Mandy Moore’s Top 9 Emmy Worthy Episodes in This is Us (Spoilers)
With the recent premiere of the 5th season of the Golden Globe and Emmy nominated television series This is Us, I found it fitting to write an in depth analysis on the show’s oldest main character. Although Rebecca Pearson gets just as much screen time as the big three, viewers have seen Rebecca through her childhood flashbacks, early adolescent years, motherhood, grand-motherhood, and now on what seems to be her death bed.
Rebecca Pearson is the epitome of effortless. She is so effortlessly compliant, patient, strong, and hopeful. Fan favourite, Jack Pearson, may seem like the biggest romantic in this duo, but we often forget how persistent Rebecca is in spite of Jack’s flaws. On top of her performance as a wife, Mandy Moore plays a mother who wholeheartedly sees her children’s problems as her own. Here are some of the episodes of This is us that show this best.
Season 1 Episode 9- The Trip
In this episode Rebecca struggles with the burden of a secret and feelings of inadequacy, ones that she shares with future Randall. She tearfully exclaims to Jack and writes to William that she cannot lose her son. Its the monologue of Jack in combination with Rebecca’s panic scene in the cabin that makes this episode award worthy. “She had 3 wildly different kids each with their own sets of problems and her marriage wasn’t always perfect and she had her own things to deal with too, but she kept everything out and always made sure we were all safe.” In time, Randall finally understood how incredibly lonely this may have been for his mother.
Season 1 Episode 18- Moonshadow
Although Mandy Moore’s rendition of Cat Stevens’ infamous Moonshadow is breathtaking it is not the reason why this episode makes it on the list. A scene in Jack Pearson’s Son eludes to the realistic and inevitable big fight scene we see in Moonshadow. Showing a side to sweet Rebecca that we’ve never seen before as she jumps and screams lividly at Jack “THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS I HAD SOMETHING GOING FOR MYSELF. I HAVE NO LIFE JACK! I HAVE 3 TEENAGERS WHO BARELY NEED ME ANYMORE AND A HUSBAND WHO WALTZES IN AT 8 PM IF I’M LUCKY. I AM A ’FRIGGEN GHOST.”
Season 2 Episode 4- Still There
Rebecca’s mother is visiting town and Rebecca is just about up to her knees in her mothers snarky side comments. It only takes one more remark about Randall’s displacement in the family for Rebecca to give it to her mother straight. Her voice shakes in anger with tears in her eyes “Randall tries so hard to get you to like him but you’ve made it alarmingly clear that it’s because he’s black”.
Season 2 Episode 9- Number Two
This episode is dedicated to Kate Pearson. Kate is struggling with the loss of her unborn child and her mother is right there to pick up her broken pieces. Rebecca tells Kate about the consequences of misplaced anger and bottled up emotions in reference to the loss of her own child, Kyle. After hiding her grief for a while Rebecca finally reaches her breaking point as you hear her blood curdling scream through the grocery store: “ IT’S NOT FAIR”.
Season 2 Episode 11- The Fifth Wheel
This episode visits the root of Kevin’s addiction. The family is at Kevin’s rehab centre where he reveals to his family how he’s always felt like the fifth wheel in the family next to Jack’s favourite - Kate, as well as Rebecca’s favourite- Randall. Kevin begs his mom to just admit that Randall was her favourite which causes her to snap in revelation “HE WAS JUST EASIER”. She continues as she tearfully exclaims “he wouldn’t recoil when I touched him and he wasn’t some sullen teenager who was angry at me for no reason and he didn’t abandon me or move away when his father died”.
Season 2 Episode 14- Super Bowl Sunday
This episode would likely be in anyone’s top 3 for Mandy Moore’s stand alone performances. Although we’ve seen Rebecca cry many times, the death of her husband brings out something else. Her sudden change of expression and the flashback she sees when she finally realizes the love of her life is gone. This moment is the beginning to the remarkable growth in character we see in present day Rebecca. Alas, the cherry on top of this performance is the cut to Rebecca crying in her car in front of the burnt house right after she breaks the bad news to the kids.
Season 3 Episode 14- The Graduates
This day was tough on Rebecca from being asked out for the first time after Jack’s passing, to Kate refusing to go to her graduation, all she yearned for was to rewind time. The moment she sees Randall on stage and realizes that Jack isn’t there to film it she has a panic attack. She clenches her jaw in the midst of dry heaving as she manages to utter “ I don’t need grief counselling” in response to Miguel. That same night watching old at home videos triggers another time related panic attack convincing her to call up Miguel to finally take him up on that counselling.
Season 4 Episode 5- Storybook Love
This scene in Storybook Love is a reflection to the scene in season 3’s Waiting Room. The only difference is the number of family members and that older Rebecca accompanies calm with stern. In this episode teen Kate, Kevin, and Randall are arguing in the kitchen when Rebecca screams with a mixture of rage and exhaustion “ENOUGH! IT IS OUR FIRST NIGHT TOGETHER IN THIS HOUSE. This is where we move forward and sit around a table and laugh SO HELP ME GOD that is what we are going to do.” Younger Rebecca just like older Rebecca makes it clear that nothing else matters.
Season 4 Episode 9- So Long Marianne
This episode was the climax to Rebecca’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. The writers did an impeccable job of giving the viewers a look 9 months into the future whilst making it seem like present day. We see utter confusion in Rebecca’s face when she realizes the man she was chasing after in the park wasn’t actually William. In a clouded haze at the Chinese restaurant, we see her start to fall apart when she realizes she lost her phone. Ultimately, the shocking reveal of the mid-season finale previews that the twins aren’t talking to Randall, and Rebecca doesn’t remember this. The episode ends with present day Rebecca admitting to Randall “I was halfway through the trailer of Cats when I couldn’t remember what movie I went to go see”.