'This Is Us' Season 2 Episode 17 Recap: All About Déjà
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
It was very clear in the first five seconds that tonight's This Is Us episode was about Déjà, which means it was sad, sad, sad, The first scene is her mother, Shauna, giving birth at 16 years old and literally not wanting to hold Déjà, afterwards. Oof. Her grandmother reads mom her rights, though, and says it's time to grow up and put Déjà first.
Fast-forward a few years later: Toddler Déjà is home alone, her mother nowhere to be found. It's clear her grandmother is stepping into the role Shauna should have. Shauna comes home from a guy's house, and her grandmother grills her and says she needs to grow TF up...again. Shauna says if she could change her life she'd be at college with her friends, not "raising a baby." In the next scene, Shauna's grandmother dies, so now she and Déjà have to fend for themselves.
Cut to almost present-day Déjà, right before she meets Randall: She's making breakfast for her mother, but not in the fun way the Pearsons do in the flashbacks. Their water is cut off, but Shauna and Déjà seem to have a really pleasant, loving relationship. Their circumstances just aren't ideal. It's Shauna's birthday, and Déjà wants to make her dinner for it. This is sweet but also sad. Where's Rebecca's grandma wig when you need it?
Déjà severely cuts her hand opening a jar of tomatoes, and, remember, there's no water to rinse off the blood. Déjà calls Shauna, and she doesn't answer, so she goes to the hospital alone. Linda, the child services worker, comes to the hospital and tells Déjà that Shauna isn't at work. It turns out she went to a bar with co-workers after her shift and got drunk. She shows up to the hospital with alcohol clearly on her breath.
Déjà's now staying in some kind of group home, and her foster dad is grouchy and terrifying. Apparently this guy gets drunk and hits Déjà, and her foster sister, Raven. They leave for school and Raven pressures Déjà into shop-lifting makeup from a convenient store. The store clerk finds out, though, and tells their foster dad, who hits Raven because of it. Déjà tells Linda, the social worker, about this, and both she and Raven are sent to other homes. Raven is weirdly mad at Déjà for tattling because now they're going to be separated.
Déjà goes back to stay with Shauna, who's been in rehab. Shauna invites a male friend from rehab to join them on their first dinner back as a family. He's sketchy and unemployed, and Déjà calls him out on his bullshit. He seems nice enough, but he quickly turns into an abusive alcoholic because it's This Is Us. He brings a gun to their house, too.
Police show up to Déjà's school and tell her that Shauna's been arrested for gun possession. This is ultimately what sends her to Randall's house. We blaze past her time with Randall and cut to when Shauna's takes her home...again.
Things begin innocently enough. They're saving money, but it turns, and Déjà has to go to Randall's to ask for enough to pay their gas bill. Now, however, it's even worse: They're past due on their rent and are about to be evicted. So Déjà calls Randall. No answer. (This is when Randall was in Vegas.) He calls back, but Déjà lies about their situation, and they're evicted. That's when Randall and Beth find Déjà sleeping in a car.
Beth and Randall take Déjà and Shauna in. Cue a montage of all of them playing and having fun as Shauna looks sad. It's clear Déjà's happy to be back, and Shauna's embarrassed.
Shauna has an intense conversation with Beth about how she's "failed" Déjà . Meanwhile, Déjà and Randall have an emotional chat where she reveals she's "tired." Things end with Shauna saying she has to go...and she can't take Déjà with her. So it looks like Déjà's now back with Randall's family again—for good.
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