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Fatherhood comes with certain challenges, and the latest episode of NBC's This Is Us Season 6 is here to tell viewers that.
Directed by Jon Huertas, a.k.a. Miguel, along with Casey Johnson and David Windsor as writers, Four Fathers sheds light on the ups and downs of being a father. This episode of This Is Us Season 6 focuses on each patriarch in the show and how they struggle and deal with the complications of fatherhood.
'This Is Us' Season 6 Episode 3: Recap
This Is Us Season 6 Episode 3 opens with a flashforward scene in which an adult Jack Damon, is grilling with a Big Green Egg smoker in the backyard and reminiscing on the day things fell apart. In the past, an upset Jack is seen after he misses dinner with his kids, which has now become an everyday thing.
In the present day, Kevin feels left out of his kids' lives, Toby is stressed about not being more present with his wife and kids and Randall is upset with Deja's lie. The episode focuses on all four fathers and their struggle with finding a place in their kids' lives.
Jack
The episode of This Is Us Season 6, Four Fathers, begins with a devastated Jack after missing his kids again before going off to sleep. He worries about becoming the dad who leaves before breakfast and gets home after dinner and fears his children will forget about him.
His wife, Rebecca, suggests that he spends some quality time with the Big Three over the weekend, which Jack had already thought of. He revealed that he wants to take the children to their first movie theater experience at the new mall. When they get there, little Kate asks her father if he will work forever, which makes him even more upset.
After a while into the film, Jack falls asleep and Kevin takes advantage of it by sneaking out of the theater. Luckily, Rebecca had written their phone number inside Kevin's shoes, who uses it to call her after he gets lost in the mall.
When Jack finds him, he feels guilty. Later that day, he recalls the event and tells Rebecca that he ruined Kevin's first memory of watching a movie on the big screen.
But Rebecca reassures him that it's never too late to turn the day around, and like always, she is right. Jack then sets up a mini-movie theater for the kids and makes ice cream sundae's for them. Ultimately, that's the memory the kids build that night, relieving Jack from his guilt.
At the end of the episode in This Is Us Season 6, the moment is quickly overshadowed by a distressed call revealing that Jack's mother, Marilyn, had passed away.
Kevin
This episode of This Is Us Season 6 shows Kevin struggling to co-parent with Madison because he feels left out most of the time. In the previous episode, Kevin had decided to take The Manny reboot job to stay closer to his kids. But at the rehearsals in this episode, he realizes that he has not spent any time with his twins.
Later that night, Kevin joined his colleagues for drinks at the bar when his young co-star started hitting on him. Besides all the flirting, she even slips his phone number to him, but then Kevin receives a text from Madison. It's a video of Franny taking her first steps, which Kevin missed out on. He leaves the bar immediately to go over to Madison's house.
Sadly, when he reaches there, Franny is asleep. This upset Kevin as he missed another major milestone in his kids' lives. He complains to Madison that she gets all the firsts, to which Madison responds by saying that they aren't together, so one of them will always feel left out.
At the end of This Is Us Season 6's episode, Kevin goes back to Kate's house and finds Toby tucking in his children for the night. Toby tells him that the kids would rather have parents who are happy apart instead of parents who are unhappy together.
He suggests that Kevin starts thinking of his family as a triangle with him and the twins rather than a square with Madison. Later in This Is Us Season 6, while sulking and scrolling through photos of his twins, Kevin decides to text his old friend, Cassidy, after calling her and explaining the situation to her.
Randall
A dilemma is stirring up between Randall and Deja in this episode of This Is Us Season 6. At the start, Randall seemed excited about teaching his daughter how to drive. But while the two are out on the road, Deja receives a text from Malik and Randall finding out about her big lie.
Being a protective father, Randall is upset with Deja for lying to his face and sneaking off on a six-hour journey to Boston. He shares the same with his wife Beth and the two decide to keep their cool.
While Randall goes out for a run, Beth comforts her daughter. But she realizes that Deja is head over heels in love with Malik, just like she and Randall were young.
Later in This Is Us Season 6, Beth reveals she will get Deja on birth control and asks Randall to be realistic and adjust to these changes. Randall then went on to have a heart-to-heart with his daughter and admitted to having difficulty adjusting as he missed out on the first 12 years of her life. Deja is still a little girl, and seeing her grow up has been difficult for him.
Randall asks for Deja's patience and tells her that she won't be seeing Malik anytime soon. Deja disagrees with it. She tells Randall that it will be a problem between them.
Toby
Fans of This Is Us already know that things won't work out for Kate and Toby in the future and they eventually get divorced. Episode 3 of This Is Us Season 6 highlights some of the early cracks in their relationship. At the start of Four Fathers, Toby is seen struggling with being in two places every week and it has started to take a toll on his relationship with Kate and the kids.
Kate wants Toby to make the most of their time together, so they plan a date to watch a recital put on by Kate's students. However, Toby tries to overcompensate with absence in their lives with gifts and by offering a day off to Kate. He takes care of baby Jack but forgets to put him down for a nap at 3 like Kate had asked him to.
Later in This Is Us Season 6, Kate feels annoyed that Jack's sleep schedule got messed up by Toby, so Toby decides to stay home while Kate goes to the recital alone. She also vents about the same to Phillip, who tells her that it is a good sign they are talking about such things instead of ignoring them as he and his ex-wife did. Kate tells Toby how difficult things have been without him.
Toby admits that Kate knows their kids better and he should've followed her lead. He then talks about another gift he had planned - the Big Green Egg smoker - so their families can make memories together.
Jack Damon
Flashforward to the first scene of the episode, Jack Damon uses the same Big Green Egg smoker in the backyard. He admits that the smell reminded him of his first memory and traumatic experience. In his memory, a sizzling sound can be heard as a blurry Toby warns his son not to get too close. But it seems baby Jack does it anyway and gets hurt.
The scene in This Is Us Season 6 gives the most significant clue about Kate and Toby's relationship as Lucy reveals that it was the day Jack's mom and dad's marriage "blew up" and nearly deformed his face.
Stream the latest episode of This Is Us Season 6, now available on NBC, Hulu, Peacock, and Hotstar.
