Obligatory *spoiler alert!*
On Tuesday night, the Emmy Award winning drama This Is Us returned to NBC, and it did not disappoint. I absolutely anticipate that I will be reduced to a puddle of tears every #TissueTuesday—yes, that’s a thing—this fall as the storyline repeatedly rips my heart out.
Our reunion with the Pearson triplets began with their thirty-seventh birthdays, harkening back to the season one premiere, and a lot has happened since we last saw them. Kevin and Kate have moved to LA to pursue their acting and music careers, respectively, and Kate is still engaged to Toby. Randall remains on the east coast with his wife and two daughters, having left his job post-breakdown to be a stay-at-home dad who has adoption on the forefront of his mind. The show remains true to its name as it continues to portray the painfully relatable struggles of its characters with a new emphasis on the difficulties of marriage, especially for Rebecca and Jack, the triplets’ parents, and Randall and Beth.
At the beginning of the episode, during a flashback, Rebecca and Jack tell the triplets that they’re going to spend a few days apart to regroup in the aftermath of their blowup fight (that concluded the last season). As the episode comes to a close, Rebecca visits Jack at his friend’s house to extend an olive branch, telling Jack how much she loves him and that they need to be together to work through their problems. To which Jack responds that she doesn’t know the whole story: he is drunk, has been for weeks, and needs to get a grip on his problem before he can come home. He punctuates his confession by closing the door in his distraught wife’s face. And in an act of grace, Rebecca refuses to let Jack have the final say and opens the door, insisting that he—and all of his failures and brokenness and weakness—get in the car because she refuses to allow him to face his problem alone. Watch:
You can almost hear Jesus saying, “You are my son/daughter, and I am your Savior. If you have a problem, we will fix it together.” But Jesus takes it one step further and not only comes alongside us in the midst of our struggles, but he carries our burdens for us and carried the ultimate burden up to the cross. And even when our burdens seem unbearable, despite the number of times that we’ve “given them over to God,” they have lost all power to separate us from God. Like Jack, we have the freedom to admit our failures because God’s grace is sufficient and his power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10), and like Rebecca, God will insist that we get in the car so we can return home to his loving arms.
Simultaneously, during the present-day segments of the episode, Randall, the adopted triplet, and his wife Beth begin the process of adoption. Out of gratitude for what his parents did for him, Randall feels an obligation to adopt. He has rose-colored dreams of taking in an infant who they can shape and mold and in turn dramatically change the trajectory of its little life. But Beth proposes that they take in an older child who is significantly less likely to get adopted. Who will be significantly more challenging than an infant. Who will probably be rebellious and angry. But whom they will (presumably) love unconditionally. And thus, another beautiful image of grace.
We, having done nothing to deserve God’s grace or merit his favor, have nonetheless been adopted as his sons and daughters, an adoption that we can’t wiggle our way out of, no matter how many times we run from our Father. As Paul writes to the Romans, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”
So all of that to say, if anyone needs me on Tuesday nights, I will be crying into a glass of wine on my couch, watching my own humanity being played out on primetime television because This Is Us.
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2 responses to “BYOTissues: This Is Us is Back”
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Love this Margaret!
I too love this show and also weep when I watch it. You have put into words so eloquently why this show continues to touch my heart, the themes of grace, love, and forgiveness all point to what we all yearn deep in our hearts, hearts that are made for Christ and are redeemed because of his passion for each of us.