This Is Us
Beth ’s ( Susan Kelechi Watson ) and Randall ’s ( Sterling K. Brown ) very different perspective during the latter ’s election play is explain in the latest episode ofThis Is Us . After a couplet of Nicky - centric episodes , the NBC show shifted its focal point onto Beth . Not much is jazz about Beth ’s family outside of Zoe ( Melanie Liburd ) - we do n’t do it how she met Randall , permit alone what her aliveness was before she got marry - but since the show is all about family ties , it was only a subject of time until viewers found out .
Before the wholeNicky(Griffin Dunne ) site came to light , This Is Usfocused on Randall ’s bid to become a councilman . Beth had just been lay off instigate her to help on his electoral safari . However , when Randall ’s chances of gain were still slender as Election Day neared , Beth endeavor to convince him to pretermit out of the race , but he refused to do so . This caused some serious conflict in the Pearson home - something that we have never consider before . The match has since then reconciled but fans are still wondering why Beth was so intransigent for Randall to give up on his goal . Now , This Is Ushas allow some answers .
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True toThis Is Us ' non - analogue storytelling , " Our Little Island Girl " feature flashbacks to Beth ’s past from life as a immature tike to her teen being a pro - ballerina hopeful . It showed Beth getting accepted into a honored terpsichore academy in the hopes of becoming the first African - America ballet dancer in New York . Her parents , Abe ( Carl Lumbly ) and Carol ( Phylicia Rashad ) , do work indefatigably to pay for her dance lessons , but while her begetter had always been supportive of her dreams , her female parent was more of a realist and unbelieving of her chance of making it as a pro - social dancer .
When Abe died of lung Crab and Beth failed to get the solo performance required to move forth with her concert dance vocation , Carol ruthlessly stopped paying for her saltation lessons and force her to go to college or else . In hindsight , her lifespan turned well despite giving up on dance ; she run into Randall in college and had a pretty practiced job ( until she lose it recently ) . Because of this , she ’s programmed to get through the tribulations of sprightliness without that much flurry , mean that when the odds are stacked up against her , she ’d take a more practical itinerary than risk endure a loss .
Randall , on the other mitt , was brought up very differently from Beth . On top of being an over - succeeder , his parents always believed in him . At one point , he was even dumbing himself down so as not to stand out from Kevin ( Justin Hartley ) and Kate ( Chrissy Metz ) , but Jack ( Milo Ventimiglia ) sit him down and told him that he needs to expend the gift that he has . He ’s accomplished everything that he ’s set out to do no matter how unlikely it seemed ( slip in point : the election ) . He indiscriminately chuck up the sponge his high up - bear job , positive that he can find another one ( a stark comparison to Beth when she lost her job ) . Randall does n’t make out what it feel to not be good enough , so he ’s always affirmative and rarely hesitant . Even if the odds are against him , he just pushes through , positive that he ’ll eventually get what he want .
Beth and Randall ’s different upbringing and life experience explain why they had such a counterpoint approach to the election . The former did n’t want to pine away more fourth dimension and cause on a losing effort while the latter continued to hold out hope that he ’ll pull through . In hindsight , this also subtly highlight the conflict between the mindset of White and Black parents . Both were middle - class syndicate , but while Jack and Rebecca ( Mandy Moore ) let their kids do whatever they wanted to be , Carol pushed Beth to go through the established itinerary career - wise .
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This Is Usairs Tuesday dark on NBC .
