The last This Is Us episode gave Randall (Sterling K. Brown) a lot of unexpected closure that will serve him well as the NBC show heads into Season 5, Episode 6.
On last week’s episode, the 36-year-old member of the Pearson’s Big Three inadvertently reached a valuable source. This came after he turned into a viral sensation because of his Zoom striptease that occurred without his knowledge after Malik (Asante Blackk) forgot to shut off his camera.
Who is the fisherman on This Is Us?
That source came forward via email, disclosing to Randall and the television audience a whole bunch more about the guy known as the fisherman.
In fact, this man named Hai (Vien Hong) was forthright in telling the city councilman that he knew his mother. In fact, he knew her very well.
Hai also let it be known that, unfortunately, Laurel (Jennifer C. Holmes) died in 2015.
So, even though it is now impossible for Randall to actually bond with his mother nearly four decades after she left him in front of a firehouse, he does get some closure.
In fact, he gets to find out about the woman that his father said died of an overdose shortly after his birth.
So was Randall’s dad lying to him?
Randall learns from Hai that William (Ron Cephas Jones) was really accurate about what happened to Laurel as far as he knew. Even though she ultimately pulled through from her drug-induced brush with death, William had no way of knowing this as he had left the scene.
After that disclosure, Hai says he would like to help Randall get to know his mother. He suggests that he and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) visit him in New Orleans to learn more about the woman who brought him into the world.
In the fresh episode called Birth Mother, Randall is deeply hurt as he wonders why his mother did not seek him out.
“Why didn’t she find me? What stopped her?” he asks.
Apparently, this young parent did what she could.
Randall goes to New Orleans on This Is Us
Meanwhile, Randall and Beth head down to Louisiana to sit with Hai as he promises to tell Laurel’s son the intricacies of his mom’s story.
In what is being heralded by NBC as “an exceptional story,” a short promo clip (above) delves into Laurel’s past as a young woman who appears to be strong and happy.
Earlier moments show her back in Philly as a drug addict who gets better and then realizes her child is nowhere to be found — and neither is William.
Back in New Orleans, Laurel wades into marsh water. She sets her sight upwards as if she is seeking guidance from above.
But was this really the case?
Stay tuned.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.