The This Is Us Beth & Randall Refresher You Need, From Meet Cute To Wedding Bells

Now that This Is Us is finally back on Tuesday nights after a summer hiatus that went on for way too long, fans have a lot of questions — and many of them revolve around what will happen to Beth and Randall Pearson (Susan Kelechi Watson and Sterling K. Brown).

Last season, the couple who previously seemed like the strongest on the show hit a crossroads, but fortunately, they seemed to make it through. Fortunately, the backstory of how Beth and Randall met was also a huge part of season 3, and a lot happened, so here’s a quick refresher in case you forgot over the summer.

Beth and Randall officially crossed paths for the first time when they were in college. They both attended Carnegie Mellon University, and as soon as Randall spotted Beth, he knew they were meant to be together (in true Randall fashion). Although she initially wasn’t receptive when he asked her on a date, eventually, they did go out… but a racist waiter ended up ruining their entire dinner.

At that point, things went so catastrophically bad on their first date that Beth had checked all the way out, but Randall knew there was something there — he even told his roommate that he’d met the woman he was going to marry, and even though, at the time, it wasn’t looking good, he was right.

It took several proposals for Beth to finally agree to marry Randall, and those proposals happened years after they first met. Predictably, Beth was the more level headed one in the relationship, while Randall tended to lead with his heart… and those are the roles they’ve stayed in ever since.

In season 3, it seemed like they were about to split. Randall wanted to pursue his dream of being mayor, which didn’t allow Beth to pursue her dream of opening her own dance studio — at least, not if they were going to be around for their kids. But in the end, they found a compromise, like they always do. They decided to sell their house and move closer to Philadelphia, where Randall works, so that they could cut out their long commutes and get what they wanted.

But since Beth and Randall’s backstory skipped around a bit, hopefully, that means fans will get to find out more of their history together when season 4 premieres. At this point, their love story has spanned decades, so there’s still so much story to tell.