Andrew Robinson
On Tuesday, January 15th, This Is Us returned to NBC following a hiatus that lasted nearly two months. After a huge midseason finale that had multiple characters placed in strange, potentially show-altering states, “The Last Seven Weeks” attempts to pick up the pieces and catch the viewer up on all things Pearsons.
Summary
“The Last Seven Weeks” begins with Election Night for Randall, showing the potentially-tense relationships between Randall and Beth, as well as between Kevin and Zoe. Then, it reverts to flashbacks to portray the events of the seven weeks leading up to Election Night.
Randall and Beth continue to try to find a balance between his campaign and family life. Kevin and Zoe make a few big decisions. Kate and Toby start getting a nursery together for the baby. Then, finally, the results of Randall’s election are revealed.
Analysis
Meh.
“The Last Seven Weeks” has major shortcomings. It tries to be cute and funny in some instances – most notably in Kate and Toby’s arc – but this reviewer just doesn’t find those scenes cute, nor funny. With all the emotional attachments that the Pearsons have had to inanimate objects relating to their past throughout the course of the show, one would think that Kate would be a bit more understanding of Toby and his position. Kate’s actions come off as extremely selfish at best – cruel at worst – and make her character much, much less endearing. The story arc of Kate and Toby just takes too long, and not enough happens for it to be worth the time.
Kevin and Zoe actually have the best arc of the episode, which is a far cry from this reviewer’s normal stance on Kevin. Them meeting someone from Zoe’s past together, and then reaching multiple conclusions about how their relationship should look moving forward are some of the best moments of the episode. They are very honest with each other; their conversations seem like conversations that real people would have, unlike those between Kate and Toby in “The Last Seven Weeks.” This is a redeeming episode for Kevin and Zoe’s story arc. Here’s to hoping that it continues.
Finally, the biggest arc of the episode must be addressed. That election. This is the fakest I can ever remember This Is Us feeling. Everything that occurs just seems so unrealistic that it is severely off-putting. TIU is a show that prides itself on its intense feeling of realism, and it completely loses it with this storyline. Not only does the tension between Randall and Beth feel like it was approached at all wrong (Beth definitely should have been angry – I’m Team Beth here – but the final scenes of the midseason finale just seemed like a huge step that people in as secure as a relationship as Beth and Randall likely wouldn’t take so quickly), but the tension is then wrapped up completely unrealistically, and far too neatly. As this reviewer has complained about in the past, elections tend to be very difficult to portray realistically in television shows, especially those in which the candidate in question is dabbling in politics for the first time. This Is Us decides to go the election route, which is enough to make anyone searching for realism feel uneasy. Then, the saving grace came in the midseason finale, when it felt clear that Randall was getting smoked by Councilman Brown. However, “The Last Seven Weeks” backtracks on that, and the race suddenly becomes, well, a race, again. The simple fact that it becomes a race again without any compromising photos, police reports, etc. from Councilman Brown’s past being released for the public to see is simply baffling, mind-boggling, and entirely unrealistic. And, of course, the way that Randall and Beth’s personal story arc continues is supposed to be feel-good, I guess, but it instead simply feels like something that would happen in a bad ’90s romantic comedy. Plus, it can be convincingly argued that it suppresses the value of Beth as a character, seeming to imply that she is what is holding Randall back; that it is because of her that he is having problems during the campaign. Even if this is not the show’s intention, it certainly comes across that way, and feels very, very backwards, especially for 2019. Don’t even get me started on the final scene of the episode.
One saving grace of the episode is the Game of Thrones reference. This is a hilarious scene, and is by far my favorite scene of a poor episode. Plus, Deja saying she thought Anderson Cooper was hot, along with Beth’s surprised and happy reaction, is pretty cute.
Verdict
“The Last Seven Weeks” may be the weakest episode of This Is Us. Nearly everything about it feels unrealistic, which is very off-putting for a show that is based completely around its supposed realism. Kevin and Zoe’s arc is the only one that feels authentic, aiding in making the weak episode just a tad bit more likable. Fogelman and Co. are very lucky that they decided to include the GoT reference, and Deja scene (side note: can we get more Deja, Tess, and Annie, please? Their scenes are nearly always great), as they are the saving graces of the episode.
The entire election storyline seems like it’s going to be a major thing moving forward, for better or for worse. Let’s hope that Fogelman has something in mind to make it a little bit more realistic because “The Last Seven Weeks” is anything but that.
4/10
