It doesn't matter how old you are, you will always need your parents.
In the final installment of the "This Is Us" Big Three trilogy -- a trio of episodes each focusing on one of the Pearson kids -- Randall (Sterling K. Brown) seeks to take Rebecca's advice to live life to the fullest, despite her recent early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis. It's a tough task for the character, who has been called the Good Son, as he's struggling to accept his mother's worsening condition.
But executive producer Kay Oyegun said that Randall is stronger than he thinks. "One of the things that's lovely about Randall -- bravery, fearlessness, all of that kind of stuff is part of his orbit and part of his life story," she told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published March 29. "The fearlessness that Rebecca might be speaking of when it comes to Randall might be more of an emotional one, not necessarily similar with Kevin (Justin Hartley) finding himself and with Kate (Chrissy Metz) finding her voice."
She continued, "For Randall, it's being fearless enough to find that balance between what he wants and what he wants to do, as it pertains to Rebecca."
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In a callback to his season one drive with biological father William (Ron Cephas Jones), Randall takes Rebecca, played by Mandy Moore, on a "different kind of road trip," according to Oyegun. The executive producer and writer teases that the impromptu trip comes on the heels of Malik (Asante Blackk) breaking up with Randall's daughter Deja (Lyric Ross) -- possibly at her father's urging.
Though this episode sounds foreboding, Oyegun said that it will be a "pivot point" for Randall and sets up the final eight episodes of the series. As she put it, "Everyone's arcs are culminating here."
Entertainment News
With the second half of the sixth and final season still to come, it's unclear how Randall's story will end, but we know what Brown would like to see happen. In January, the star told E! News' Daily Pop, "The happy ending for Randall is more about his state of mind than it is any sort of external achievement. Randall having peace, being comfortable with who he is, knowing that he belongs wherever he is, is what I call happiness for Randall."
And the star was hopeful, adding, "I think he's on the way."
This Is Us airs Tuesdays on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)
