‘This Is Us’: Randall Puts Himself First in ‘Every Version of You’ (RECAP)

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 6, Episode 10 of This Is Us, “Every Version of You.”]

The final This Is Us in-season trilogy is coming to a close with the show’s latest installment, “Every Version of You.”

While Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Kate (Chrissy Metz) got their spotlights in the previous two episodes, this latest entry explores Randall’s (Sterling K. Brown) next big move, and follows him at three separate points in his life ranging from that first day at the pool with his family to a sibling hangout at the abandoned spot, and back to present-day.

Below, we’re breaking down all of the major moments, so beware of spoilers ahead.

(Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Randall in the Deep End

As with all of the Big 3 trilogy episodes from Season 6, Randall’s (Ca’Ron Jaden Coleman) begins at the pool with his family. While Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) are busy with his siblings who need to learn how to swim, Randall heads over to one end of the pool where his swimming teacher is. Already familiar with being in a pool, Randall greets the teacher with a high five and gets in the water to do some exercises which he excels at.

While his family doesn’t notice his triumphs in the poll, Randall is validated by his teacher who commends the boy’s best time in the breathing exercises. He also manages to swim across the length of the pool unnoticed by his parents and is cleared by his teacher to enter the deep end of the pool. Once he tires of his swimming alone, Randall rejoins his family at their chairs and asks the family to swim, at first they say they’re tired, but he manages to convince them to get in and they end their day at the pool on a high note.

The Voice of Reason

Back at the pool years later, Randall (Niles Fitch), Kate (Hannah Zeile), and Kevin (Logan Shroyer) are still escaping the locked perimeter when a cop pulls up. Before any serious trouble can come to them, Randall pleads with the officer to let them go, but Kate and Kevin can’t hear what’s said. Before heading home, they stop by the diner Kate works at for a cup of coffee alone. Randall excuses himself to call Rebecca and tell her where they are. She appreciates it and is still upset over Miguel (Jon Huertas) planning to leave for Texas. While on the phone, Randall tells Rebecca to check his backpack pocket where she finds cookies from a spot they used to go when he was little, it’s the perfect remedy to cheer her up.

(Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Back at one of the tables in the diner space, Randall’s siblings ask again how the cop let them go, and he tells Kevin and Kate he said they wouldn’t last the night in jail, but a quick flashback reveals something different. In the flashback, Randall tells the cop that their dad died and since then he’s been holding the family together. If their mom got a call from jail it could break them apart forever, plus, Randall says there’s a good chance he’ll be president one day and he can’t get arrested if that’s going to be the case.

Randall Does Something for Himself

Following Rebecca’s big talk with her kids at their most recent Thanksgiving, Randall takes a moment to himself. When Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) finds him, she tells Randall that there’s a reason Rebecca chose Kate as her executor, but he’s still processing his mother’s decision. While sitting, Randall is confronted by Déjà (Lyric Ross) who gets angry, accusing Randall that he’s the reason behind Malik (Asante Blackk) avoiding her and actually breaking up with her.

Due to the noise of the conversation, Rebecca and Miguel walk in to find out what’s going on and Randall tells Déjà that she deserves better than getting her GED and dropping out of high school to live with Malik and his daughter in Boston. In reaction, Déjà tells Randall he isn’t her father, he’s just a man who took her from her mother.

(Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

The next day, Randall bids his brother Kevin and the rest of the family farewell before going inside to gather his family only to discover that Déjà’s missing. After some coaxing of Annie (Faithe Herman) and Tess (Eris Baker), they learn that Déjà left the night before.

And so, Miguel agrees to take Beth and Randall’s daughters back to Philadelphia while Rebecca heads north with him to find Déjà. During their ride, Randall repeatedly tries reaching Déjà over the phone, but there’s no luck and Rebecca takes the gadget from his hands because calling won’t get him anywhere.

When Randall tells Rebecca that Déjà’s taken a secret trip before, she tells him that every love story is different. As they continue to talk, Rebecca brings up Kate, but Randall deflects and tells Rebecca to never mind about it. On their ride, they take a pit stop to get food so Rebecca can take her pills and she surprises Randall when she asks their waitress to take a photo of them. As he helps her open the bottles, Randall can’t help but notice the reversal of roles, remembering when she used to do that for him as a kid.

(Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Reminiscing about old times, Rebecca brings up visiting an eat and park joint that she and Randall visited when he was younger. They remember a summer filled with scholastic reading and eating cookies at the eat and park. The sweet memories are disrupted by a phone ring, it’s Beth who is calling to say that Déjà is safe and in Boston with Malik.

Instead of racing to find her though, Rebecca convinces Randall to take his time and give Déjà room to think things through. So, after lunch, they hit up a nearby bar where they take some selfies, and sip on some wine. When Randall asks why Rebecca tries ordering a specific kind of win, she pulls out a clipping from an article where he was asked about his favorite wine. The gesture touches Randall further when she pulls out a book from her bag that he mentioned in the write-up as well.

When they get up to play darts, she tells Randall that no pictures are needed because she’ll remember this and she promises that he will too. Later that night, Rebecca and Randall check into a hotel and he receives a call from Jae-won (Tim Jo) during which Randall tells his colleague to push a meeting he has.

(Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

When Rebecca inquires the reason for this, Randall explains senior senator is eager to meet with him because he’s on a shortlist to replace them. But Randall is reluctant to put Beth through another campaign and he isn’t sure of what the future holds. The next morning when they’re checking out of the hotel, Rebecca asks Randall to sit and she tells him that she remembers when he was learning to swim as a kid it was the best show in town and that he always rose to the occasion for anything, especially when Jack died.

It was too early for him to take on that responsibility and Rebecca apologizes to her son for it, further explaining that she picked Kate as her executor because Randall’s put his life on hold for her long enough. “You are my hero, Randall,” Rebecca tells him. Understanding what she means, Randall asks Rebecca for permission to say something obnoxious, before saying, “if I run, I will win.” And although Randall can’t see the future, Rebecca says she can picture Randall’s, perhaps hinting that his younger claim about president might actually be in the cards.

(Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Interrupting the moment, Randall gets a call from Déjà and they continue their journey to her in Boston. When they arrive, Rebecca tells Randall to be gentle with Déjà who is standing on the front steps of Malik’s apartment with him. As she heads to the car with Rebecca, Randall and Malik chat. Malik thanks Randall for being a mentor and makes it clear that his decision to break it off with Déjà wasn’t based on Randall’s suggestion but because it wasn’t fair to her, in the long run, to keep her from experiencing high school fully.

Randall tells Malik there’s always a way for things to come back around, suggesting that even if the timing isn’t right now, it might be someday. Back in the car, Déjà says everything between her and Malik had been so intense and that it might be right, but not right now. She apologizes to Randall and says she didn’t mean what she’d said before and that he was her dad.

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Back in Philly, Rebecca, Randall, and Déjà are greeted by the family, and later when Randall goes to send Rebecca and Miguel off for California, she pulls out the article clipping and asks Randall to sign it, claiming it will be worth something someday. Once they’re gone, Randall calls Jae-won to set up a meeting with the senior senator. Back on the west coast, Kevin arrives back to Madison (Caitlin Thompson) and Kate goes back into Toby’s (Chris Sullivan) apartment after her hill climb to say she’s not ready for a San Francisco move just as he tells her the egg smoker arrived in time for Rebecca and Miguel’s anniversary party.

Could the party be the drama to unfold in the next episode? Tune in next week to find out and don’t miss This Is Us every Tuesday on NBC.

This Is Us, Season 6, Tuesdays, 9/8c, NBC