03x10 - The Last Seven Weeks
Posted: 01/16/19 07:15
Previously on This Is Us...
You've always said that you wanted to finish school.
I think the time is now.
- Oh, my God, it's a boy.
- (BOTH LAUGH)
I went to a database for the w*r memorial.
Nicholas Pearson.
He might be dead, but he didn't die here in Vietnam.
BETH: She will break you, Kevin.
Her background is complicated.
You're not gonna win this one, Randall.
The numbers aren't there.
BETH: You told me that if at any point, I wasn't on board with you running, you would stop.
I am no longer on board with you running.
NEWSCASTER: We have an update in perhaps the most surprising race in the local Philadelphia elections tonight.
District remains too close to call with long-time incumbent Solomon Brown ahead only four percentage points
- of challenger Randall Pearson.
- How you doing, cuz?
"Keep the Chardonnay coming" is how I'm doing.
NEWSCASTER: Councilman Brown is leading %...
Well, one way or another, it'll all be over soon.
(SIGHS): Yeah, it'll all be over soon.
NEWSCASTER: Councilman Solomon Brown, a -year incumbent,
- first made a name for himself...
- Here you go.
Oh, I was not built for politics.
This is way too tense for me.
- Yeah, my undershirt is fully soaked.
- Stop.
NEWSCASTER: Brown voted yes to Proposition ...
...which brought better housing programs to his district.
Big life moment for you, little brother.
What's going through your mind?
- Honestly?
- Yeah.
You remember when Dad and I went to D.C. to visit Howard?
- Of course.
- Been thinking about that a lot.
You? What's on your mind?
What's on my mind? Uh, John Stamos, mostly. Ex-excuse me.
John Stamos.
Hi.
Hi. Oh, uh...
'Cause I'm not, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be talking to you, or giving you space, so I'm just gonna talk to you from multiple feet away and sort of split the difference.
(EXHALES)
- Zoe, I'm sorry if I pushed you...
- Kevin...
...I can't do this.
(PHONE RINGING)
Tobe, hey, what's up?
TOBY: Hey. Look, uh, Kate has been crying for, like, five minutes straight.
Is there, like, a twin cure for something like this?
Um, is it-is it good crying or bad crying?
- (SNIFFLES)
- Unclear.
- How's it going over there?
- Unclear.
Hey, look, Toby, I got to go.
I'll call you back.
- How are we looking?
- Well, we're behind, but, uh, whatever happens, dude, what you did in these last seven weeks, it's unheard of.
Yeah.
It's been the longest seven weeks of my life.
- Hey, Randall. Randall.
- RANDALL: Yeah.
Get up, come on. Annie's up.
She doesn't need to see you sleeping on the couch.
Ah, crap. I wanted to be back in Philly by : .
You're still running?
After last night?
After-after Jae-won said you couldn't win?
He didn't say I couldn't win. He said the numbers aren't there.
Well, they're somewhere, Beth.
I can't just give up on my district, not after all this.
Oh, your district.
What about your family?
Will always be my priority, okay?
Look, I even thought about Tess last night.
I, uh, I ordered Love, Ellen.
It's the book Ellen DeGeneres's mom Betty wrote about Ellen coming out.
I'm gonna listen to it on my way to Philly.
You cannot audiobook your way through our daughter's life.
(SIGHS) Look, the next seven weeks are gonna be tough.
I know.
But the people we've met in that district over the past few months, they deserve my best...
There is no "we" in this anymore, Randall.
I will stay out of your way, but you're on your own, babe.
♪ ♪
JACK: You know, I'll bet Abraham Lincoln woke up every morning, stood on the steps of the White House, and he took in the same feet that we're looking at right now.
Hmm, they finished it years after he died, so...
(EXHALES)
You're ruining the romance, kid.
(LAUGHING) Facts are facts, Dad.
Hmm.
I'm thinking about majoring in political science.
No kidding.
Look at you.
What a great life you're gonna have.
What a great man you're gonna be.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Hmm.
(PHONE CHIMES)
(PHONE CHIMES)
(CHUCKLES)
- Hey, Tobe?
- TOBY: Did somebody call a future Dad Bod award winner? Huh?
(CHUCKLES): So, I was thinking, we're just using this room
- to store all of our junk, you know?
- Um, junk...
I think it's time that we turn this room into a nursery.
(SNAPS FINGERS) I am so on board.
- Yeah?
- Yeah, yeah, I was just waiting
'cause you were hesitant.
Yeah. So, you need to sell all your toys.
Ugh...
- (DOOR OPENS)
- (SIGHS)
Longest travel day of my life.
Ah. Well, we took off Wednesday afternoon, landed Wednesday morning, so technically, it's the shortest travel day of your life.
Yeah, time zones are crazy, huh?
You know what else is crazy?
That your uncle didn't die in Vietnam?
That my uncle didn't die in Vietnam. That's exactly right.
And now I have a million more questions about it, you know?
Like, uh, I don't know, did he come back to the States?
All right, did my dad know that he was alive?
Uh, or-or maybe it's like Mad Men, right?
Where he died, but somebody took his dog tags.
Hey, slow your roll, Pearson.
We'll contact Veterans Affairs, find out what happened and go from there.
What are you gonna tell your family?
Are you... I'm not gonna tell my family a thing.
I mean, the-the text chain was ungodly when Kate debated going blonde.
I can't even imagine what this would be like.
- Good point.
- You know?
It feels so good to be home.
(SIGHS)
Hmm.
What?
Oh, you calling my place "home."
No, I didn't. I called America home,
- not your loft.
- Well, it could be.
My loft. Your home.
(CHUCKLES): Is that...
It's John Stamos, yeah.
Tess and Annie got it for me.
There was a whole phase they were calling me Uncle Jesse.
What do you say?
(CHUCKLES)
- Ah, you took the Stamos.
- (LAUGHS)
I got a roommate!
This is gonna be great.
- Oh, my God. Let's go straight to bed.
- Oh, my God.
Randall Pearson...
Randall Pearson will turn the lights back on.
RANDALL: All right, J-dog. Hit me with them new stats, man.
- I know we picked up some real heat.
- Eh, more like lukewarm heat.
You're still ten points behind.
How? Dude, we've done so much walking door-to-door,
I had to Google what corns are to see if that's what I got growing on my feet. It is.
- What else can we do?
- Get some more comfortable shoes.
We've got a full day of pounding the pavement ahead of us.
- Mm.
- Oh, uh, also, don't forget that we've got the Business Association breakfast
- at : a.m. tomorrow.
- Right.
Guess I'll be staying here again.
You want to call Beth and tell her for me?
I'm sorry, dude. I warned you this would be rough.
Yeah.
YOUNG RANDALL: It scares me.
The idea of, you know... doing something big with my life.
You know what I get like when I get focused.
Oh, it's like... it's like I can't see anything else.
And I look at you and Mom and, you know, and our family.
And I-I want that, too.
You know, Randall, you... you might be the only -year-old on the planet who's actually worrying about balancing their future career with their future wife and kids.
(CHUCKLES)
I-I like to plan ahead.
- Well, are we rich?
- (CHUCKLES): These kids at my college, they went crazy for our stuff.
Yeah, well, we're so old to them, our stuff is considered vintage.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Uh, uh...
Uh, where, uh, where's the, uh... where's the box that I tucked under the counter?
I-I don't know. I think I sold it.
No. No, it was marked, uh... it was marked "DNS."
Yeah, it was donations.
Yeah, I-I sold it.
One less trip to the Goodwill.
No, the...
"DNS" does not stand for "donations."
It stands for "do not sell."
That box was home to my original complete set of Star Wars action figures.
I'm sorry.
- It was an accident, babe.
- You should've asked.
- You should've asked. (EXHALES)
- Wait, but, babe,
- come on, they're just toys.
- Whoa.
Whoa. They are not just toys.
They are action figures, first of all.
Action figures that have traveled with me from house to house after my parents got divorced, into my college dorm room, through six L.A. apartments so that someday I could hand them down to my kid.
But now...
- Don't.
- Aah!
KEVIN: I'm sorry that we were late.
Ah, man. It's my fault.
I was slow getting out of my apartment this morning.
Well, actually, it's our apartment.
We, uh... we're living together in sin.
Yeah.
I do show a record for a Nicholas Pearson.
That's great.
But before I can give you any information,
I need proof that you're his next of kin.
How about nephew?
Nephew's a big deal now, right?
Think of Game of Thrones.
Right, Joffrey was next of kin to the super-handsome, fit, blonde, uncle guy.
Jamie was never in line for the throne.
Joffrey ascended after his adoptive father Robert Baratheon died.
Without documentation, you're gonna need someone official to write a letter, authorizing release of the records.
Could be military personnel, a historian, a member of Congress.
How about a celebrity that was once dunk-tanked on The Today Show?
No. Okay.
I might be able to get a letter from a congressman.
You might?
Yeah, I might have dated one for a while.
You might have?
Wow.
MAN (ON RADIO): And we're back with Councilman Sol Brown.
Now I've been seeing some Randall Pearson signs all around the neighborhood.
Hell, yeah, you have.
BROWN: I can't say I've noticed that.
I'm just saying, I haven't seen his family in church with him at Reverend Hawley's services.
I'm so lucky to havemy supportive wife Nancy at my side, helping me stay focused.
Not sure my opponent is as lucky.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Look, I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, but maybe it's time you and the girls start showing up to events again.
Really?
Just saying, I'm coming off as a family man without a family.
Do you know what the girls got for Christmas, Family Man?
I do, 'cause I went out and bought all their presents without you.
- I'm really sorry. I...
- And Tess is moody all the time,
I don't even know why. I don't know if it's 'cause she's trying to figure out her sexuality, or-or because she just discovered Nirvana on Spotify.
Either way, I'd love to discuss it with my husband, but he's off in Philly, glad-handing for no good reason, because last I checked, the polls said you weren't even close to winning.
Now, are you really mad at me, Beth?
Or are you mad that I got something that I care about right now and you don't?
'Cause if memory serves, I played Stay-At-Home Superdad all last year, and you did not hear me complaining.
You know what?
I'm gonna walk out of this room before you say something else you're gonna regret.
You do what you got to do.
KEVIN: Congressman, thank you so much for meeting with us.
I appreciate it. You know, my brother, uh, currently running for city council.
He's going absolutely insane with the schedule. I can only
- imagine what yours is like.
- Yes, thank you so much for coming, Andy.
I didn't know you were living in New York now.
Well, it's... it's, uh, pretty recent, really.
Yeah, pretty recent. Your Bo... Her boxes just came in
- from Chicago, like, last week.
- Yeah.
So, haven't really had a chance to even unpack them yet.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, that's great.
So, you said you needed help with getting some military
- records or something?
- Yes.
Well, we've been on this journey, literally to Vietnam and back, looking for Kevin's uncle.
And we heard that with a little push from a member of Congress, we, um...
(CHUCKLES) Oh.
I thought when you said you desperately needed help, it was something a little more serious.
- Oh.
- Oh.
Oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to...
No. Sorry. It's fine. I can try to get the records from the VA.
Maybe I'll just sh**t them a quick e-mail.
That should do the trick, right?
Sorry. I...
I really thought enough time had passed.
Andy...
My office will formulate a formal request for the records.
Thank you. Appreciate that.
Thank you for your time.
- Well, that worked.
- Yeah. Look...
That guy's carrying around some serious baggage,
Zoe, what... what's the story with you two?
Were you two serious?
I mean, we were.
Uh, we dated for a couple of years.
Uh, we talked about moving to New York.
I... I'm on the edge of my seat here, Zoe.
Well, he kept on sending apartment listings, and, well, none of them felt right.
- Hmm.
- And, uh, well, I realized the apartments weren't the problem, so I e-mailed him saying I thought the relationship had run its course.
You dated a guy for two years, and you broke up with him... with an e-mail?
I mean, I didn't deal with it perfectly.
It was a long time ago.
I got to run.
If I'm late for meeting Beth for cookie baking...
- Going now?
- ...she'll flip.
Apparently, your brother's been AWOL.
I don't want to be on the receiving end of that mood.
Yeah. All right.
Bye.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Hey, uh, before you leave...
Mm-mmm. Nope, not tonight.
It is New Year's Eve, my friend, and I'm on my way to get a boo-berry pie to eat with my girls
- when the clock strikes : .
- Boo-berry pie?
It's technically blueberry, but when Beth was three,
- she called it "boo-berry."
- Huh.
Come on, man. Nothing for "boo-berry"?
Anyway, Beth's family used to have one every New Year's.
She said the new year don't start
- till she get her boo-berry on.
- I found it.
What we've been looking for.
Six years ago, Sol Brown was arrested for drunk driving, but he was never charged.
Randall, he paid off the police to have the charges dropped.
And then he paid the paper to have the story buried.
That's major.
We should release this first thing in the morning.
How do you like them boo-berries?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Hello. Uh, one blueberry pie, please.
Ooh, I'm sorry.
We just sold the last one.
Okay, then.
Um... could you make me one?
My wife requires one every New Year's Eve.
I'll wait, however long it takes.
I wish I could, sir, but we bake everything in the morning.
- Next in line.
- It's just, just one blueberry.
- I can't. I'm sorry.
- It's for my wife..
I wish I could help you, sweetie. I can't.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Everything okay, Mr. Pearson?
Reverend Hawley.
Hi.
Um, no, I'm fine. I just, uh... standing here in the middle of a diner at : on New Year's Eve, wondering if I'm gonna go down in history as the worst husband and father
of all time, who also lost an election by a landslide.
- Well, you could drop out.
- (LAUGHS)
I'm sure my good friend Sol would, uh, throw you a party.
(CHUCKLING)
I asked Sol to fix the lights at the rec center, and he didn't do it.
Then a little girl who reminds me of my little girls got hurt.
I just wanted to give the people something better.
I thought they deserved that.
You know, my father once told me that I was gonna be a great man.
And my whole life, in the back of my mind, I always wanted to be one.
I'm starting to think it might be harder to be a good man than a great one.
I'm sitting on something that could change the whole game, and...
(QUIETLY): It's just not the way I want to do it, man.
(CHUCKLES)
I'm sorry, man.
You just wanted to say "hi" on New Year's Eve.
I didn't mean to take all your time.
Hey, you know, I give a... a lot of death-bed advice.
Comes with the job, I guess.
Death-bed advice.
That's the gig.
Act in a way that'll make you smile when you're old and gray and lying under a pale pink nursing-home blanket, thinking about... the life you lived.
You do that, you'll be the man your father wanted.
And give this to your wife.
I got the last blueberry pie.
Happy New Year, Mr. Pearson.
Happy New Year's to you, Reverend Hawley.
God bless you, sir.
♪ ♪
DEJA: I know he's like fifty but...
Anderson Cooper is so fine.
Really? That's your type, Dej?
Okay.
- TESS: Hey, Dad.
- ANNIE AND DEJA: Hey.
- COOPER: How did everything go there?
- It's late.
I'm sorry.
Guess I should just be glad you made it before the ball-drop.
No, I'm sorry about everything.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON TV)
I, um...
Hey, can we just, uh...
(GRUNTS)
I owe all four of you an apology for everything that I've been missing over the past couple of months.
For the way in which I let this campaign take over my entire life.
You know, one day I'm gonna be an old man... laying in bed, all pale, with a pink blanket pulled over me.
Or maybe the pink blanket's pale.
I can't remember.
Anyway... do you know what I'm gonna be thinking about?
It's not about this election.
I'm gonna be thinking about blueberry pie.
I'm gonna be thinking about, uh, making gingerbread trains with my favorite four girls.
(OTHERS LAUGH SOFTLY)
This family...is what makes me special.
You four...you're what make me great.
And I'm sorry if I haven't done a good job of...showing you that enough lately.
Anyway...
Now, who's ready for some pie?
Oh, y'all know the new year doesn't start till we get our boo-berry on.
- ♪
- (GIRLS CHATTERING, LAUGHING)
(MUSIC PLAYING, INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER)
We don't even know if this is the right place.
Toby, I have spent two solid weeks online friend-requesting every single person in my college to track down this weirdo.
- (GASPS)
- (WHISPERS): That's him.
Gabe?
- Hey.
- Hey.
You can't have them back.
- Ha!
- (SIGHS)
Here's the thing, Gabe.
I made a really big mistake when I sold those to you.
- Want to give them back to us?
- Sorry, no can do.
- We'll pay for them. I'll pay for them.
- Yeah.
And what'd you pay, ten bucks?
Waah.
I'll give you $ .
- Hundred?
- I hate to be a d*ck, but that stuff's priceless. Sorry.
Now, see, I told you.
So let's just, let's go.
No, no, no. I'm pregnant.
(SIGHS): And... for years, my husband was planning on giving those to his child when he had one.
And I am with said child.
I literally have nothing to give... my baby, because my entire house burned down in a fire.
Whoa.
And my dad died.
(SIGHS)
And... I literally, I mean, I don't have anything.
Not... My Little Ponys, not my Cabbage Patch dolls and not my Three Rivers Stadium that my dad built for me.
I'm not gonna have anything to give to my baby from my childhood, but... but he can... he can have something from his father.
So, Gabe, Just ask yourself: do you really want to spend your New Year's Eve disappointing a pregnant lady whose father died because of a devastating house fire?
(SIGHS): Yeah, sorry.
Okay, happy New Year.
"Yeah, sorry"?
♪ ♪
- (DOOR OPENS)
- ZOE: Sorry that took forever.
The salon was packed.
Everyone getting gussied up for New Year's Eve.
I know.
- I got your tux.
- Thank you.
What are you ogling at instead of me?
It's, uh, Nicky's file.
- Wait, they came? Why didn't you call?
- Uh-huh.
Uh, there's no real answers here.
Just that he got medevacked out of Vietnam in ' and sent to, uh, Walter Reed for a psych eval.
And then what?
He, uh, got discharged a few months later.
He signed his papers "Clark Kent"?
Yeah, here, just... look, you can just read the whole thing.
You don't need to hover over me like that.
Just, you know, have at it.
- What's your problem?
- Don't worry about it.
Uh, Kevin, if there's a problem...
Yeah, okay, look, why haven't you unpacked any of your stuff?
I mean, should I... should I be expecting an e-mail, like the one you sent the congressman? Is that...?
- Kevin...
- What's the plan?
Huh? I mean, are...are we supposed to just, uh, step over these things like-like land mines for the rest of our lives?
- The rest of our lives?
- Yeah.
Zoe, come on, you said you wanted to move in, right?
No. No. I didn't, actually.
I told you I'd move in to make you happy.
Keep me happy? Okay, great, so I'm the bad guy because I asked you to move in with me?
Yeah, because that's what you do.
Every step of this relationship has been you... pushing me.
- Pushing you?
- Yeah.
- I'm pushing you?
- Yeah.
That's how you think this whole thing went down?
You know what? I...
I don't want to talk about this right now.
No, of course, no, you don't want to talk about it right now.
You don't want to talk about it ever.
You just want to use my living room as an obstacle course for all of your crap.
I need some space.
♪ ♪
(DOOR CLOSES)
...your entire family watch us eat dinner.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
(SNORTS) Yeah.
(PHONE RINGING)
MAN (ON TV): Hold on. We're not ready.
- (PHONE CHIMES)
- (TAKES DEEP BREATH)
(ANNIE LAUGHS)
JACK: All that stuff that you worry about, having balance...
In my experience, there's one key piece to that puzzle.
I just hope the universe puts the right person in your path.
Like your mom was for me.
You know, someone who... brings out all the... the good stuff in you, all your best stuff.
Because, my God, son, what a force you will be.
You slept in.
Mm.
I was up late with the girls brushing up on all the holiday movies
I missed watching with them this year.
"A Chipmunk Christmas" still makes me cry.
Uh, thought you were going to church today in Philly.
Making your final push.
Nah.
When you and I started dating, a few weeks in I asked you to go, uh, shoe shopping with me.
- You remember that?
- Do I remember?
You had a full-on Terms of Endearment-level meltdown in the middle of the Payless.
And you tried to calm me down, but you couldn't.
So you just ended up closing down the aisle while I sobbed.
Like some kind of shoe store traffic cop.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Even though you didn't understand why a woman handing me some rhinestone slingbacks could make me lose my mind.
And it was that day
I suspected I might marry this dude.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, damn, baby, you could have saved a broke-ass college boy a lot of money on cheesy dates if you'd have told me that then.
- Husband.
- Hmm?
You are a man... who cares too much and tries too hard.
It's who you've always been.
It's who I married.
A great man.
I will not let you forget who you are.
I should've had your back.
You need to finish this campaign.
(SIGHS)
Why did the slingbacks make you cry?
It was the woman who brought them to me.
She smelled like eucalyptus oil, and my dad used to...
(WHISPERS): ...use it on his hands.
I get it.
I know you do.
Now, get up. Okay?
Get dressed.
I'll tell the girls to put their church clothes on.
Yes, ma'am.
HAWLEY: Somebody say "amen."
Amen!
HAWLEY: Jesus knew, if he wanted to be a great leader, he had to be a servant to the people he served.
- MAN: Yes, sir!
- Now, we all know we have to make a big decision next Tuesday.
- Mm-hmm.
- We got to decide who will serve us.
- MAN: All right, now.
- MAN : That's right.
Now, I've known Councilman Sol Brown for years.
- Yes!
- He's a staple of this community.
- Yes, he is.
- He has served us proudly
- for the last years.
- Yes!
Now, Randall Pearson I've only known for a few months.
He's got a lot of passion, but will he serve us?
All I know is that he is fundamentally decent, which isn't necessarily in vogue these days.
- Uh-huh!
- I know he drives two hours each way every day to get here.
He has knocked on so many of our doors, when we sang "Somebody's Knocking at Your Door" last Sunday, a little girl called out, she said,
- "It's Randall Pearson."
- (LAUGHTER)
It's not years of history here, but he has sure done a lot with the time he's had.
Now, the truth is, I think... we are in capable hands...
- with either one of these men.
- CONGREGATION: Mm-hmm.
- Somebody say, "Amen".
- CONGREGATION: Amen!
- Amen!
- Amen!
Well, that was unexpected.
(RANDALL SNORTS)
Hey, Tobe?
TOBY: Yeah?
Wait. You can tell these aren't yours from over there?
(SIGHS): Yeah.
A man knows his Chewbacca.
Where'd you get them?
eBay.
I tried to get yours back from Gabe, but...
(SIGHS) God knows I tried. I mean...
I tried things you would be incredibly uncomfortable with.
Those are pretty cool.
They must've cost you a fortune.
Eh.
Yeah, I know.
Babe, we're starting a new family.
Our family.
And, no, we don't have all of your action figures to pass down.
And, no, we don't have my handmade football stadium.
But, babe, we come with us.
You don't need to pass down your favorite thing to your son, because I know with every part of me that you are gonna be our son's favorite thing.
- You.
- Mm.
You hear me?
Okay. (GASPS) I got to go back to my laptop. They're selling an original Boba Fett in, like, the next five.
- Go. Go.
- Going!
We have an update in perhaps the most surprising race in the local Philadelphia elections tonight...
- Tobe.
- Okay. Come on in!
Babe.
- Oh.
- Huh?
And... ta-da.
♪ ♪
What...
Well, I called Kevin, and he looked through a bunch of photos and found one of the stadium your dad built for you.
♪ ♪
I took that photo to a... weird little man named Edwin who builds dollhouses, and then he built this replica.
And, for the record, I'm going to be our kid's second favorite thing.
You're the first.
Anyhow, I... I hope you like it.
But it's okay if you don't.
(CHUCKLES)
Oh, no, is this going sideways on me?
ZOE: Kevin, I can't do this.
(PHONE RINGS)
Tobe, hey, what's up?
Hey. Look, uh, Kate has been crying for, like, five minutes straight.
Is there, like, a twin cure for something like this?
Is it good crying or bad crying?
TOBY: Unclear.
(SNIFFLES, CRYING)
How's it going there?
Unclear.
Hey, Tobe, listen, I got to go, all right?
- I'll c... I'll call you back.
- (STAMMERS, EXHALES) All right.
Is this a-a good cry?
Yeah.
It's a good cry.
♪ ♪
JAE-WON: Hey, um, whatever happens, dude, what you did in these last seven weeks... it's unheard of.
Yeah.
It's been the longest seven weeks of my life.
Excuse me.
Yeah.
Any word yet?
Sounds like we're not gonna find out who won till after midnight.
- (EXHALES) Okay.
- Yeah.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Hey, guys.
Could we all gather around, please?
Listen, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for being here.
I know these last few weeks, um... I pushed you.
But I pushed myself, too.
Doors got slammed in our faces, and we knocked again.
Flyers got torn down and thrown out, and we put up new ones.
Whatever happened to us in these tough days, we just kept pushing.
And we did it because we believed in what our future here could be.
We were given four words...
"The numbers aren't there"...and we turned those into four new ones...
"Too close to call."
(CHUCKLING)
So, um, go home proud.
We're not gonna find out what happened tonight.
And I have a feeling that we could all use the rest.
So, thank you.
Thank you, everyone!
- (WHOOPS)
- (APPLAUSE)
- Come on.
- All right.
- Proud of you, man.
- Thank you.
- Appreciate it, man. Okay.
- I'll call you.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
RANDALL: Thank you very much, sir.
Appreciate you being here.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
I have pepper spray.
Kevin, relax.
It's just me.
- Oh.
- Wait, you carry pepper spray?
No.
Listen, Kevin, you... you're one of the only people that knows what my dad...
and, um...
I had three locks on my apartment door in Chicago, bars on the windows, not because I was actually worried about someone breaking in, but...
peace of mind was... taken from me.
I'm sorry. I can't even imagine that.
It's a lot for me to... give up my own safe space.
More than it is for most people.
And, uh... the idea of giving that up, it's, uh...
it's why I've never lived with anyone before.
We don't have to live together, then.
You know? Uh, or you don't even have to unpack, actually.
I'll just... I'll walk over your stuff for the rest of my life.
It'll be good for my calves.
I want to live with you.
I do.
And, uh...
Because even though you, you just might be the most pushy person I have ever met, I...
I think I like what you're pushing for.
I'm in love with you.
And I want John Stamos back.
("SENSE OF HOME" BY HARRISON STORM PLAYING)
Let's go home.
♪ ♪
♪ For these words ♪
♪ He won't come around ♪
♪ Here... ♪
Oh, this one's not mine.
No, that... uh, that's a box of my dad's stuff.
It's where I found the Vietnam mementos.
It must've gotten mixed up with your stuff.
Babe?
Where do you want the weird voodoo dolls?
- They're not weird.
- Mm.
- They're from Haiti.
- Oh.
Don't mess with my voodoo, boy.
- Okay.
- Mm-hmm.
I'll just put those right over here.
"Jack, Last one. C.K."
Who's C.K.?
Let me see that.
"C.K."
Like Clark Kent.
My dad knew Nicky was alive.
Why would he lie to us?
(EXHALES)
Well, there's a return address.
Bradford, Pennsylvania.
You think he's still there?
I wonder what my father would think about this.
About me running.
About me having found you.
About all of it.
There's so much he didn't get to see.
KATE: So, our son is officially the size of a tomato.
Uh, to-mah-to, please. It's classier.
And our son is gonna be...
(SOUTHERN ACCENT): classy as hell.
Ooh. 'Kay.
RANDALL: So much stuff he never got to share in.
You sure you don't want to go find your brother's name on the wall?
No.
No, too sad for me.
RANDALL: Sometimes I feel like this big ol' puppet, you know?
He's just pulling the strings from up there, just tugging me around wherever he wants me to go.
(CHUCKLES)
I don't know.
I think back on all these moments and all these memories, and sometimes it feels like there's been a plan for my life.
Like, from the beginning.
Maybe everyone feels that way.
Maybe I'm not that special, and this is just what it is to be a person, you know?
You're very special, babe.
Thank you.
You're also very tired.
(CHUCKLES)
(RANDALL SIGHS)
- (CLICKS TONGUE)
- (PHONE RINGING)
(GROANING)
(RINGING STOPS)
Hello?
Yeah, no, of course.
Thanks for letting me know.
♪ ♪
(INHALES)
(EXHALES)
I won.
You've always said that you wanted to finish school.
I think the time is now.
- Oh, my God, it's a boy.
- (BOTH LAUGH)
I went to a database for the w*r memorial.
Nicholas Pearson.
He might be dead, but he didn't die here in Vietnam.
BETH: She will break you, Kevin.
Her background is complicated.
You're not gonna win this one, Randall.
The numbers aren't there.
BETH: You told me that if at any point, I wasn't on board with you running, you would stop.
I am no longer on board with you running.
NEWSCASTER: We have an update in perhaps the most surprising race in the local Philadelphia elections tonight.
District remains too close to call with long-time incumbent Solomon Brown ahead only four percentage points
- of challenger Randall Pearson.
- How you doing, cuz?
"Keep the Chardonnay coming" is how I'm doing.
NEWSCASTER: Councilman Brown is leading %...
Well, one way or another, it'll all be over soon.
(SIGHS): Yeah, it'll all be over soon.
NEWSCASTER: Councilman Solomon Brown, a -year incumbent,
- first made a name for himself...
- Here you go.
Oh, I was not built for politics.
This is way too tense for me.
- Yeah, my undershirt is fully soaked.
- Stop.
NEWSCASTER: Brown voted yes to Proposition ...
...which brought better housing programs to his district.
Big life moment for you, little brother.
What's going through your mind?
- Honestly?
- Yeah.
You remember when Dad and I went to D.C. to visit Howard?
- Of course.
- Been thinking about that a lot.
You? What's on your mind?
What's on my mind? Uh, John Stamos, mostly. Ex-excuse me.
John Stamos.
Hi.
Hi. Oh, uh...
'Cause I'm not, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be talking to you, or giving you space, so I'm just gonna talk to you from multiple feet away and sort of split the difference.
(EXHALES)
- Zoe, I'm sorry if I pushed you...
- Kevin...
...I can't do this.
(PHONE RINGING)
Tobe, hey, what's up?
TOBY: Hey. Look, uh, Kate has been crying for, like, five minutes straight.
Is there, like, a twin cure for something like this?
Um, is it-is it good crying or bad crying?
- (SNIFFLES)
- Unclear.
- How's it going over there?
- Unclear.
Hey, look, Toby, I got to go.
I'll call you back.
- How are we looking?
- Well, we're behind, but, uh, whatever happens, dude, what you did in these last seven weeks, it's unheard of.
Yeah.
It's been the longest seven weeks of my life.
- Hey, Randall. Randall.
- RANDALL: Yeah.
Get up, come on. Annie's up.
She doesn't need to see you sleeping on the couch.
Ah, crap. I wanted to be back in Philly by : .
You're still running?
After last night?
After-after Jae-won said you couldn't win?
He didn't say I couldn't win. He said the numbers aren't there.
Well, they're somewhere, Beth.
I can't just give up on my district, not after all this.
Oh, your district.
What about your family?
Will always be my priority, okay?
Look, I even thought about Tess last night.
I, uh, I ordered Love, Ellen.
It's the book Ellen DeGeneres's mom Betty wrote about Ellen coming out.
I'm gonna listen to it on my way to Philly.
You cannot audiobook your way through our daughter's life.
(SIGHS) Look, the next seven weeks are gonna be tough.
I know.
But the people we've met in that district over the past few months, they deserve my best...
There is no "we" in this anymore, Randall.
I will stay out of your way, but you're on your own, babe.
♪ ♪
JACK: You know, I'll bet Abraham Lincoln woke up every morning, stood on the steps of the White House, and he took in the same feet that we're looking at right now.
Hmm, they finished it years after he died, so...
(EXHALES)
You're ruining the romance, kid.
(LAUGHING) Facts are facts, Dad.
Hmm.
I'm thinking about majoring in political science.
No kidding.
Look at you.
What a great life you're gonna have.
What a great man you're gonna be.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Hmm.
(PHONE CHIMES)
(PHONE CHIMES)
(CHUCKLES)
- Hey, Tobe?
- TOBY: Did somebody call a future Dad Bod award winner? Huh?
(CHUCKLES): So, I was thinking, we're just using this room
- to store all of our junk, you know?
- Um, junk...
I think it's time that we turn this room into a nursery.
(SNAPS FINGERS) I am so on board.
- Yeah?
- Yeah, yeah, I was just waiting
'cause you were hesitant.
Yeah. So, you need to sell all your toys.
Ugh...
- (DOOR OPENS)
- (SIGHS)
Longest travel day of my life.
Ah. Well, we took off Wednesday afternoon, landed Wednesday morning, so technically, it's the shortest travel day of your life.
Yeah, time zones are crazy, huh?
You know what else is crazy?
That your uncle didn't die in Vietnam?
That my uncle didn't die in Vietnam. That's exactly right.
And now I have a million more questions about it, you know?
Like, uh, I don't know, did he come back to the States?
All right, did my dad know that he was alive?
Uh, or-or maybe it's like Mad Men, right?
Where he died, but somebody took his dog tags.
Hey, slow your roll, Pearson.
We'll contact Veterans Affairs, find out what happened and go from there.
What are you gonna tell your family?
Are you... I'm not gonna tell my family a thing.
I mean, the-the text chain was ungodly when Kate debated going blonde.
I can't even imagine what this would be like.
- Good point.
- You know?
It feels so good to be home.
(SIGHS)
Hmm.
What?
Oh, you calling my place "home."
No, I didn't. I called America home,
- not your loft.
- Well, it could be.
My loft. Your home.
(CHUCKLES): Is that...
It's John Stamos, yeah.
Tess and Annie got it for me.
There was a whole phase they were calling me Uncle Jesse.
What do you say?
(CHUCKLES)
- Ah, you took the Stamos.
- (LAUGHS)
I got a roommate!
This is gonna be great.
- Oh, my God. Let's go straight to bed.
- Oh, my God.
Randall Pearson...
Randall Pearson will turn the lights back on.
RANDALL: All right, J-dog. Hit me with them new stats, man.
- I know we picked up some real heat.
- Eh, more like lukewarm heat.
You're still ten points behind.
How? Dude, we've done so much walking door-to-door,
I had to Google what corns are to see if that's what I got growing on my feet. It is.
- What else can we do?
- Get some more comfortable shoes.
We've got a full day of pounding the pavement ahead of us.
- Mm.
- Oh, uh, also, don't forget that we've got the Business Association breakfast
- at : a.m. tomorrow.
- Right.
Guess I'll be staying here again.
You want to call Beth and tell her for me?
I'm sorry, dude. I warned you this would be rough.
Yeah.
YOUNG RANDALL: It scares me.
The idea of, you know... doing something big with my life.
You know what I get like when I get focused.
Oh, it's like... it's like I can't see anything else.
And I look at you and Mom and, you know, and our family.
And I-I want that, too.
You know, Randall, you... you might be the only -year-old on the planet who's actually worrying about balancing their future career with their future wife and kids.
(CHUCKLES)
I-I like to plan ahead.
- Well, are we rich?
- (CHUCKLES): These kids at my college, they went crazy for our stuff.
Yeah, well, we're so old to them, our stuff is considered vintage.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Uh, uh...
Uh, where, uh, where's the, uh... where's the box that I tucked under the counter?
I-I don't know. I think I sold it.
No. No, it was marked, uh... it was marked "DNS."
Yeah, it was donations.
Yeah, I-I sold it.
One less trip to the Goodwill.
No, the...
"DNS" does not stand for "donations."
It stands for "do not sell."
That box was home to my original complete set of Star Wars action figures.
I'm sorry.
- It was an accident, babe.
- You should've asked.
- You should've asked. (EXHALES)
- Wait, but, babe,
- come on, they're just toys.
- Whoa.
Whoa. They are not just toys.
They are action figures, first of all.
Action figures that have traveled with me from house to house after my parents got divorced, into my college dorm room, through six L.A. apartments so that someday I could hand them down to my kid.
But now...
- Don't.
- Aah!
KEVIN: I'm sorry that we were late.
Ah, man. It's my fault.
I was slow getting out of my apartment this morning.
Well, actually, it's our apartment.
We, uh... we're living together in sin.
Yeah.
I do show a record for a Nicholas Pearson.
That's great.
But before I can give you any information,
I need proof that you're his next of kin.
How about nephew?
Nephew's a big deal now, right?
Think of Game of Thrones.
Right, Joffrey was next of kin to the super-handsome, fit, blonde, uncle guy.
Jamie was never in line for the throne.
Joffrey ascended after his adoptive father Robert Baratheon died.
Without documentation, you're gonna need someone official to write a letter, authorizing release of the records.
Could be military personnel, a historian, a member of Congress.
How about a celebrity that was once dunk-tanked on The Today Show?
No. Okay.
I might be able to get a letter from a congressman.
You might?
Yeah, I might have dated one for a while.
You might have?
Wow.
MAN (ON RADIO): And we're back with Councilman Sol Brown.
Now I've been seeing some Randall Pearson signs all around the neighborhood.
Hell, yeah, you have.
BROWN: I can't say I've noticed that.
I'm just saying, I haven't seen his family in church with him at Reverend Hawley's services.
I'm so lucky to havemy supportive wife Nancy at my side, helping me stay focused.
Not sure my opponent is as lucky.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Look, I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, but maybe it's time you and the girls start showing up to events again.
Really?
Just saying, I'm coming off as a family man without a family.
Do you know what the girls got for Christmas, Family Man?
I do, 'cause I went out and bought all their presents without you.
- I'm really sorry. I...
- And Tess is moody all the time,
I don't even know why. I don't know if it's 'cause she's trying to figure out her sexuality, or-or because she just discovered Nirvana on Spotify.
Either way, I'd love to discuss it with my husband, but he's off in Philly, glad-handing for no good reason, because last I checked, the polls said you weren't even close to winning.
Now, are you really mad at me, Beth?
Or are you mad that I got something that I care about right now and you don't?
'Cause if memory serves, I played Stay-At-Home Superdad all last year, and you did not hear me complaining.
You know what?
I'm gonna walk out of this room before you say something else you're gonna regret.
You do what you got to do.
KEVIN: Congressman, thank you so much for meeting with us.
I appreciate it. You know, my brother, uh, currently running for city council.
He's going absolutely insane with the schedule. I can only
- imagine what yours is like.
- Yes, thank you so much for coming, Andy.
I didn't know you were living in New York now.
Well, it's... it's, uh, pretty recent, really.
Yeah, pretty recent. Your Bo... Her boxes just came in
- from Chicago, like, last week.
- Yeah.
So, haven't really had a chance to even unpack them yet.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, that's great.
So, you said you needed help with getting some military
- records or something?
- Yes.
Well, we've been on this journey, literally to Vietnam and back, looking for Kevin's uncle.
And we heard that with a little push from a member of Congress, we, um...
(CHUCKLES) Oh.
I thought when you said you desperately needed help, it was something a little more serious.
- Oh.
- Oh.
Oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to...
No. Sorry. It's fine. I can try to get the records from the VA.
Maybe I'll just sh**t them a quick e-mail.
That should do the trick, right?
Sorry. I...
I really thought enough time had passed.
Andy...
My office will formulate a formal request for the records.
Thank you. Appreciate that.
Thank you for your time.
- Well, that worked.
- Yeah. Look...
That guy's carrying around some serious baggage,
Zoe, what... what's the story with you two?
Were you two serious?
I mean, we were.
Uh, we dated for a couple of years.
Uh, we talked about moving to New York.
I... I'm on the edge of my seat here, Zoe.
Well, he kept on sending apartment listings, and, well, none of them felt right.
- Hmm.
- And, uh, well, I realized the apartments weren't the problem, so I e-mailed him saying I thought the relationship had run its course.
You dated a guy for two years, and you broke up with him... with an e-mail?
I mean, I didn't deal with it perfectly.
It was a long time ago.
I got to run.
If I'm late for meeting Beth for cookie baking...
- Going now?
- ...she'll flip.
Apparently, your brother's been AWOL.
I don't want to be on the receiving end of that mood.
Yeah. All right.
Bye.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Hey, uh, before you leave...
Mm-mmm. Nope, not tonight.
It is New Year's Eve, my friend, and I'm on my way to get a boo-berry pie to eat with my girls
- when the clock strikes : .
- Boo-berry pie?
It's technically blueberry, but when Beth was three,
- she called it "boo-berry."
- Huh.
Come on, man. Nothing for "boo-berry"?
Anyway, Beth's family used to have one every New Year's.
She said the new year don't start
- till she get her boo-berry on.
- I found it.
What we've been looking for.
Six years ago, Sol Brown was arrested for drunk driving, but he was never charged.
Randall, he paid off the police to have the charges dropped.
And then he paid the paper to have the story buried.
That's major.
We should release this first thing in the morning.
How do you like them boo-berries?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Hello. Uh, one blueberry pie, please.
Ooh, I'm sorry.
We just sold the last one.
Okay, then.
Um... could you make me one?
My wife requires one every New Year's Eve.
I'll wait, however long it takes.
I wish I could, sir, but we bake everything in the morning.
- Next in line.
- It's just, just one blueberry.
- I can't. I'm sorry.
- It's for my wife..
I wish I could help you, sweetie. I can't.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Everything okay, Mr. Pearson?
Reverend Hawley.
Hi.
Um, no, I'm fine. I just, uh... standing here in the middle of a diner at : on New Year's Eve, wondering if I'm gonna go down in history as the worst husband and father
of all time, who also lost an election by a landslide.
- Well, you could drop out.
- (LAUGHS)
I'm sure my good friend Sol would, uh, throw you a party.
(CHUCKLING)
I asked Sol to fix the lights at the rec center, and he didn't do it.
Then a little girl who reminds me of my little girls got hurt.
I just wanted to give the people something better.
I thought they deserved that.
You know, my father once told me that I was gonna be a great man.
And my whole life, in the back of my mind, I always wanted to be one.
I'm starting to think it might be harder to be a good man than a great one.
I'm sitting on something that could change the whole game, and...
(QUIETLY): It's just not the way I want to do it, man.
(CHUCKLES)
I'm sorry, man.
You just wanted to say "hi" on New Year's Eve.
I didn't mean to take all your time.
Hey, you know, I give a... a lot of death-bed advice.
Comes with the job, I guess.
Death-bed advice.
That's the gig.
Act in a way that'll make you smile when you're old and gray and lying under a pale pink nursing-home blanket, thinking about... the life you lived.
You do that, you'll be the man your father wanted.
And give this to your wife.
I got the last blueberry pie.
Happy New Year, Mr. Pearson.
Happy New Year's to you, Reverend Hawley.
God bless you, sir.
♪ ♪
DEJA: I know he's like fifty but...
Anderson Cooper is so fine.
Really? That's your type, Dej?
Okay.
- TESS: Hey, Dad.
- ANNIE AND DEJA: Hey.
- COOPER: How did everything go there?
- It's late.
I'm sorry.
Guess I should just be glad you made it before the ball-drop.
No, I'm sorry about everything.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON TV)
I, um...
Hey, can we just, uh...
(GRUNTS)
I owe all four of you an apology for everything that I've been missing over the past couple of months.
For the way in which I let this campaign take over my entire life.
You know, one day I'm gonna be an old man... laying in bed, all pale, with a pink blanket pulled over me.
Or maybe the pink blanket's pale.
I can't remember.
Anyway... do you know what I'm gonna be thinking about?
It's not about this election.
I'm gonna be thinking about blueberry pie.
I'm gonna be thinking about, uh, making gingerbread trains with my favorite four girls.
(OTHERS LAUGH SOFTLY)
This family...is what makes me special.
You four...you're what make me great.
And I'm sorry if I haven't done a good job of...showing you that enough lately.
Anyway...
Now, who's ready for some pie?
Oh, y'all know the new year doesn't start till we get our boo-berry on.
- ♪
- (GIRLS CHATTERING, LAUGHING)
(MUSIC PLAYING, INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER)
We don't even know if this is the right place.
Toby, I have spent two solid weeks online friend-requesting every single person in my college to track down this weirdo.
- (GASPS)
- (WHISPERS): That's him.
Gabe?
- Hey.
- Hey.
You can't have them back.
- Ha!
- (SIGHS)
Here's the thing, Gabe.
I made a really big mistake when I sold those to you.
- Want to give them back to us?
- Sorry, no can do.
- We'll pay for them. I'll pay for them.
- Yeah.
And what'd you pay, ten bucks?
Waah.
I'll give you $ .
- Hundred?
- I hate to be a d*ck, but that stuff's priceless. Sorry.
Now, see, I told you.
So let's just, let's go.
No, no, no. I'm pregnant.
(SIGHS): And... for years, my husband was planning on giving those to his child when he had one.
And I am with said child.
I literally have nothing to give... my baby, because my entire house burned down in a fire.
Whoa.
And my dad died.
(SIGHS)
And... I literally, I mean, I don't have anything.
Not... My Little Ponys, not my Cabbage Patch dolls and not my Three Rivers Stadium that my dad built for me.
I'm not gonna have anything to give to my baby from my childhood, but... but he can... he can have something from his father.
So, Gabe, Just ask yourself: do you really want to spend your New Year's Eve disappointing a pregnant lady whose father died because of a devastating house fire?
(SIGHS): Yeah, sorry.
Okay, happy New Year.
"Yeah, sorry"?
♪ ♪
- (DOOR OPENS)
- ZOE: Sorry that took forever.
The salon was packed.
Everyone getting gussied up for New Year's Eve.
I know.
- I got your tux.
- Thank you.
What are you ogling at instead of me?
It's, uh, Nicky's file.
- Wait, they came? Why didn't you call?
- Uh-huh.
Uh, there's no real answers here.
Just that he got medevacked out of Vietnam in ' and sent to, uh, Walter Reed for a psych eval.
And then what?
He, uh, got discharged a few months later.
He signed his papers "Clark Kent"?
Yeah, here, just... look, you can just read the whole thing.
You don't need to hover over me like that.
Just, you know, have at it.
- What's your problem?
- Don't worry about it.
Uh, Kevin, if there's a problem...
Yeah, okay, look, why haven't you unpacked any of your stuff?
I mean, should I... should I be expecting an e-mail, like the one you sent the congressman? Is that...?
- Kevin...
- What's the plan?
Huh? I mean, are...are we supposed to just, uh, step over these things like-like land mines for the rest of our lives?
- The rest of our lives?
- Yeah.
Zoe, come on, you said you wanted to move in, right?
No. No. I didn't, actually.
I told you I'd move in to make you happy.
Keep me happy? Okay, great, so I'm the bad guy because I asked you to move in with me?
Yeah, because that's what you do.
Every step of this relationship has been you... pushing me.
- Pushing you?
- Yeah.
- I'm pushing you?
- Yeah.
That's how you think this whole thing went down?
You know what? I...
I don't want to talk about this right now.
No, of course, no, you don't want to talk about it right now.
You don't want to talk about it ever.
You just want to use my living room as an obstacle course for all of your crap.
I need some space.
♪ ♪
(DOOR CLOSES)
...your entire family watch us eat dinner.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
(SNORTS) Yeah.
(PHONE RINGING)
MAN (ON TV): Hold on. We're not ready.
- (PHONE CHIMES)
- (TAKES DEEP BREATH)
(ANNIE LAUGHS)
JACK: All that stuff that you worry about, having balance...
In my experience, there's one key piece to that puzzle.
I just hope the universe puts the right person in your path.
Like your mom was for me.
You know, someone who... brings out all the... the good stuff in you, all your best stuff.
Because, my God, son, what a force you will be.
You slept in.
Mm.
I was up late with the girls brushing up on all the holiday movies
I missed watching with them this year.
"A Chipmunk Christmas" still makes me cry.
Uh, thought you were going to church today in Philly.
Making your final push.
Nah.
When you and I started dating, a few weeks in I asked you to go, uh, shoe shopping with me.
- You remember that?
- Do I remember?
You had a full-on Terms of Endearment-level meltdown in the middle of the Payless.
And you tried to calm me down, but you couldn't.
So you just ended up closing down the aisle while I sobbed.
Like some kind of shoe store traffic cop.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Even though you didn't understand why a woman handing me some rhinestone slingbacks could make me lose my mind.
And it was that day
I suspected I might marry this dude.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, damn, baby, you could have saved a broke-ass college boy a lot of money on cheesy dates if you'd have told me that then.
- Husband.
- Hmm?
You are a man... who cares too much and tries too hard.
It's who you've always been.
It's who I married.
A great man.
I will not let you forget who you are.
I should've had your back.
You need to finish this campaign.
(SIGHS)
Why did the slingbacks make you cry?
It was the woman who brought them to me.
She smelled like eucalyptus oil, and my dad used to...
(WHISPERS): ...use it on his hands.
I get it.
I know you do.
Now, get up. Okay?
Get dressed.
I'll tell the girls to put their church clothes on.
Yes, ma'am.
HAWLEY: Somebody say "amen."
Amen!
HAWLEY: Jesus knew, if he wanted to be a great leader, he had to be a servant to the people he served.
- MAN: Yes, sir!
- Now, we all know we have to make a big decision next Tuesday.
- Mm-hmm.
- We got to decide who will serve us.
- MAN: All right, now.
- MAN : That's right.
Now, I've known Councilman Sol Brown for years.
- Yes!
- He's a staple of this community.
- Yes, he is.
- He has served us proudly
- for the last years.
- Yes!
Now, Randall Pearson I've only known for a few months.
He's got a lot of passion, but will he serve us?
All I know is that he is fundamentally decent, which isn't necessarily in vogue these days.
- Uh-huh!
- I know he drives two hours each way every day to get here.
He has knocked on so many of our doors, when we sang "Somebody's Knocking at Your Door" last Sunday, a little girl called out, she said,
- "It's Randall Pearson."
- (LAUGHTER)
It's not years of history here, but he has sure done a lot with the time he's had.
Now, the truth is, I think... we are in capable hands...
- with either one of these men.
- CONGREGATION: Mm-hmm.
- Somebody say, "Amen".
- CONGREGATION: Amen!
- Amen!
- Amen!
Well, that was unexpected.
(RANDALL SNORTS)
Hey, Tobe?
TOBY: Yeah?
Wait. You can tell these aren't yours from over there?
(SIGHS): Yeah.
A man knows his Chewbacca.
Where'd you get them?
eBay.
I tried to get yours back from Gabe, but...
(SIGHS) God knows I tried. I mean...
I tried things you would be incredibly uncomfortable with.
Those are pretty cool.
They must've cost you a fortune.
Eh.
Yeah, I know.
Babe, we're starting a new family.
Our family.
And, no, we don't have all of your action figures to pass down.
And, no, we don't have my handmade football stadium.
But, babe, we come with us.
You don't need to pass down your favorite thing to your son, because I know with every part of me that you are gonna be our son's favorite thing.
- You.
- Mm.
You hear me?
Okay. (GASPS) I got to go back to my laptop. They're selling an original Boba Fett in, like, the next five.
- Go. Go.
- Going!
We have an update in perhaps the most surprising race in the local Philadelphia elections tonight...
- Tobe.
- Okay. Come on in!
Babe.
- Oh.
- Huh?
And... ta-da.
♪ ♪
What...
Well, I called Kevin, and he looked through a bunch of photos and found one of the stadium your dad built for you.
♪ ♪
I took that photo to a... weird little man named Edwin who builds dollhouses, and then he built this replica.
And, for the record, I'm going to be our kid's second favorite thing.
You're the first.
Anyhow, I... I hope you like it.
But it's okay if you don't.
(CHUCKLES)
Oh, no, is this going sideways on me?
ZOE: Kevin, I can't do this.
(PHONE RINGS)
Tobe, hey, what's up?
Hey. Look, uh, Kate has been crying for, like, five minutes straight.
Is there, like, a twin cure for something like this?
Is it good crying or bad crying?
TOBY: Unclear.
(SNIFFLES, CRYING)
How's it going there?
Unclear.
Hey, Tobe, listen, I got to go, all right?
- I'll c... I'll call you back.
- (STAMMERS, EXHALES) All right.
Is this a-a good cry?
Yeah.
It's a good cry.
♪ ♪
JAE-WON: Hey, um, whatever happens, dude, what you did in these last seven weeks... it's unheard of.
Yeah.
It's been the longest seven weeks of my life.
Excuse me.
Yeah.
Any word yet?
Sounds like we're not gonna find out who won till after midnight.
- (EXHALES) Okay.
- Yeah.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Hey, guys.
Could we all gather around, please?
Listen, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for being here.
I know these last few weeks, um... I pushed you.
But I pushed myself, too.
Doors got slammed in our faces, and we knocked again.
Flyers got torn down and thrown out, and we put up new ones.
Whatever happened to us in these tough days, we just kept pushing.
And we did it because we believed in what our future here could be.
We were given four words...
"The numbers aren't there"...and we turned those into four new ones...
"Too close to call."
(CHUCKLING)
So, um, go home proud.
We're not gonna find out what happened tonight.
And I have a feeling that we could all use the rest.
So, thank you.
Thank you, everyone!
- (WHOOPS)
- (APPLAUSE)
- Come on.
- All right.
- Proud of you, man.
- Thank you.
- Appreciate it, man. Okay.
- I'll call you.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
RANDALL: Thank you very much, sir.
Appreciate you being here.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
I have pepper spray.
Kevin, relax.
It's just me.
- Oh.
- Wait, you carry pepper spray?
No.
Listen, Kevin, you... you're one of the only people that knows what my dad...
and, um...
I had three locks on my apartment door in Chicago, bars on the windows, not because I was actually worried about someone breaking in, but...
peace of mind was... taken from me.
I'm sorry. I can't even imagine that.
It's a lot for me to... give up my own safe space.
More than it is for most people.
And, uh... the idea of giving that up, it's, uh...
it's why I've never lived with anyone before.
We don't have to live together, then.
You know? Uh, or you don't even have to unpack, actually.
I'll just... I'll walk over your stuff for the rest of my life.
It'll be good for my calves.
I want to live with you.
I do.
And, uh...
Because even though you, you just might be the most pushy person I have ever met, I...
I think I like what you're pushing for.
I'm in love with you.
And I want John Stamos back.
("SENSE OF HOME" BY HARRISON STORM PLAYING)
Let's go home.
♪ ♪
♪ For these words ♪
♪ He won't come around ♪
♪ Here... ♪
Oh, this one's not mine.
No, that... uh, that's a box of my dad's stuff.
It's where I found the Vietnam mementos.
It must've gotten mixed up with your stuff.
Babe?
Where do you want the weird voodoo dolls?
- They're not weird.
- Mm.
- They're from Haiti.
- Oh.
Don't mess with my voodoo, boy.
- Okay.
- Mm-hmm.
I'll just put those right over here.
"Jack, Last one. C.K."
Who's C.K.?
Let me see that.
"C.K."
Like Clark Kent.
My dad knew Nicky was alive.
Why would he lie to us?
(EXHALES)
Well, there's a return address.
Bradford, Pennsylvania.
You think he's still there?
I wonder what my father would think about this.
About me running.
About me having found you.
About all of it.
There's so much he didn't get to see.
KATE: So, our son is officially the size of a tomato.
Uh, to-mah-to, please. It's classier.
And our son is gonna be...
(SOUTHERN ACCENT): classy as hell.
Ooh. 'Kay.
RANDALL: So much stuff he never got to share in.
You sure you don't want to go find your brother's name on the wall?
No.
No, too sad for me.
RANDALL: Sometimes I feel like this big ol' puppet, you know?
He's just pulling the strings from up there, just tugging me around wherever he wants me to go.
(CHUCKLES)
I don't know.
I think back on all these moments and all these memories, and sometimes it feels like there's been a plan for my life.
Like, from the beginning.
Maybe everyone feels that way.
Maybe I'm not that special, and this is just what it is to be a person, you know?
You're very special, babe.
Thank you.
You're also very tired.
(CHUCKLES)
(RANDALL SIGHS)
- (CLICKS TONGUE)
- (PHONE RINGING)
(GROANING)
(RINGING STOPS)
Hello?
Yeah, no, of course.
Thanks for letting me know.
♪ ♪
(INHALES)
(EXHALES)
I won.