For our review of the last episode of This Is Us, click here.
Synopsis: Kevin attempts to help Nicky; Randall and Kate reflect on differing memories of their childhood. (TVGuide)
Writer: Julia Brownell
Director: Ken Olin
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 45mins
Airs: Tuesdays at 9pm on CTV (Canada)/NBC (United States)
Is it possible to sound like a broken record when it comes to This Is Us? Probably, but here we go again. Just like it has done countless times before, the series stole our hearts and had us invested in the story. We last left the Big Three dealing with their Uncle Nicky, with Kevin the most invested in helping him out. Of course, as we come to find out later, the whole situation doesn’t bode well for Kevin at all.
The whole season has been leading up to this point and everything sort of falls apart. Kevin, Randall, and Kate are with Nicky at the start of the episode as he’s sitting in front of his alcohol and a gun. We’re not sure if he was actually going to do anything but the sheer sight of it is heartbreaking. Kevin convinces Nicky to come with them as they are planning to stay at a hotel for the night. Nicky isn’t too interested in hanging out with the Big Three and Randall and Kate don’t think they should bother him too much.
However, Kevin really wants to help his uncle as he is clearly dealing with PTSD and alcoholism. He walks away frustrated when Randall and Kate don’t really help and calls Rebecca to fill her in on what has been going on. The next morning during breakfast, they are all surprised to see Rebecca show up. She couldn’t resist meeting the man that was related to her husband and had to come to see for herself.
Rebecca doesn’t waste much time in interrogating Nicky and asks him if he knew about them. It is here when they all realize that the trip Jack once took to meet a war buddy was in fact, Nicky. A flashback takes us to the moment when Jack came back from seeing Nicky. In the days after, he was very distressed, moody, and distant from the kids and Rebecca.
As they have always done, Rebecca stepped up for the family and took care of Kevin’s outing for the day which was originally planned with Jack. He wanted to get one of his baseball cards signed and was willing to wait as long as possible to get it. Leaving to get food, Rebecca is surprised to see Kevin chatting away with the baseball player. And since he wouldn’t tell her about the conversation, she decides to ask the player and he reveals that Kevin went out of the way to tell him all about the team he might be getting switched to.
Back at home, things were a bit tense due to Jack’s mood. Randall and Kate were working on Valentine’s Day cards and were left on their own to order their own pizza. Jack is irritated to see the mess they’ve made and snaps at them. But we all know Jack isn’t that type of guy and apologizes to Kate and Randall later on. Things take a happier turn when Jack and the kids have a fight with sequins, creating an even bigger mess. Kevin joins them when he gets home as Rebecca looks on at her adorable family.
While Randall and Kate plan to head back home, Kevin and Rebecca stay behind to help Nicky. Kevin does research of vet centers in the area, but Nicky shows zero interest in being at one. In fact, Rebecca tries to convince Nicky to give Kevin a chance to help him because he’s had a rough year. No dice, Nicky gets irritated and Rebecca takes that as her cue to leave.
On their way home, Randall and Kate decide to make a pitstop at their old home. Granted, it is not the actual house (let’s not rehash it again), but just being there would mean so much to them. At first, the woman who answers the door shuts it on their face but her young daughter comes out to get them after her grandparents ask her to.
Kate reflects on the day of the sequin fight but forgets about all the bad stuff that happened that day. Randall tells her it is a testament to how amazing their father was, he made everything good that you wouldn’t remember the bad. When Randall returns home, he is excited to see the girls, however, Beth is a bit frazzled after finding out her mom hurt her hip. She leaves as soon as Randall gets there, but this sets up the story for next week’s Beth-centric episode.
Nicky finally comes clean to Kevin about reuniting with the family. It hurts too much and he just can’t do it. Kevin’s heartbreak resonates with all of us and it only gets worse as a defeated Kevin sits in Nicky’s trailer by himself staring at the bottle of alcohol in front of him. And before we know it, he starts chugging it down and breaks his sobriety streak since coming out of rehab. Rebecca has no idea as she compliments Kevin for all he has done, but we can’t help but wonder what this will mean for Kevin in the coming episodes. Sigh.
Score: 9/10
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