Last time on This Is Us, the family was celebrating Thanksgiving. This particular holiday has proven to be extremely tough for the Pearsons in the past, but with all of the drama, it was hard for audiences to wait almost two months for the show’s return.
Kate and Toby
Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby (Chris Sullivan) have always been a somewhat solid couple, but ever since the birth of their son and Toby’s constant trips to the gym, they’ve been struggling to connect. In the last episode, she found a message from one of Toby’s CrossFit friends that indicated they had been talking poorly about Kate behind her back.
This week, Toby assures Kate that she has nothing to worry about with his friend. However, after she throws him a surprise birthday party with his gym friends, she realizes that he’s switched gyms and hasn’t been back for two weeks.
She confronts him about it, and he tells her his friend tried to kiss him, but he immediately shut it down and switched gyms to get away from her. After finding out that Toby has been spending so much time away from home because he’s sad about his son’s condition, the two share a nice moment with Jack.
Kevin
Meanwhile, Kevin (Justin Hartley) is on a mission for true love. After hiring a matchmaker, Kevin goes on a series of failed dates until he runs into Lizzie (Sophia Bush). The two hit it off and spend the day together.
Kevin is determined to win her over, so he gets her a private concert with John Legend. He tries to kiss her, and she quickly shuts it down.
“I saw you earlier, and I texted my husband, and he said to go for it,” Lizzie said. “But he’s been calling me all day, and I think he’s freaking out—”
“You’re married?” Kevin said.
Lizzie explains to Kevin that she was his hall pass with her husband, and she says she didn’t mean for it to go that far. She leaves, and Kevin decides to go back to work and get rid of his matchmaker. After he hands his phone to his assistant, he receives a call from Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge).
Randall and Rebecca
Before the mid-season finale, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) was showing great signs of dementia, so at Randall’s (Sterling K. Brown) request, she goes to see a doctor.
This week Randall travels across the country to go with his mother to her appointment, and the results come back in the worst way they could’ve expected. Rebecca’s mental state is indeed deteriorating, and though Randall wants to stay and help his mother, he is forced to go back home to deal with some City Council issues.
After he gets home, checks on all of his children and kisses Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) goodnight, he goes downstairs to get a drink of water. This is when he sees a man standing in his kitchen with a knife, ready to attack.
With that, the episode ends and leaves us waiting for a big three-part finale.
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This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
