‘This Is Us’: How Will Beth React to That Randall and Rebecca Moment?
[Spoiler alert: This Is Us Season 4, Episode 17.] Randall’s (Sterling K. Brown) recent therapy session in This Is Us Season 4 highlighted two things about the City Councilman. For one, he still has unresolved issues with Rebecca (Mandy Moore). Meanwhile, no matter what timeline or scenario, Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) will always be his rock. But at the end of the March 17 episode, Randall gave Rebecca an ultimatum. And now it seems most fans think Beth will not approve. So how will Beth react to Randall’s remarks to Rebecca in the This Is Us Season 4 finale? There are plenty of layers to unwrap in “Strangers: Part Two.”
What happened to Randall and Rebecca in ‘This Is Us’ Season 4, Episode 17?
In This Is Us Season 4, Randall finds a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s in St. Louis, Missouri. He is dead set on putting Rebecca through the trial. However, Kevin (Justin Hartley) doesn’t like the idea, as it would take their mother away from their family. But regardless, after proposing the idea in New York City, Rebecca decides she doesn’t want to do the trial.
Then the This Is Us episode titled “After the Fire” digs into Randall’s motivations. He reveals he constantly wonders what he could have done to save Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) as well as the life the Pearson family could have had. But after delving into the best-case and worst-case scenarios while in therapy, Randall discovers he still has issues with Rebecca because she kept his birth father, William (Ron Cephas Jones), a secret.
As a result, Randall’s therapist, Dr. Leigh (Pamela Adlon) says he should consider confronting his mom before it’s too late. However, Randall rejects the idea because he doesn’t want to reopen the wound for Rebecca. He then says losing Rebecca would break him, so he will do whatever it takes to keep it from happening.
Later Beth tells Randall she’s proud of him for going to therapy. But as expected, the City Councilman doesn’t do a complete 180 after one session and his need for control takes over. Randall calls Rebecca while she’s having a game night with Kevin, Kate (Chrissy Metz), Miguel (Jon Huertas), Toby (Chris Sullivan), and baby Jack. Then Randall begs his mother to do the trial in St. Louis.
“I’ve been a good son, mom,” Randall pleads. “I’ve never asked you for anything, but I’m asking you for this now.” He continues to repeat similar phrases over the phone until Rebecca agrees.
The ‘This Is Us’ team teases how Beth will respond to Randall’s ultimatum to Rebecca
Following the March 17 episode of This Is Us Season 4, viewers expressed their disappointment in Randall’s ultimatum to Rebecca. Meanwhile, other fans hoped Beth would be the one to talk some sense into him, given all the support she has given him in the past.
“I hope she kicks his a** and also holds his hand (not at the same time),” a fan wrote on Reddit. “He needs both.”
“I hope Beth whips him into shape,” another fan wrote. “In his perfect scenario, Beth is the one who pulls him aside and says forgive your mother because life is short and losing a parent sucks.”
Meanwhile, This Is Us executive producers Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker hinted at Beth’s reaction toward Randall during an interview with Entertainment Weekly released on March 17. “She definitely has a reaction,” Aptaker said.
Then Berger added: “She also knows her husband probably better than anyone else in the world, and to some extent knows when he’s a runaway train. So she may have a reaction, but she may also realize that this is one that Randall’s going to pursue his own way, no matter what she does. We’ll be seeing her wrestle with that in the upcoming episode.”
Now we have a glimpse of Beth struggling with the Randall and Rebecca’s situation in the This Is Us Season 4 finale. In a clip from E! News, it appears Randall’s family is headed off to celebrate baby Jack’s birthday. But before they leave, Randall makes a comment about bringing travel books about St. Louis for Rebecca.
Beth then mumbles something and Randall thinks it’s loaded, nothing it’s the same noise she makes every time he brings up Rebecca’s trial in St. Louis.
“Beth, do you not think the clinical trial is a good idea?” Randall says.
“I think that your mom made her decision,” Beth says. “I think the tactics you used to get her to change her mind are… hmm. I mean, did she even tell your brother that she changed her mind? Because that’s gonna be something.”
Nevertheless, Beth’s confrontation is not exactly the cathartic moment This Is Us fans were hoping for. And in the end, Beth puts her trust in Randall. “Look, I just hope you know what you’re doing,” she says. “But you usually do.”
For the time being, we’ll just have to wait and see how the storyline unfolds in the This Is Us finale on March 24. But even if Beth doesn’t dive deeper into Randall and Rebecca’s issues, her observations are on point.
Read more: ‘This Is Us’: Kevin and Randall’s Fight Has Just Scratched the Surface, So Get Ready
