The life of Kate’s unborn baby was left in peril after she found out about Kevin’s drinking during the Tuesday, March 5, episode of This Is Us, titled “The Graduates.” Elsewhere, Randall made a big request of Beth.
Looking Out
Toby (Chris Sullivan) threw Kate (Chrissy Metz) a faux graduation after she completed her college degree. Kevin (Justin Hartley) traveled to L.A. for the week to celebrate, but he spent most of his time passed out drunk in his hotel room, lying to Zoe (Melanie Liburd) about meeting with film producers. Kate could sense something was off with Kevin, who bolted from the graduation party once Zoe arrived.
Kate tracked her brother down and found out about his relapse. He begged her not to tell Zoe and offered to go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and get a sponsor. Kate, who was 28 weeks pregnant, was driving Kevin to a meeting when she felt her water break. Kevin called Toby and confessed that he couldn’t drive Kate to the hospital because he had been drinking all day, so they called an ambulance instead.
At the hospital, doctors gave Kate a shot to delay her labor, but there was still cause for concern. Randall (Sterling K. Brown) showed up to support his sister while the brothers assured her that she wouldn’t lose her baby.
Conflicted
Back at home, Randall confronted Deja’s (Lyric Ross) teacher after the educator shared her student’s personal essay, which was about living in her mother’s car, online without permission. The teacher took the post down and then suggested to Randall that Deja skip to ninth grade next year.
When Randall presented the idea to Deja, she balked, thinking that her teacher only extended the opportunity because she felt sorry for her. However, she later admitted that she also didn’t want to give up the stability to which she only recently adjusted.
Meanwhile, Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) had a fantastic first day as a dance teacher, but Randall let the ribbons out of her ballet shoes when he expressed his concerns about the unusual hours of her new job. He went on to propose that Beth hold off on her aspirations so they wouldn’t have to rely on a stranger to take care of their kids. Beth did not agree with the notion that Randall would get to live out his dream while she would not.
Denial
In flashbacks, the Big Three prepared for graduation four months after Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) death. Rebecca (Mandy Moore) broke down as she experienced the milestone moment — and moving on — without him. Miguel (Jon Huertas) helped her through it by taking her to a grief counseling meeting, which she at first refused to attend.
Kate did not go to her graduation because she was mad that Kevin planned to move to New York with Sophie to pursue acting. But the Big Three made up as Randall mused, “As long as we stay in each other’s lives, we’ll be OK.”
This Is Us airs on NBC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
