‘This Is Us’ Season 3, Episode 6 ‘Kamsahamnida’ Recap: The Fighters In Us

It’s at this point in This Is Us where we’re breaking into the uncharted events where the season 2 teasers end. Now, the Pearsons are taking off and finding their footing in what they’re choosing to chase after. And it really looks like they’re doing it right this time. Even the honorary members of the Pearson clan are pleasantly going with the change of pace.

Now that Kevin (Justin Hartley) has a lead to his dad’s time in Vietnam, he’s caught between chasing after it or letting it go. After all, their dad must’ve had a reason he kept the Vietnamese woman in the picture a secret from them. Meanwhile, Kate (Chrissy Metz) continues to tiptoe around Toby (Chris Sullivan). And because of this, she’s been reaching out more to her mother for advice. On the other hand, the last of the big three are still struggling hard to get his political career flying. Just like his brother and sister, Randall’s (Sterling K. Brown) still fighting and he may just be on to something.

Putting on the brave face

Kate announces her pregnancy to her family who immediately rejoices. However, Toby’s prevailing depression continues to put a dent of worry on everyone’s minds. Kate tries to invite him to a walk out with Audio but, he chooses to stay in. Outside, Kate takes the chance to call her mother for help. In response, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) gives her daughter the advice of being patient and supportive. Unfortunately, their little chat gets cut off when Kate finds Audio eating something he shouldn’t be eating.

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In the Randall household, Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) is facing her own troubles as she tries to follow up on another job. After the call, she emerges to find her husband self-consciously picking out clothes for the church in Philadelphia. And since Randall’s going to be busy with his campaign the whole day, she volunteers to take their kids to their bake sale.

Meanwhile, Kevin’s still busy staring at his father’s photo with the Vietnamese woman. Beside him, Zoe (Melanie Liburd) finally finishes sending out her documentary. In celebration, she declares a night of pampering in a fancy hotel room. However, contrary to Kevin’s first thoughts, Zoe wants to do it alone. She steps out just in time before he could get any more protests out.

Down in Philadelphia, Randall attends church with the locals. When the priest calls Councilman Brown (Rob Morgan) to read from the scripture, Brown turns a little segway to call out Randall. He reminds everybody present where Randall currently lives. And he also acknowledges that Randall is running against him. But, Brown also knows that Randall cares about people. And with that, he also welcomes him which Randall accepts with a smile.

Trying hard

In the meantime, Beth is trying her best to keep up with her kids’ bake sale. Unfortunately, when they get to where they’re supposed to set up, they discover that someone already beat them to it. The girls sulk but, Beth keeps up the brave face and suggests they try another spot. Sadly, the next spot they go to isn’t the best either. An old man passes by, and the girls almost sell four boxes of cookies. But, Beth forgot to bring the credit card swiper and the man didn’t have any cash on him. So, he walks away empty handed. The girls’ complaints grow louder. And Beth finally explodes and takes everybody back home.

Ron Batzdorff/NBC

After church, Randall receives a call from his brother asking him to meet up. Later on, they get together at a Korean restaurant where Kevin was quite the star. Apparently, Koreans loved him in the Nanny. There, Kevin reveals what he found out up to that point about their dad’s life in Vietnam. And he compares it to a childhood memory where they peeled off their living rooms wallpaper because they were so mindblown to know there was hardwood underneath. However, Randall sides with their father and votes on keeping their dad’s secrets left unturned.

Suddenly, a waiter brings up some dishes to their table and says it’s on the house. Kevin thanks him in Korean. And as Randall continues to notice the admiring looks in Kevin’s direction, he gets an idea. He takes Kevin back to his campaign headquarters. Then, he explains his new idea to get the unregistered Koreans to register and vote through the help of Kevin’s popularity with them. From there, he can campaign to people where Brown isn’t so popular. Without hesitation, Kevin agrees to his brother’s plan.

No boxing in the house

On the contrary, back when they were young, Kevin always fought with his brother. They were playing a game once, and Kevin won. He immediately goes on to rub it on his brother’s face. The commotion stops when their dad gets home. And Rebecca easily spots the black eye from underneath the baseball cap he tried to hide it with. They shoo the kids into the kitchen. Then Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) explains that he got the black eye from a boxing sparring match. Because of this, Rebecca immediately bans boxing with another person.

Ron Batzdorff/NBC

Later that night, Randall approaches his dad and asks him for boxing lessons. Jack immediately turns him down. But, Randall explains that he’s being bullied by Dylan, the new kid at school. He guaranteed that he wouldn’t get physical but, it’ll just make him feel better that he could defend himself if needed.

Jack finally agrees and gives a few lessons to his son. Unfortunately, Rebecca walks in on them by accident one day. She becomes furious, so Jack spills Randall’s problem. But, Rebecca doesn’t take it and tells Jack that he could keep his past and his secrets to himself but not anything about their son. To this, Jack surrenders and apologizes.

Taking the reins

Back to the present, Kate notices that Audio wasn’t eating and immediately rushes him to the vet. There, the doctors reveal that the puppy ate a stone and he might either poop it out or need to go under surgery. In a panic, Kate immediately calls her mother and Rebecca helps her decide to just take Audio home and see what comes. In addition to that, Rebecca tells her daughter to be more confident in her own choices. Because as much as she loves giving advice to her, Kate’s going to be making a million decisions on her own. After that call, Kate texts an update to Toby. Upon reading her message, he finally decides to pull himself upright and dresses up for the day.

Meanwhile, after that stressful cookie sale, Beth comes out of their bathroom to find Deja (Lyric Ross) waiting for her. Surprisingly, Deja manages to sit her down for a classic talk about her job situation. And the kid tells her to be honest to Randall about how she feels about it because it might help her feel better too. As soon as she notices the rest of her kids by the doorway, Beth calls them in and cuddles them while apologizing.

In Koreatown, Randall’s Kevin plan seems to be working as more and more Koreans register for voting. Suddenly, a Korean man walks over and berates him much like how the people at Councilman Brown’s neighborhood did. Before he could get too far, Randall catches up and explains himself. He admits that it was his first time there and he only saw a portion of the community. But, if they talk to him, he’s willing to listen to their needs. Then he thanks them in Korean like how Kevin taught him.  

Remarkable

Getting home, Kate’s surprised to discover Toby fully dressed. But, despite appearances, Toby admits that he doesn’t feel like he looks. And he’s terrified that she’s thinking of leaving him. Kate’s attention is caught when Audio starts going to the door. And Toby starts to retreat back to their room declining Kate’s invitation to go out with her and Audio. But this time, Kate pushes further and finally gets Toby to say yes.

Ron Batzdorff/NBC

On the other hand, Kevin and Randall get back to their campaign headquarters in high spirits. And Kevin takes a moment to appreciate his brother and the remarkable spirit he has. He tells Randall to go after that and acknowledges that he has the same thing inside him too. With this, he decides to chase after their dad’s past. And Randall gives him his full support.

It was this same thing that led Jack to soften up on Randall after Rebecca discovered him teaching his son boxing. Because apparently, Randall lied to him. After calling Randall’s principal, Jack and Rebecca find out that there was no new student and there was no bully. Before Jack goes to talk to Randall, he faces Rebecca. And he explains that boxing gives him peace from the things he wishes he could talk about but can’t. And that’s the only reason he does it.

Facing his dad, Randall admits to it explaining that he wanted to learn to fight to become more like Jack. He wanted to become closer to being a biological son just like Kevin who had the same fighting spirit as Jack. However, Jack assures him that he’s as much a son to him as his brother. And he didn’t need his fists to fight back. Because he has this remarkable intelligence that will be his secret weapon.

Nice Hands

A while later, someone knocks at Randall’s headquarter office and its none other than the Korean man who questioned his intentions earlier. He tells Randall that his grandmother has been talking about him all day and his nice hands. And he explains that she’s never voted all her life. At first, because she didn’t have the opportunity. And then it’s because she didn’t think that any politician cared what she wants. But, that day, she registered to vote because Randall made her believe that he cared (plus the nice hands). And Randall assures that he does care.

To Randall’s surprise, the man then steps forward and offers his services to be Randall’s campaign manager backing it up with a political science degree and experience in past elections. After taking a few moments to process it, Randall asks his name. And the man introduces himself as Jae Won (Tim Jo). After which, Randall gets up and shakes his hand choosing to address him by his Korean name rather than his English one.

Later on, Randall visits Councilman Brown and faces him with a smile. He mentions that the councilman didn’t really see him as part of the community but, it’s ok. He’s still learning after all. Then, Randall reveals that he got a campaign manager and before he leaves, he makes a promise to win Koreatown.

For better or worse

Back in the past, Rebecca presents Jack with a little gift. And upon opening it he’s met with a head protector. Jack considers it for a moment. Then he starts to recall how he and his brother used to box as kids but only with one hand each. Because they only had one pair of boxing gloves to play with.

Surprised, Rebecca gives in and asks him to teach her how to box. Jack eagerly puts the boxing gloves on her and teaches her a couple of moves. But, he ends up laughing at the sight of her in her nightgown wearing boxing gloves. After this, watching boxing becomes acceptable in the household. As they watch a match, Jack tells Randall that opponents smile when they get hit hard as a way of standing up to their enemies.

And in the present, Kate stands up to her own insecurities just like the fighter their dad described. On their walk, she assures Toby that she won’t leave him. Now, it’s her turn to take care of him. And she’s fighting for it no matter what, for better or worse. She promises Toby she’ll be there to pull him back up.

Meanwhile, Kevin heads straight to Zoe and asks her to go to Vietnam with him which she easily accepts. And Beth finally talks to Randall about how miserable she feels. Randall immediately comforts her but, then he finds the solution to the problem. He hires her on the spot to become a part of his campaign team. And after considering it, Beth declares to win him an election.

This Is Us continues next Tuesday, November 13th, with “Sometimes” at 8/7c on NBC.