This Is Us sneak peek: R&B back in the game

For This Is Us fans worried about the future wellbeing of our favorite power couple, a sneak peek of tonight’s episode sees Randall and Beth back on their game.

Season three of This Is Us has seen a lot of ups and downs for R&B. Randall’s campaign certainly put a strain on their relationship, especially after Randall refused to quit the race even after Beth said she needed him at home. Not the smartest move when he initially promised that the minute it got to be too much for her that he would give it up. It proved to be the right move politically, since Randall actually pulled off an impossible victory. Beth decided to support him in the end, but she was still in a fragile emotional place after being laid off from her job of 12 years and trying to find her new path. We know now that Beth’s pragmatic upbringing made it difficult for her to support Randall’s wild political dreams, but that ended up giving her the courage to turn back to dancing.

Now the couple seems to be in a good place, with Beth’s rediscovered confidence (and flexibility) reigniting the passion between them. The sneak peek from tonight’s episode, “The Graduates,” sees Randall – always the planner and the perfectionist – mapping out the family’s increasingly hectic schedules. He worries over the similarity between Deja’s dark purple marker and Annie’s light purple marker and then gets distracted by Beth, who is stretching out with one leg propped up on the kitchen counter. Randall asks her how she expects him to keep his head on straight her her “all up on that kitchen island like that.”

Beth gets pleasantly distracted herself, as she sexy struts toward him – Randall all the while making “uh oh” and “oh boy” exclamations under his breath. When she reaches him they kiss. She takes the marker from his hand as they switch places, Randall putting his arms around her from behind. Beth marks her new dance schedule on the calendar, which makes her realize how between her and Randall’s new schedule they won’t have enough time to take care of the kids.

Randall promises they’ll make it work, suggesting that they hire someone to take care of the kids a few days a week. Beth feels guilty about her new job, apologetically acknowledging that Randall was expecting her to get a higher paying job. Randall is having none of that, saying that the will figure out a way to make it work. “We’re us,” he says confidently. Beth still seems distracted and worried as she gathers her things for her first day as a dance teacher. Randall asks her to do him a favor and knock ‘em dead and she smiles gratefully.

Of course, just as Beth leaves for work Randall gets a phone call from Deja. We don’t know what’s happening on her end, but Randall immediately asks if she is okay and then exclaims incredulously, “What!?” Sounds like someone’s in trouble.

While its good to see R&B working as a team again, its clear that the couple will be facing some financial difficulties in the coming months. Co-producer Kay Oyegun teases that “there will be a fork in the road that they’re going to have to answer those challenges coming up.” And who knows what kind of challenges will come with adjusting to their new schedule, especially when it comes to parenting. Susan Kelechi Watson confirms there will be shaky moments ahead. “Her schedule is going to be changing; you’ve got three girls in the house. So as exciting as this is for them, real life is going to continue, and there are still going to be challenges that come up along the way.”