This Is Us fans are confused by Randall’s therapy session. In the new episode of the NBC drama, titled “Clouds,” the Pearson son (played by Sterling K. Brown) sought therapy for his anxiety issues, but the identity of his therapist ( Better Things star Pamela Adlon) remained a mystery for most of the scenes.
The episode featuring Randall’s therapy session with Dr. Leigh (Adlon) zeroed in on his face, while his therapist was only shown from behind. Randall under-shared during the meeting, and the disastrous session ended with him blowing up at the unseen therapist for still having magazines from 2017 in her waiting room and not turning off her coffee maker.
While her voice was heard throughout the therapy scenes, Adlon’s face was only shown for a brief second in the final moments of the episode when Randall went back to give therapy another try.
In comments to an Instagram post on the This Is Us page, fans were confused about why Adlon’s face wasn’t shown when she was talking to Randall. Some viewers wondered if she wasn’t shown until the end as a way to “build up” the reveal of who the guest star was. Others thought it was more about the storyline — as in the therapist wasn’t shown until Randall was finally able to “accept” that he needed therapy.
As the episode aired, Twitter users were feeling confused and stressed out.
So what was the point of hiding the therapist’s face? #ThisIsUs
— Shan (@Mschevuslady) February 26, 2020
Why aren’t they showing Randall’s therapist’s face? We’ve only seen the back of her head… #ThisIsUs
— Jasmine (@Jazz_Marie22) February 26, 2020
Thinking they’re not showing the therapist to make us as viewers as uncomfortable as Randall is, with all these tight shots on only his face. And it’s working, watching everyone losing it on here ? #ThisisUs
— Jess ????? (@JessNeedsADrink) February 26, 2020
So they showed us the therapist, but they didn’t make a big deal out of it. I’m confused. #ThisIsUs
— Sri-OTA Forever ? (@sriisme) February 26, 2020
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly , This Is Us producer Elizabeth Berger explained why Randall’s therapist was kept out of sight.
“A lot of that had to do with what Sterling can do as a performer,” the This Is Us EP said. “As we were talking about this, we started realizing that it would just be absolutely incredible to stay in these long takes with Sterling where you’re getting into his psychology and you’re watching him turn her words over and over again in his mind. And because Sterling is the type of actor that can do that and to live in those minutes-long takes, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do it that way.”
The This Is Us producer added that Adlon was totally on board with the idea of not having her face on-camera. The actress joked that she didn’t have to memorize her lines and said she understood why showing just the back of her head worked for the episode.
Berger also teased an upcoming This is Us episode that will show more of what Adlon can bring to the show — and, yes, viewers will actually get to see her face the whole time.
Adlon is one of many big-name guest stars this season on This Is Us . Jennifer Morrison, Omar Epps, Timothy Omundson, M. Night Shyamalan, Sophia Bush, and John Legend have also appeared on the fourth season of the NBC drama series.
