This is Us Season 6 Episode 13 review: A Pearson event isn't complete without some drama, not even on Kate’s wedding

3.5/5

Story: Katoby is history and Kate is moving on with Philip. It’s her wedding day, glimpses of which we’ve seen sporadically in the past. This episode, though, was about the events of the day – Kate and Phillip couldn’t be happier, Kevin’s had a mysterious rough night that Madison and Beth are determined to get to the bottom of, while newly-elected senator Randall is struggling to wrap his head around the fact that Rebecca’s illness has progressed quite a bit and Miguel is also dealing with age-related health issues.

Review: I should have seen it coming – that the writers of This is Us would get us to turn on the waterworks in the final chapter of the show. And they did it with a wedding episode, amid all the joy of a new couple starting their happily-ever-after together, there were several moments that had us reaching for the tissue box.

Kate and Philip are getting married and they couldn’t be happier together amid all their near-and-dear ones. Rebecca’s set to perform, which everyone’s a tad worried about, especially since she’s begun referring to Kevin as Jack. Worse still, Randall’s notices that Miguel has a tremble in his hands, and figures that all is not well on his front either.

But the bigger mystery of the day was the hastily written ‘love note’ and woman’s lingerie in Kevin’s room that turn Beth and Madison into sleuths, with three suspects – the wedding singer, Cassidy and Sophie. Well, we won’t get to the bottom of that just yet. There’s still six episodes to go on this season.

Rebecca’s impaired cognition is at the centre of this episode, triggered more because of a break in her routine for Kate’s wedding. Routine, incidentally, was what younger Rebecca wasn’t too comfortable with, so much so that she even got a haircut that she regretted almost instantly, but got her and Jack to take stock of the need to shake things up once in a while. Now, at Kate’s wedding, Rebecca’s forgotten that Jack is no more and sees him in Kevin. And although she’s been prepping for her big moment to perform at the wedding right after Randall’s speech, Rebecca is momentarily lost, but regains composure just enough to deliver a beautiful rendition of the This is Us theme song (composed by three-time Emmy-nominee Siddhartha Khosla).

Mandy Moore has always been brilliant as Rebecca, holding her own even with the prosthetics to age her and the difficulties her character has because of Alzheimer. Susan Kelechi Watson is like a diamond shining bright under the light, every time the focus is on her and it is absolute delight seeing that naughty twinkle in her eye when she goes sleuthing with Caitlin Thompson. Sterling K Brown, of course, always knocks it out of the park when he’s under the spotlight. Boy, that speech was equal measure sexy and depressing. Who didn’t shed a tear or two watching Sterling, as Randall, with a trickle down his cheek?

Verdict: In only six weeks (if there are no other breaks), This is Us will come to an end, and it’s not going to be a smooth ride getting there. In the meantime, who's ready for next week, when the mystery surrounding Kevin's love life is unravelled?

PS: Randall’s three girls were conspicuously MIA at the wedding, although the youngest, Annie gets a mention. Guess the makers didn’t want to hire a new bunch of actors for one episode.