Past and Future Stress: This Is Us "Toby"

Sometimes the rock in the family needs a rock to lean on too. Here's a recap of This Is Us.

"Toby" was an astonishing episode. It was such a deep in character developing piece of an hour. From Randall's rocky politic start to Kevin meeting his dad's army buddy. But it was Toby and Kate that was the real centerpiece as they are waiting for word on whether they could have kids with Kate's embryos. From eight to three and down to one, it becomes stressful for the couple and when Toby finally tries to get back on his medication while Kate uses her Adele-a-gram to take the stress away.

We look back into the past of Rebecca and the family, who's their rock in the family. You would think it would be Randall, but it's not this time, it's Miguel. When Miguel brings Rebecca a piano, he helps fix their Refridgerator. After a rough prom night, Miguel tries to talk to Randall, whose prom date's father didn't approve of him. And helps when Kevin comes by his place when he had too much to drink. But it comes to show that Miguel was the rock for them.

Kevin meets with Mr. Robinson, who fought in Vietnam with his father. After having a nice meal and chat, they talked about his connection with his father. Kevin learns what his dad really did and that he wasn't an auto mechanic but a sergeant. He tells him that there are things that a man don't want to tell talk about. That was until the end when he came back just before Kevin and Zoe left and gave him some letters and a photo of Jack with a woman, who wears the necklace that Kevin is wearing. That opens up another can of worms.

We dive into Toby's past in this episode and it couldn't have been more powerful. We see how Toby deals with stress from the time as a child to his marriage. But he gets well and meets Kate. Toby tries to get back on his medication, but it doesn't go well and tries to distract himself until he learns that he missed the phone call from Kate's doctor. Even though it's good news, Kate's pregnant, Toby breaks down and cries.

Randall's political adventures didn't go the way he had hoped when opening up a campaign at a local BBQ place. Trying to tell them what he thinks and wants to do, they all shut him down and explain that the current councilman is fine. So Randall needs to rethink about what to do next. In the meantime, Beth had a job interview and she tells him that it went smooth, but apparently had lost her composure.

 I was amazed and stunned by the end of the episode. So well written and well performed from Chrissy Metz and Chris Sullivan but Susan Kelechi Watson gives a stunning last-minute performance. But the episode opens up to more questions: Who's the lady with Jack in Vietnam? And what's wrong with Beth and could it be connected to the future? We'll just have to wait and see. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch This Is Us Tuesdays t 9/8c on NBC.

The Good Place "The Ballad of Donkey Doug" Preview

Here's a preview of Thursday's episode of The Good Place titled, "The Ballad of Donkey Doug."

"The Ballad of Donkey Doug"

Jason makes a visit with some people from his past, while Chidi gets help in resolving a problem.



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You can catch The Good Place Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.

Superstore "Costume Competition" Preview

Here's a preview of Thursday's Halloween episode of Superstore titled, "Costume Competition."


"Costume Competition"
When an employee costume competition is announced, Amy and Mateo aren't afraid to play dirty to win first prize...a paid day off. Meanwhile, Glenn is preoccupied by Cloud 9's new automatic cart collector and Garrett is tormented by an annoying Halloween novelty song. 




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You can catch Superstore Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC.

Chicago PD "Fathers and Sons" Preview

Here's a preview of Wednesday's episode of Chicago PD titled, "Fathers and Sons."

"Fathers and Sons"

While undercover, Ruzek discovers that his father is working for a suspected drug dealer and is forced to ask the question: is his dad involved?

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You can catch Chicago PD Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

Chicago Med "When You Don't Know" Preview

Here's a preview of Wednesday's episode of Chicago Med titled, "What You Don't Know."

What You Don't Know"

When things become complicated, Will is forced to lie to Natalie. Ethan and April find out some compromising information about Emily's boyfriend and Ava is unsure of what do do with a patient who is refusing treatment.

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You can catch Chicago Med Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

Chicago Fire "A Volatile Mixture Preview

Here's a preview of this Wednesday's episode of Chicago Fire titled, "A Volatile Mixture."

"A Volatile Mixture"

While working alongside a journalist, Casey does some digging into the cause of a trailer park fire. Boden hits his breaking point wile Mouch, Herrmann and Cruz work to figure out why Molly's isn't performing up to expectations.


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You can catch Chicago Fire Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.

Acceptance: Chicago Fire " This Isn't Charity"

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It's Herrmann's first day as Lieutenant at 51. Will he be good? Here's a recap!

It's Herrmann's first day as the engine's Lieutenant. It doesn't go as well. He gets a beef with one of the firefighters who's not pulling his task and making jokes.  Herrmann comes to Boden for advice and tells him to do what he thinks is best, which is to get that guy's transfer papers ready.

Mouch gets a visit from Ritter and learns he decided to leave the firehouse. Mouch asks Ritter to come on to 51. Herrmann and Mouch begged Ritter to join; they told him why they thought he was a firefighter who got back up and kept going. He accepted.

Severide meets Stella's blast from the past friend, who feels he may not be over her. After Severide tells her what he thinks, we see it too. After she turns down his offer to go to a party at his cabin, he comes over to look for her to change her mind.

Casey and the team deal with grenades going off in the city. They learn that the widow of a Vietnam soldier had kept them; they tried to sell them, thinking that they were just toys. They were the real thing. Searching around the neighborhood, Casey gets a sighting of kids playing with grenades for a movie they're filming. Just as he gets there, the kid pulls the pin. Just as he lets go, Casey, in a split second, throws it in the pond.

And Brett sees what Foster is capable of.  They get a call of an accident at a gym where they know a girl who has broken a part of her shoulder.  Foster thinks that the kid is taking PEDs. She thinks the mother is the one doing it. Foster asks the doctor to run a drug test, but he disagrees. Brett tries to help Foster move on, but she won't. Foster gets a call from the mother and finds that she's on PEDs. Foster and Brett headed to the gym to confront the coach, who admitted he did even though he called them vitamins. Brett apologizes to Foster for not backing her up and mentions that her former partner would jump through hoops, too. 

"This Isn't Charity" was an excellent episode with good character development for Foster, Herrmann, and Stella. The grenade storyline was a thrilling plot, but also I think the bigger storyline was watching Brett and Foster's partnership grow and Stella and Severide's relationship takes an awkward turn. I don't think it's over with that guy. He'll be back.

Overall, I give this episode an 8.5/10.

You can catch Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.