As soon as This Is Us introduced Randall’s biological father, I knew that there would be more to his story. Randall has brought William, who is dying of cancer, into his home, and now he’s been introduced to Rebecca, Randall’s adoptive mother. However, as the Oct. 11 episode of This Is Us revealed, this isn’t actually the first time they’ve met — it’s more like the third. It turns out that William and Rebecca made a "deal" that if she were to raise him, William would never see his biological son, and if the truth comes out, it could ruin both of their current relationships with Randall.
A flashback revealed that when Rebecca was bringing her triplets out of the hospital, William was there, watching from afar — he wanted to make sure that his son, whom he had just left at a fire station, would be OK. Later, Rebecca figured out who he was and what bus he rode, and eventually tracked him down. William used to be young and robust, but addiction and poverty overtook his life and he wanted better for his son. They spoke, and after Rebecca said that she could only raise Randall if she knew he was truly hers, both came to the conclusion that it would be better if Randall didn’t know who his father was.
However, it turns out that William did have a large impact on Randall, as he helped choose his name. After encouraging Rebecca to give Randall — who was originally called Kyle — a name different from his siblings, Rebecca asked for the name of the writer whose poetry William used to read to Randall's birth mother. His last name was Randall, and that night Rebecca went home, decided to change Kyle's name, and finally started to bond with the baby.
Over 30 years later, Rebecca and William still agreed to stick to their secret. Rebecca was likely right in saying that Randall would never speak to them again if he found out about their deal — he was essentially robbed of a chance to know his biological father.
Even though William is sick and doesn’t have much time left, Randall has a chance to get to know him now. He missed out on a lot with his biological dad, but maybe they can make up for it during next few months of William’s life. I hope that the beans are never spilled about William and Rebecca’s arrangement, though — that revelation would cause ripples throughout the entire family, and I’m not sure even they could survive that.
Images: Paul Drinkwater,Ron Batzdorff/NBC
