Just when we thought the twists on This Is Us were over, we were hit with the biggest one yet! The Tuesday, October 25, episode of everyone’s favorite new drama had us bawling buckets and reaching for the tissue box. And, um, go Steelers!
Mandy Moore’s Singing Voice!
The episode kicked off with a flashback to Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) in their pre-children days as they celebrated the 1980 Super Bowl. Rebecca, who was a singer at a bar at the time, kicked off the game by belting a beautiful country ballad. Oh, how we’ve missed those Mandy Moore pipes!
When Beth Thought She Was Pregnant
Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife, Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson), left the kids with Kevin (Justin Hartley) and William (Ron Cephas Jr.) and jetted off for New York City. Kevin wasn’t using his hotel suite, so Randall decided to seize the opportunity to give himself and his wife a much needed mini-vacay. Randall was so excited about arriving in the gorgeous hotel room that he nearly didn’t notice his unusually quiet wife. When Beth said in a small voice, “I’m late,” it seemed like she was about to cry. Oh, Beth!
Rebecca Didn’t Want Kids
Back at the dive-bar 1980 Super Bowl party, Rebecca was letting loose. We got to see her in her younger days, taking shots of whiskey and rooting on her favorite team, the Steelers. When she told her husband, “Promise me we’ll never have kids,” it sparked a huge fight between them. When she told him this wasn’t the place to talk about it, he insisted, “We always say we’re gonna talk about it in the future, but it’s the future now. And I want kids.” We were wiping the tears out of our eyes when Rebecca got upset and asked Jack, “Am I not enough for you?” The couple eventually made up and then were making out in the bathroom. Spoiler alert: They end up having kids!
Randall and Beth’s Fight
When Randall and Beth made their way to a drugstore to buy a pregnancy test, the usually happy couple got into a huge fight. Randall got upset about no longer being able to retire in Charleston, South Carolina — a plan he never actually mentioned to his wife. Beth got upset about not being able to go back to work and continuing to put her career on hold. These two gave Us some seriously stellar performances, along with some serious tears falling down our faces.
When Kevin Told the Kids William Was Dying
Kevin, on literal manny duty, got flustered when Randall’s kids asked him what happens after a person dies. When he upset them by saying ghosts weren’t real and that everyone they know will eventually die, the kids got freaked out. When Randall’s daughter Tess asked if William was going to die, Kevin said bluntly, “Yes.” When the girls asked if William was going to die soon, Kevin told them, “Yes.” Maybe Kevin can play a manny on TV, but he probably shouldn’t be in charge of children anytime soon. We felt the little girls’ pain as they ran away to the other room. Poor babies!
Randall and Beth Found Out Their Pregnancy Test Results
While sitting on the floor of their hotel bathroom, a beautiful moment occurred between Beth and Randall. He told his wife that they could get a nanny so she wouldn’t have to put her career on hold. They decided it might not be so bad to have another child, and Beth even said, “We do make good kids.” We were shocked when the pregnancy test then said “Not pregnant”! They seemed relieved.
We Found Out What Happened to Jack
Kate (Chrissy Metz) tried to avoid Toby (Chris Sullivan) for the entire episode so she could watch the Sunday night Steelers game by herself. When he finally confronted her about it, she revealed why she was acting so strange. She said she liked to watch the game every Sunday with her father. When Toby said he’d like to meet her father one day, she handed him … an urn. Wow. Our tears started running like a river. Jack is dead? For how long? The feels! The twists!
When Kevin Finally Opened Up
When Kevin came into Randall’s daughters’ bedroom to apologize for scaring them earlier, he brought with him a gorgeous splatter painting. In a vulnerable monologue, he revealed that he likes to paint after reading every script. He said this painting reminded him of the never-ending nature of life through the generations. We were dying at this point — especially considering that during this monologue, we saw a shot of Randall packing up William’s belongings and holding onto his hat. Wait, are they trying to tell us that William died too? We can’t handle all of these deaths! We’re going to run into the other room now!
Tell Us: What did you think of the shot of Randall crying while holding William’s hat? Is that foreshadowing? And how do you think Jack died?
This Is Us airs on NBC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
