Warning: This article contains spoilers from the This Is Us episode “After the Fire.”
This Is Us fans are reeling after the most recent episode of the NBC drama showed a new side of Randall (Sterling K. Brown).
In a scene that stunned some viewers, present-day Randall (Sterling K. Brown) used his status as the “good son” as a way to pressure his mom, Rebecca (Mandy Moore), to agree to enroll in a nine-month Alzheimer’s clinical trial in St. Louis. The move was shocking because Rebecca had already made it clear that she wanted to spend the time she still has at home with her family. But Rebecca ultimately succumbed to Randall’s pressure after he reminded her that she kept his biological dad, William (Ron Cephas Jones), from him after meeting him decades earlier.
During a therapy session with Dr. Leigh (Pamela Adlon), Randall explained that he already lost three parents — his father Jack, and biological parents, William and Laurel. Therefore, he refused to just sit by and let his only living parent, Rebecca, slip away because he knows it would “break” him. But fans of the NBC drama did not agree with Randall’s tactics.
In comments to a photo on the official This Is Us Instagram page, fans expressed anger at Randall for pressuring his mother into doing something she didn’t want to do.
“I did not like that Randall pushed Rebecca into leaving her family. Who knows if the trial will even help?” one viewer wrote.
“Randall is a manipulator,” another person said.
“Ugh I’m so sad Randall is forcing her,” a third follower added.
“Really not liking Randall’s character ATM,” another This Is Us fan wrote.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly , This Is Us executive producer Elizabeth Berger agreed that a lot of fans would argue that Randall’s emotional manipulation of his mom was “a wildly unfair thing to do.” She also added that she feels Randall does not care what anyone else thinks, and that he just wants his mom to get better and he will do whatever it takes to help her.
Co-showrunner Isaac Aptaker added that he’s aware of how divisive the storyline is, and that even on the This Is Us set, people were divided. Some thought Randall was being manipulative and others felt he was doing the right thing by “playing every card in his deck” to get Rebecca to do what he wants because he’s trying to prolong her life.
This Is Us fans know that Randall will soon be estranged from some members of his family, most notably his brother Kevin (Justin Hartley), as teased in a previous flash-forward scene set several months in the future. Now it appears that fans know why the brothers will stop speaking. Once Kevin finds out what’s behind Rebecca’s change of tune regarding the clinical trial, a brotherly blowout will no doubt ensue.
