Andrew Robinson
This Is Us returned to NBC after a brief hiatus to air its final five episodes of the season consecutively.
Summary
Kevin continues to deal with the aftermath of his decision. Randall learns something surprising about Deja. Kate and Toby celebrate her college graduation. In the past, it’s high school graduation day.
Analysis
This episode is poor. A lot of things occur that just don’t seem reasonable. Deja’s storyline, for example, while heartwarming, just isn’t likely. First of all, even if she does outperform her classmates as much as the episode wants to say she does, the chances of her teachers wanting her to do what they say in the episode are remote to nil. After just beginning her new life with Randall and Beth and the girls, it is unlikely that her teachers would decide that completely uprooting her life would be the way to go. It is even more unlikely that they would make this decision without talking to a guidance counselor, principal, and parents (outside of an off-handed remark to Randall). It simply gives the episode a too-good-to-be-true feel, and “The Graduates” suffers as a result. And then, of course, Randall is discussing this with Beth right as he gets the call for Kate. Gotta love when all the big things in each character’s life happen at the same time.
This is also present with what Randall talks to the teacher about in the first place. In 2019, teachers know what they can and cannot do. What they cannot do is submit student works without the student’s approval, especially one as sensitive as Deja’s. Every teacher knows this. This is just a prime example of This Is Us creating a problem solely in the interest of creating conflict. They tend to do this a lot, and it rears its ugly head in “The Graduates”.
One final major issue with “The Graduate” is Kate’s storyline. Graduating college is a big deal, and Toby tends to make grand gestures. However, the entire focus of the storyline being Toby creating his own college graduation for her is just a bit absurd, even for him. And then, of course, Kate has her conflict on the very same day that her college graduation is held. Gotta love it.
Justin Hartley does a good job at portraying a deteriorating Kevin. Hartley has been much improved this season.
Mandy Moore is fantastic once again in “The Graduates.” Her performance in the past scenes are fabulous, as the audience gets to see a recently widowed woman deal with moving on without the man she was expected to spend the rest of her life with, and the results are as heartbreaking as one would imagine.
The strongest parts of the episode are the scenes taking place in the past. The writing is strong, and the performances are brilliant. It’s a shame that the rest of the episode couldn’t follow suit.
Verdict
“The Graduates” is a weak episode, which is a shame because the last few episodes have been very good. The writing is weak and absurd, and it results in some hard-to-believe scenes. Despite good performances from Moore and Hartley, as well as good scenes that take place in the past, “The Graduates” is a piece of work.
5/10
