This is Us Season 6 Episode 12 review: Kate really does suck the joy out of being a dad for Toby

3/5

Story: After months of trying to make their marriage work, with months of family therapy too, Kate and Toby barely make any progress. Kate realizes that their marriage has run its course, and even though Toby isn’t as convinced, he knows that having them yelling at each other all the time is not the most conducive environment for their children. It’s the last thing he wants to subject them too. They do get divorced, and split on good terms, determined to do what’s best for their children.

Review: Let’s get this straight at the onset. Team Toby here, so, it was really heart-wrenching to watch how things ended for him and Kate. Toby’s not the bad guy; despite his best efforts, he doesn’t measure up to Kate’s expectations of him as a father, which he sums up just right when he says, “My crime is not having lost weight, having taken too much time to bond with Jack, or taking up a job in San Francisco. The only crime I can consistently find myself guilty of is not being Jack Pearson”. Bingo!

I might be biased towards Toby, but for a while it felt that Kate’s been the unreasonable one, and it continued on this episode too. It’s as if Toby could never say or do anything right as far as she or the kids were concerned, which is said, given how much of an effort that man actually makes for his family. But then, all good things must come to an end, and so does KaToby too. Although she insists that even though their marriage ended, their story hasn’t, something Toby thinks he will never see.

But he does, when Kate marries again. What we didn’t know is that Toby also finds someone and his happily-ever-after, so it’s not all that bad for him after all. In fact, for the first time we also see aged Kate with Philip, Toby and his new partner at adult Jack’s music performance. For the longest time, there’d been rumours that something’s happened to Kate, since the showrunners of This is Us never once showed her in the flash forward scenes of the family congregating for Rebecca’s last moments. Well, that’s been put to rest now… all’s well with Kate.

And while the episode was mostly about Kate, Toby and Phillip, there were also glimpses of Kevin with his new flings, while also clearly still holding a torch for Sophie. We also get to know Phillip a wee bit more. He’s not as obnoxious as he’s made himself out to be, but is actually quite the nice guy. One who’s been married before; a relationship that ran out of steam only because of the toll several rounds of IVF took on them as a couple.

Verdict: Yes, this is a show about the Pearsons, who come with their own set of flaws, but making it look like KaToby ended mostly because of Toby is unfair to the guy. Why does no one have the guts to tell Kate when she’s wrong?