JACK & REBECCA
It’s just another day in the Pearson house. Kevin and Randall are fighting over a Rubik’s cube of all things. Randall is able to solve it almost instantly. Meanwhile, Rebecca is sweating bullets because of the broken air conditioning. Jack walks in wearing a shirt that Rebcca hates and announces they’re going to the pool. Kate struts in with confidence wearing her new Care Bear bikini.
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Jack thinks a day at the pool will be relaxing. The kids can have fun, Rebecca can finish her book. It’ll be a good day. At just 8 years old, Kate is outgoing and bold, not self-conscious like she is in the present.
When the family arrives, Rebecca worries about what someone might say to Kate about her bathing suit. Jack is more concerned about finding chairs to sit on. Such a typical dad. Jack and Rebecca can barely keep their eye on the kids. Rebecca finds Randall playing with other black kids and puts her foot in her mouth. One of the moms gives her some advice, and Rebecca initially gets defensive. She tells Rebecca to get Randall to a barber who knows how to cut black hair. The mom genuinely wants to help Rebecca.
Meanwhile, Kate gets a note from a few young girls at the pool saying that she embarrasses them. They even draw a pig because girls are cruel. Just plain cruel. Rebecca shows Jack the note, and he nearly loses it. Later, Jack makes Kate feel better by offering her his “magic shirt.”
But what about Kevin? He begs Jack to watch him swim, but Jack gets distracted. Kevin swims to the deep end and nearly drowns. His parents didn’t even know it happened until he tells them. Kevin screams at his parents, crying that they’re always paying attention to Kate and Randall. And there’s the crux of Kevin’s problems. He just needs more attention than most people.
RANDALL
Randall and William seem to be in a good place. William is already a hit with Randall’s daughters. Kevin calls Randall up and tells his brother that he’s auditioning for a play. Randall ignores Kevin when he sees William having trouble with a police officer outside. The police thought William was loitering and looked suspicious. Randall apologizes to the police officer, but won’t come right out and say Randall is his father.
The father and son get in a tiff later because Randall thinks William is judging him. “Because I grew up in a white house, you think I don’t live in a black man’s world,” Randall says. Randall wants William to know that he may not have marched for freedom or fought for integrated schools, but he’s struggled, too.
Later, Randall admits that he wouldn’t change a thing about how he was raised. He loves his white mother and father. William apologizes for making Randall feel judged. “You are doing everything right, son,” William says. Cue all the tears.
KATE & TOBY
While Toby and Kate are at lunch, she notices him talking to a girl when he gets up to go to the bathroom. It’s his ex-wife! Kate is shocked. She calls Kevin, worried that Toby is only interested in her because of a “fat girl fetish.” When she goes to investigate Toby’s ex, she ends up getting a job with her.
Toby is not happy when he hears about this. “You stalked her like a serial killer,” Toby yells. He’s tired of Kate not believing what he says about how great she is. He likes her, he wants to be with her, so why can’t she understand that? Josie may seem great, but Toby says she’s terrible. When she left, Toby considered suicide. Kate realizes she’s not the only one who has problems.
KEVIN
Kevin heads to New York confident and ready to take on the world. Well, his confidence completely melts away when he arrives at his audition. He makes a bad first impression. Like, really bad. First of all, he’s late. It only gets worse from there. The audition goes horribly.
Afterwards, he gets a drink with the girl he auditioned with, whose name is Erin. She tells him to go back to Los Angeles. Theater is nothing like television. If he’s serious about theater, she urges him to get training. Harsh doesn’t even begin to describe her words. But this is exactly what Kevin needs.
It seems like Erin knows Kevin has potential, because he gets the part. When he visits Randall and his family, Randall introduces him to William. Like everyone else on the planet, William is a huge fan of The Manny.
The episode ends back in the day after the day at the pool. All three of the kids are asleep on top of Jack. While Rebecca finishes Misery, Jack mentions having another kid. Everything is happy and good with the Pearson family, as it should be.
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