Have you ever watched This Is Us and wondered what would’ve happened if Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) didn’t die? Randall (Sterling K. Brown) wonders the same thing.
Last time on This Is Us, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) gets her diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s disease, and Kevin (Justin Hartley) is working hard to take care of her.
This week’s episode shows the Pearsons going to New York City when the Big Three were children with Jack and Rebecca, when the Big Three are teenagers with just Rebecca and finally for Kevin’s big film premiere.
When the Big Three are children, Jack spends the entire day trying to impress Rebecca by knowing his way around New York City. She, inevitably, knows it better than he does because she’s been there more than him. Then Jack creates a grand gesture for the whole family by taking them on a horse and carriage ride in the park.
As teenagers, Randall (Niles Fitch), Beth (Rachel Hilson) and Rebecca are going to see Kevin’s (Logan Shroyer) performance at New York University, and Kevin tries to set Rebecca up with his acting teacher. Rebecca initially tries to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art with him but realizes she can’t do it and doesn’t end up going.
As adults, the gang is getting together for Kevin’s film premiere in New York City. Before they all get there, Randall calls Kevin and Kate (Chrissy Metz) to discuss a special drug trial opportunity for Rebecca. They’re both hesitant at first, but Randall assures them he’s done all of the research, and they should present it to Rebecca.
Kevin takes Rebecca as his date to the film premiere, and they walk the red carpet together. While inside, Randall, Rebecca, Kevin and one of Kevin’s costars are all talking, and Kevin walks away for a second to greet someone else. Kevin’s costar asks Rebecca where she’s staying, and though it’s one of her favorite hotels, she isn’t able to remember what it’s called.
Randall sees this as an opportunity to discuss the drug trial with her, and Kevin sees this happening and comes over to stop it from happening. Rebecca says she wants to think about it and leaves to get some fresh air.
This sparks a huge debate between the sons about who takes better care of Rebecca, and Kevin absolutely roasts Randall and his controlling tendencies. The sons go to find Rebecca, but when they go outside, she isn’t there. They realize where she must be, and they take off to find her.
Sure enough, the boys find Rebecca at The Met, where she finally gets her chance to visit. She’s standing and staring at one painting of a woman in a black dress and tells her sons about when she was little and saw a woman staring at the painting, with all of the time in the world.
She goes into this heartbreaking monologue about all of the opportunities she’s been putting off because she figured she had more time to do them, but now she’s realizing that won’t be the case.
“My life has been full of next times: things I always assumed I would get to eventually,” Rebecca said. “But now I realize that I am running out of time to do them. I mean let’s face it guys: I’m losing my memory. I want to spend however many good years I have left with my family. I want to try new things like walking on red carpets. I want to make up for all of my next times.”
Randall and Kevin stay with Rebecca, and after getting her home, they get into an argument about the drug trial. Where Randall believes she should be doing it, Kevin believes they should honor her wishes. Randall feels a sole responsibility to protect Rebecca because he couldn’t save Jack, and the two sons argue about what life would’ve been like if Jack hadn’t have died.
Kevin leaves Randall, and he begins to flashback to the night Jack died. Rather than holding his tongue and letting Jack go back in the house to save their dog, Randall yells at him and stops him from going inside. The scene cuts back to Randall trying to hold back tears.
This is the set-up for next week’s episode, where the audience and the Pearsons get to experience what life would’ve been like if Jack hadn’t have died. The premise is sure to be interesting and provoke several tears.
Moore’s performance of her Met monologue is absolutely breathtaking. It seems to make time stop and grabs the audience’s full attention. Of course her character is in a pretty dire situation in the show, and audiences have no idea what’s next for Rebecca, but Moore is certainly bringing the fire with her performance.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
