"The Club"
"The Club" was such a good episode from beginning to finish as it dives into the relationship of fathers and sons; but also relationships that ended with a not so much of a twist. After learning about Randall's new teacher that he admires, Jack tries to bond with him even more. Even Jack tries to bond with Randall as if it's just like when he was at the golf course with Rebecca's father but it's not. While Randall tries to get one of his bills passed; he offers a couple of councilmen to a game of golf, but while he's not so good, he learns enough to win their respect.
Toby feels unloved after the birth of their son and tries to get Kate out on a date night. But during their time together at a fancy hotel, things don't go so well and ended up watching TCM. As they call it a night, they return home and found their spark before their son returns home. Kevin tries to find a way to kill time after online stalking his ex-girlfriend, while at the gym he and Cassidy connect well and even picked a date with one of the employees. Kevins takes Donna out for lunch and while they headed back to his place, Cassidy is there. The two talk and we learn later that she didn't leave like we thought she did but instead slept with Kevin.
As I said this was a good episode, so funny moments and memorable moments. There was some good solid character development with Randall, Jack, and Toby. And the writing was solid too. Overall I give this episode an 8/10.
"The Dinner and The Date"
They could have called this episode two dinners and a date.
After Jack invited Randall's teacher for dinner at his house, he soon becomes jealous of the two's relationship. But after a talk with Rebecca and soon Randall's teacher, Jack comes to terms and connects with Randall with a book that he is reading.
Meanwhile, after skipping one day of school, Deja pushes the limit to Beth and Randall as she spent the day with Malik. The families agreed to dinner and while it might not be the best first dinner at first; it got better as Deja comes clean about what really happened and both parents decide that they will be supervised when together at their house.
"The Dinner and the Date" was probably the best episode of the fall season so far. I just love Asante Blackk in this episode as he performed the hell out of his character Malik. I think that he'll get nominated for awards. While the performances from the rest of the cast were strong, the writing was as too. Overall, I give this episode a 9.5/10.
"Sorry"
This episode is a precursor to what's to come.
Kevin is broken to what had happened in the previous episode, going to a bar and picking up a fight. Nicky and Cassidy pick him up and while it's a big day for Nicky, Kevin forgot and learned an upside. When Nicky tells the judge why he isn't sorry for what he had done; it's because if he hadn't had done that he wouldn't have bonded with Kevin or him making a new friend. Plus all three with being at the Thanksgiving dinner.
Kate has a hard time feeding baby Jack, but when she goes next door and helps with Gregory. He so happens to get baby Jack to eat, his first was guacamole. After that when Toby comes back from work it was like nothing had happened and he got to see Jack's first bite.
As Beth watches over Deja and Malik, she notices that the two have their first argument. That argument happens to be that Deja wants to see her mother again and when she tells Beth she not only wants to see her but have her come over for Thanksgiving, which she and Randall will be happy.
On the other side, we see the relationship of the R&R (Rebecca and Randall) and how after Jack died and Randall at college, he makes visits to help Rebecca out with stuff. When Rebecca was up for a job, he helped her get that too after he noticed that after her interview that he wanted to see more people. But in the present, when Randall invites Rebecca on a Philly Tour; something doesn't quite seem right with her from taking photos and even losing her phone. Miguel even mentions that she's been losing her phone for the past month and when Randall confronts Rebecca about it, we see a side of Rebecca, unlike any other time. She seems to be showing signs of Alzheimer's.
"Sorry" was a powerful episode with the stories between Kevin/Cassidy/Nicky and Rebecca and Randall. There was so many emotions going into this episode at times; I even had to grab tissues during Rebecca, even when I figured that she might have early Alzheimer's. I can hardly wait to see what the fall finale will bring. Overall, I give this episode a 9.5/10.
You can catch This Is Us Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.