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The latest episode of This Is Us Season 6 dived deep into the concept of core memories and fatherhood.
The episode 'Four Fathers' sheds light on how the Pearson-Damon patriarchs associated their days with memories, changes, and lessons learned. The episode was directed by Jon Huertas and written by Casey Johnson and David Windsor.
Here are some of the takeaways from NBC's This Is Us Season 6 Episode 3.
Note: This article contains spoilers.
Takeaway from 'This Is Us' Season 6 Episode 3
The third episode of This Is Us Season 6 sheds light on memories and fatherhood. It focused on the Pearson-Damon men and showcased their struggle of feeling disconnected from their kids.
Viewers will see how Jack tried to turn an awful day around for his kids into a memorable one, how Kevin changed his concept of parenthood, how Randall accepted Deja as a grown up, and how Toby tried to overcompensate for his absence with gifts. The episode showcased the importance of memories and how one associates them with days.
Jack
This episode of This Is Us Season 6 saw a distressed Jack who was constantly missing his quality time with kids. He made an attempt to give his kids a core memory by taking them for their first ever movie theater experience. But things took a different turn when Kevin went missing, and the memory turned into a traumatizing one.
Later, he tried turning the day around by setting up a mini movie theater for the kids along with making ice cream sundaes for them. The day was now going to be remembered for the same, which gave Jack relief. He no longer had scarred Kevin for life and his little boy would now only associate happy memories with movies.
But for Jack, the day turned into one of the worst kinds when he received a call from home about his mother passing away. This demonstrates how easily a day can be turned around (be it with a positive or negative outcome) and how human brains associate particular days with certain memories. For the kids, the day was all about the ladybug, ice cream sundaes, and a movie marathon, but for Jack it was the day he lost his mother.
Kevin
Kevin walked into this episode of This Is Us Season 6 with a positive mindset about parenthood. He wished he had a family where everyone would sit down for dinner together and make more memories along the way. However, he felt absent from his twins' lives. He was not able to spend any time with them due to the co-parenting situation with Kevin.
What really pushed Kevin to the edge was when he missed seeing Franny's first steps because he was not there. Upon complaining about the same to Madison, he gets reminded that there will be more moments like these where either one of them will be absent. However, Toby made him realize that he needs to change his concept of a happy family and make his square into a triangle between him and the twins.
At the end of the day, Kevin went from missing out on his daughter's milestone to changing his mindset regarding what constitutes a happy family. Like Toby said, the kids would have parents who are happy apart instead of parents who are unhappy together.
Adult Jack Damon and Toby
This episode of This Is Us Season 6 saw an adult Jack Damon grilling in his backyard. He was seen recalling a specific day from his memory, perhaps his very first memory. A blurry Toby is seen warning baby Jack not to get too close to the grill, but when he does, things take a different turn.
Adult Jack then admits how the smell of the Big Green Egg smoker reminded him of the day his parent's marriage blew up. For him, the day had gone from being a delightful family gathering to his parents separating. However, he still chooses to keep the smoker as he likely has other positive memories associated with it.
Toby, who felt out of touch with his kids, overcompensated for his absence by bringing them gifts. However, his day went from spending quality time with his son, to missing Kate's recital. But in the end, he managed to turn things around by gifting the family a grill, the very own Big Green Egg smoker adult Jack was seen using. His idea of creating positive memories failed and turned into the day he broke up with his wife, becoming a possible core memory for him as well.
Randall
As for Randall, this episode of This Is Us Season 6 pushed him to let Deja go and become her own person. His day, perhaps his core memory as well, started from being excited to teach Deja how to drive. He then learns about Deja's lie and gets furious over it. However, when Beth helps him understand the reason behind it, he admits to Deja that he finds it difficult to let her grow.
Randall feels guilty about missing out on the first 12 years of Deja's life, but he promises Deja that he will make an effort to adjust to this change. However, he still wants to ignore the fact that Deja has been independent for a long time, due to her mother and her foster care system. For him, Deja is still the 12 year old girl who came to him for help, which is why he wishes he could freeze her like that.
'Four Fathers' was also about changes, be it big or small. But the main theme of the 'This Is Us' episode was about how a memory can define a day forever in one's mind.
Readers can learn about the struggles of parenthood and core memories in this week's episode of This Is Us Season 6, now streaming on NBC, Hulu, Peacock and Hotstar.
