- Kevin spends the day with Rebecca; Toby makes a grand gesture; the Big Three get their report cards.
- Each of the Big Three has returned to his/her respective home following their much needed sibling retreat to the cabin to deal with their current issues. Kevin feels the need to visit with his mother in light of learning not only about her potential health problems, but learning that she will be finding out her MRI test results today. On Miguel's suggestion, Rebecca and Kevin end up spending the day together leading up to her late afternoon appointment. With Kate, Toby is saying all the right things to her, and is in the works for another of his grand gestures, but she isn't sure if the words and the gesture are enough. In meeting with Madison to clear the air about what happened between her and Kevin, Kate may get a clearer perspective about Toby. And Randall, on Beth's urging, has decided to see a therapist in light of the fact of the intruder, that incident which may trigger his next panic attack. On top of that issue, Randall is dealing with being in Philadelphia while Rebecca is without him in Los Angeles, he not trusting either Miguel or Kevin to handle things with her to his satisfaction. To fully get out of therapy what he needs, Randall will have to give up some control which he may not be able to do being who he is. These issues with the three and with Rebecca hearkens back to a day when they were twelve, it being report card day and the implications of those report card marks in relation to a deal the three have made with their parents.—Huggo
- PREVIOUSLY At the cabin, Randall tells Kate and Kevin about Rebecca's cognitive impairment diagnosis. Toby tells Kate he'll take care of Jack while she's away for the weekend at the cabin so he can spend more time with his son. Kevin listens as Kate plays back Madison's cell phone message about having slept with Kevin. At the cabin, Randall tells Kevin that Beth thinks he should see a therapist.
The Three (12 years old) are sitting at the dining room table. Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) comes home, apologizing for being late -- it's Report Card Day. Jack and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) look at Randall's (Lonnie Chavis) report card first, teasing that his sad face must indicate his straight-A streak is over. Indeed, Randall earned an A- in Geometry. Rebecca jokes that he is so grounded. Next is Kate (Mackenzie Hancsicsak), who also has a sad face. Jack and Rebecca see that Kate has improved in her classes, but Kate is sad because her boyfriend, Stuart, has broken up with her and she leaves the room demanding to be left alone. Unlike his siblings, Kevin (Parker Bates) has a smug look on his face. He declares he has two A's and Randall goes to look at the report card in disbelief. Randall smirks that the A's are in P.E. and Art. The rest of the report card is below average with comments added about Kevin's poor conduct. Kevin reminds them that Rebecca promised him five dollars for every A, and that he intends to spend it on baseball cards. Randall says he'll contest the A- so his streak will be intact. Jack suggests to Randall that it wouldn't hurt to lighten up on himself. Randall says, no way, and leaves the room. After Kevin also leaves, reminding Rebecca of the ten dollars, Rebecca points out to Jack that Randall is getting worse. Jack thinks Randall is just wound up tight and needs to blow off some steam; Jack will take care of it.
Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) asks if Randall (Sterling K. Brown) is okay after spending time at the cabin, but Randall (still wearing the hand cast from the mugging incident) says he's worried about Rebecca as her MRI results are coming in today and he can't be there with her. Beth suggests Randall talk about it at therapy and that she's proud of him. Randall says it's not that big a deal. Randall reaches into Beth's purse for some organic lip balm, but Beth shoos him away and retrieves it for him. She reminds Randall that Annie's birthday is soon and asks if they should get an iPhone for her. Randall reminds Beth that they had decided they weren't getting Annie a cell phone until junior high.
Toby (Chris Sullivan) apologizes to Kate (Chrissy Metz), that what he said to her before the weekend was out of fear and worry and exhaustion; that this past weekend, with Kate away at the cabin, his time with Jack was a godsend. Toby takes Kate to the garage that he was arranged as a model (with cardboard boxes, etc.) of a music studio. Kate thinks it's a nice gesture, but she had just been away for the weekend and needs time to process. Kate gets a text from Madison. Kate tells Toby Madison slept with Kevin and wants to have brunch to apologize. Toby is shocked.
At Rebecca and Miguel's home, Kevin (Justin Hartley) tells Rebecca his weekend at the cabin was just what he needed. He gushes about how great Rebecca looks, and Rebecca figures that Randall has told Kevin about her diagnosis. She assures Kevin she is okay. Rebecca says she and Miguel (Jon Huertas) were going to window shop at old record stores before her doctor's appointment in the late afternoon. Miguel suggests she and Kevin spend the day together instead, making sure they make it to the appointment.
Randall is in the therapist's waiting room and is put off by how the water cooler is out of cups and the magazines are three years old. She calls him in and he notes an unconventional painting on the wall behind where he sits and says at least she'll have something to look at when she's bored.
Rebecca tries to get the Three out of the house for school. Kevin is sorting his baseball cards on the kitchen table and reminds Rebecca about the ten dollars. He asks if she can take him to the baseball card store after school, but she says she can't because she has a lot of errands to run. He then asks if he can go with Rebecca on her errands -- as long as they swing by the baseball card store -- and she relents. Randall declares he is going in early to correct that A-. Kate is still upstairs, sadly doodling in a notebook. Rebecca comes up and says she'll be going to the market in the afternoon and offers to make whatever Kate wants for dinner. Kate says three cheese macaroni and brightens.
Rebecca is at a listening station playing "Both Sides Now" off Joni Mitchell's "Clouds" album. She tells Kevin she misses the crackle of the leader on records, and her album collection was her whole world. Kevin is amused when she compares it to his baseball card collection. He says it was different, that it involved strategy and commerce. She reminisces about how, when she and Jack first came out to LA, they tried to find Joni Mitchell's house in Laurel Canyon.
Jack is driving Rebecca up Laurel Canyon.
Rebecca says they got close, drove through the neighborhood, but never found the house and gave up. Kevin says they should finish the job and asks Siri where the house is.
Kate meets Madison (Caitlin Thompson) for brunch. Madison makes small talk but Kate asks her to get it over with. Madison apologizes and is ashamed and embarrassed. Kate says she doesn't know what to think and that the Madison-Kevin issue has come at a bad time. Madison urges Kate to tell her about it.
Randall asks the therapist if they're doing this like "Good Will Hunting" or "The Sopranos." He says he's comfortable speaking of his emotions and is not ashamed of being an emotional man. He sets his phone on silent and places it on the coffee table between them. He says his mom has a doctor's appointment today but there's no need for distractions. The therapist asks if his mom is okay and he explains there are early signs of dementia but that is not why he is there. Randall says he has anxiety and that he has a panic attack once every decade. He says his house was recently broken into. He tells of how Tess is also in therapy and its helping. Randall is hoping the sessions will help him with coping mechanisms. He tells her about how he was left at a firehouse and then was adopted. She confesses that she already knows about that, and about him, from his speeches. Randall is taken aback.
Kevin (12 years old) and Rebecca are placing their groceries into their car. Kevin reminds her about the baseball card store but she says they have other errands first. Kevin says she shopped for dinner for Kate because Kate got dumped, and returned library books for Randall because he is a nerd. Kevin wishes Rebecca could be fun like Sophie's mom. Rebecca says she IS a fun mom and Kevin laughs. Rebecca agrees to go to the card shop now, but only for five minutes.
Kevin and Rebecca are outside the gate at Joni Mitchell's house. She tells Kevin how Mitchell lived there with Graham Nash. Kevin presses the gate buzzer, saying how being a celebrity gives you perks, but the buzzer goes unanswered. Rebecca tugs at the gate and it's unlocked. She leads Kevin through.
Jack has taken Randall (12 years old) to a school track. He says Randall should run until that worried feeling in the pit of his stomach goes away. Jack lies down on a bench and offers Randall a head start for a race around the track. Randall takes off until Jack finally gets up and goes after him.
Randall tells the therapist he is fortunate to have been shaped by two wonderful fathers - the one he lost and the one he gained. He says that is why he includes those stories in his speeches. He interrupts himself to tell the therapist he's upset that she had Googled him and wonders if that is against the rules, and that she didn't tell him until they were already into their session. He apologizes, acknowledging he'll only get benefits out of the session, based on what he puts into it. He understands he's a public figure and shouldn't have been surprised. He's distracted by a drip hissing on the coffee maker hotplate.
Kate explains to Madison that she's told Toby it's not enough to WANT to be a good father, he just has to BE one. Despite Kate's protests, Madison offers to explain why she slept with Kevin - because he was someone who had known her, not like a Tinder date or a set-up. Madison admires what Kate has with Toby - that they can be with someone, with the worst part of them on display, without being scared. Madison suggests that marriage means that Toby should be able to express his deepest fears without punishment.
At the card shop, Kevin asks for a set of 1991 cards - he's looking for a John Candelaria to finish off last year's set. He buys 16 packs for $8.40 - Rebecca pays. At the shop, Kevin opens each pack, eating the bubble gum along the way, and searches for the card. Rebecca takes a piece of gum and does not like it. Kevin explains the taste from each piece runs out and she has to replace it every sixty seconds. She offers to help him with the search and takes a pack. As she goes through the deck, she blows a big gum bubble.
Rebecca tells Kevin (then Jack in inter-cut flashbacks) the story of how Graham Nash wrote "Our House" based on this house - the vase she bought, the flowers from their yard, the fire he built. Rebecca sings the song to Kevin (and Jack in the flashback). Rebecca wonders that a simple morning (Mitchell and Nash's, and Rebecca and Jack's) might have been forgotten if not for that song. Kevin asks if she's scared. Rebecca admits, a little, but she's not worried about that since she's spending time with Kevin, and he's always made their time together fun. She says that helping people forget their worries, or about what comes next, is the most important thing you can do for someone.
Nearing the end of their session, the therapist asks Randall about his relationship with his mother. He says that it's good and that they're close. He tells the therapist that he's there not because of his mother, but because he has control issues. She asks if that's his self-diagnosis. She asks if he's been trying to steer their conversation to anything BUT talking about his mom. Randall calls her "Dr. Melfi." The coffee maker hisses again and he wonders if she purposefully tries to agitate her patients (the lacking waiting room, the unconventional wall art, the coffee maker) into having a breakdown. His phone vibrates and he reads that Kevin will be taking Rebecca to her MRI follow-up. The coffee maker hisses.
Jack and Randall have come back from the track. Kate is home alone watching a music video. After Randall goes upstairs, Jack asks if Kate has seen him throw out the first waffle when he makes Saturday breakfast. He explains it's because the waffle iron wasn't at the right temperature or the batter was too thick. He compares first boyfriends to first waffles, and that she'll get through a few before she gets it right. Jack explains that her right boyfriend is still cooking.
Kate comes home and finds Toby lying on the coach holding a sleeping Jack. Kate whispers that brunch with Madison went surprisingly well. Toby jokingly asks if Madison will soon be his new sister-in-law. Kate says she doesn't want to resent it when Toby tells her his feelings and that she loves him and the gesture he made with the garage. She asks him to show her the rest of his plans for the studio.
As they leave Joni Mitchell's house, Rebecca says she's starving and they should go get sushi. Kevin thinks they won't have time since they also have to pick up Miguel before the doctor's appointment. Rebecca says they can reschedule the appointment. Kevin says he doesn't want to reinforce the family narrative that he's undependable. Rebecca admits that she doesn't want to go - that she doesn't want their day to end. Kevin tells Rebecca their day will end no matter what -- but there's tomorrow, that he'll still be here and they can do something else.
Randall tells the therapist that he doesn't have a need to be in control. But that his mom depends on him and he's the only one who can take care of her. He admits to having a very complicated relationship with Rebecca. But if he doesn't take care of her, who will: Miguel is a nice guy but he's been missing all the signs for months; and, Kevin will certainly text shortly saying he lost track of time and forgot about the appointment. The coffee maker hisses. Randall says his mom made her promise not to tell anyone about her diagnosis - Kevin is a recovering addict and Kate has a kid with special needs - but she told him, as if he doesn't already have enough on his own plate. He says this is not a revelation to him, and that the session is a waste of time. He knows his faults, and he knows what triggers him, but he knows his faults are good faults and that he would rather have them than not. Randall assures the therapist that without him, the whole family would have fallen apart. She asks, would they? Randall gets up - saying he can't take mental health advice from a therapist who leaves dated magazines in the waiting room, doesn't refill the water cooler with cups, hangs a weird painting - and turns off the coffee maker as he leaves.
Randall comes home. He joins Beth on the sofa and tells her that he tried, but that therapy is not for him, at least right now. Beth says she knew he'd find something wrong with it. Randall says he's okay and that he knows she thinks he needs it. Beth says that SHE needs it. She reminds Randall that she didn't let him go through her purse in the morning. She gets her purse and pours out the contents between them. She shows him a bottle of pepper spray - because she has been afraid when she locks up the studio, alone, at night; a bottle of pills, doctor prescribed, because she hasn't been able to go to sleep; and an iPhone for Annie, not because Annie wanted it, but because Beth needs it to be able to track Annie. Randall apologizes for not knowing all this, but Beth tells him it's because SHE didn't tell him. She did not want to lay one more thing on Randall that might make him crack. She says she wanted to tell him, because he's her person, but if he doesn't get the help he needs, she can't.
Rebecca, Miguel and Kevin are at the doctor's office. Her MRI shows mild hippocampal atrophy which results in shrinkage of the memory centers, supporting a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment likely due to Alzheimer's.
Toby pulls a sheet off a playpen in the garage and admits that the studio is not just for Kate, but also for Jack. Inside the playpen are lots of toy musical instruments. Toby wants to fill the play room with every sound available. Kate says she loves it.
Rebecca, Miguel and Kevin get home. She asks Kevin not to treat her differently - she needs the fun and the laughs. She also wants to go to New York for the premiere of his movie.
Rebecca continues singing "Our House" to Jack as they walk through Laurel Canyon. She urges him to sing along and eventually, he sings backup, which makes them both laugh.
With Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Our House" in the background, vignettes of: Kate holding baby Jack in the garage-studio as they bang away at a keyboard; four year-old Jack playing a toy keyboard as Kate composes at the keyboard; teenage Jack playing with a band of peers in the garage; young adult Jack playing on a multiple keyboard set-up in the garage; 12 year-old Randall running past Jack at the track; college Randall (Niles Fitch) jogging through campus; Randall at another therapy session - the therapist (Pamela Adlon) offers him coffee, he laughs and declines; Jack and Rebecca making dinner (macaroni and cheese); Rebecca and Miguel on the sofa watching TV; adult Kevin at the baseball card store, buying a John Candelaria card for two dollars (the time-frame for this may be later than present time, perhaps after Rebecca has past) - he remembers that time when he was at the store with Rebecca, she blows a big gum bubble, and deals out the Candelaria card - they scream and hug.
NEXT Kevin checks Rebecca into the Plaza Hotel. Randall, in voice-over, says he's been taking care of Rebecca for twenty years. Kevin tells Randall that maybe HE knows what's good for their mother.
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