall’s hand. It’s unclear what decisions he’s trying to make—the promo implies it has to do with Déjà, but we know This Is Us loves to throw us off the scent—or where he and Rebecca are going on their road trip, but if there’s one thing we know about Randall, it’s that when he does make a decision, he always thinks it through.
What happened on This Is Us Season 6 episode 9?
The second episode of the Big Three trilogy centered around Kate (Chrissy Metz) and her fracturing relationship with Toby (Chris Sullivan). After Thanksgiving, Kate suggests the two of them spend a weekend together in San Francisco, to which Toby eagerly agrees. The weekend starts out well enough, with both of them clearly trying their best to enjoy each other’s company and keep smiles on their faces, but the cracks begin to show almost immediately. Kate has barely been in Toby’s apartment for half an hour before Toby takes a work call, and the following morning, after Toby details the romantic day he has planned for them, Kate shoots down his proposed itinerary and asks if they can just be spontaneous instead. Still, they continue to try to make the best of their weekend, despite Kate’s frequent FaceTime calls to their kids and Toby’s intermittent business calls, but it gets harder for both to keep acting like everything’s fine when Toby shows Kate a house he wants them to buy, which, judging by the look on her face, was clearly not the romantic grand gesture Toby thought it was. That night, they head to a cocktail party hosted by Toby’s boss, where Kate realizes just how well Toby fits in, and just how out of place she feels. Still, she’s doing her best to have a good time until Toby’s boss lets slip that Toby turned down a job offer in L.A. to keep the job in San Francisco, a fact which Kate knew nothing about. After leaving the party, Kate and Toby blow up at each other back at his apartment. Kate is furious that Toby turned down a job that would’ve allowed him to move back to L.A. with their family, especially without telling her about it. Toby is angry that Kate doesn’t consider the costs of raising their kids, especially their son Jack, who is blind and requires specialized care. Kate is upset that Toby has changed so completely from the man he once was. Toby is hurt that Kate doesn’t realize that the “Old Toby” was severely depressed and unhealthy. But really, once they get to the heart of their frustrations with each other, they’re both most hurt that the other appears to be living their best life… without them. Toby is thriving in San Francisco. Kate is happy in L.A. Where do they go from there? For Kate, at least, the answer is up a hill. She ends the episode walking up one of San Francisco’s steep hills that Toby earlier implied she couldn’t handle. Once she reaches the top, she calls up her colleague (and eventual husband) Philip (Chris Geere) back in L.A., and asks him to consider her for a full-time job at the school.
Are there any spoilers for This Is Us Season 6 episode 10?
Like the previous two episodes in the Big Three trilogy, “Every Version of You” will also be directed by a This Is Us cast member. Justin Hartley will be helming Randall’s episode, following Mandy Moore’s directorial turn with “The Hill” and Milo Ventimiglia heading up “The Guitar Man.” Of episode 10, Hartley told ET that it’s “a good one,” and promised that “that’ll take you on a ride for sure.” “That was a story that was told by our beautiful writers that, while I was shooting it, you’re watching these scenes and you’re trying to hold it together,” Hartley elaborated. “That’s a big one.” Meanwhile, following the fifth episode of the final season of This Is Us, co-executive producer Julia Brownell offered up a couple of hints about Déjà and Malik’s future, giving the impression that despite comparisons to Randall and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) and Romeo and Juliet, Déjà and Malik may not be destined to be together forever. “I will say that they are very young, and we talk all the time in writers’ rooms about childhood love— the impact that it has, but also how feasible it is as it transitions into adulthood. Why certain relationships last, and others don’t,” Bronwell told Deadline. “It’s not going to be a smooth ride for them. They’re not Randall and Beth. They live very different lives and we are going to try to navigate that in a real way.” Will those bumps in the road occur in “Every Version of You,” or are they still a little further down the road? We’ll have to wait to find out, but there’s not much time left—we’re now 10 episodes into the 18-episode season, putting us in the back half of the show’s final season.
How to watch This Is Us
The final season of This Is Us will air new episodes every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. The next episode of Season 6, “Every Version of You,” premieres Tuesday, March 29. Next, We’re Not Crying, You’re Crying! These 50 Beautiful Quotes From This Is Us Will Have You Bawling
