Randall Pearson Totally Got Randall Pearson-ed on the ‘This Is Us’ Season 3 Finale
*Warning: Spoilers ahead*
Leading up to the This Is Us season three finale, we worried about Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth’s (Susan Kelechi Watson) future together. Turns out all they needed was a little bit of tough, but totally endearing, love from Deja (Lyric Ross).
Following their painful fight in the penultimate episode of the season, Randall and Beth were skirting around each other in their own version of a Cold War. Since Deja has lived in plenty of homes where there was tension, she recognized it immediately and took matters into her own hands. So, she started talking about joining the debate team out of the blue and when Randall agreed to drive her to practice, she knew just what to do.
During the drive, she asks him point-blank: “When did you and Beth stop knowing how to have a conversation with each other?” And then, in a truly full-circle moment, Deja Randalls Randall with one of those signature Pearson pep talks. She tells him that she has no interest in debate club and that it was just a ruse to get him to drive her to her previous foster home, much like how he drove her to his birth father, William’s (Ron Cephas Jones), apartment when he wanted to adopt her.
They stand in front of the house and she tells him about how bleak her life was while living there. When Randall tries to chime in, she confidently shuts him down, saying, “Not now, I’m doing a speech.” Her foster parents weren’t interested in putting food on the table and the man of the house spent all of their money on scratchers. Deja and her fellow foster children dreamed about winning money so they could buy burgers and fries and dip the fries in chocolate malts, a pleasure Randall admits he hasn’t yet experienced.
The point? Deja reminds Randall that he needs to get it together and figure things out with Beth. “Most people don’t win, Randall, but you did—you won the lottery twice. Once when you got adopted and again when you met Beth,” she tells him.
Thanks to Deja, Randall opts to “bend” for once and considers stepping down as city councilman, but Beth beats him to the punch and decides they should move to Philadelphia, so they can both make their dreams work. Thanks to the telling flash-forward at the close of the episode, we know they live happily ever after.
It’s official: The student has become the teacher and our girl is growing up. We can’t wait to see more Deja speeches come season four.