Mark her off the list! Kevin reconnected with a former flame during the Tuesday, February 1, episode of This Is Us, but things soon came to a screeching halt, meaning she is probably not his wife in the mystery-filled flash-forward.
“Heart and Soul” began with Kevin (Justin Hartley) inviting Cassidy (Jennifer Morrison) to join him, Nicky (Griffin Dunne) and his uncle’s new girlfriend, Edie (Vanessa Bell Calloway), at the cabin as the actor came to Pennsylvania to check on the home he was building. Cassidy immediately asked whether his proposal was “a sex thing,” with her and Kevin agreeing that they were both open to it.
Prior to Kevin’s reunion with Cassidy, Randall (Sterling K. Brown) warned his brother not to dive into a relationship with her, accusing him of being a “serial monogamist.” At the cabin, Kevin relished in the romantic vibes between Nicky and Edie. (Viewers learned that she had been married three times and had two kids, while Nicky worried that their relationship was a fling for the flight attendant.)
Kevin then offered Cassidy a job overseeing the construction of his house and took her out for ice cream. When he tried to hold her hand, she stopped him, noting that just because she was willing to have sex with him did not mean she wanted a relationship. Cassidy pointed out that it would never work because their kids lived in different states and her inner darkness was more extreme than Kevin’s. She then advised him that he was chasing after the wrong blonde and told him to make things right with her.
Kevin claimed to not be sure who Cassidy was referring to, but it seemingly was not Madison (Caitlin Thompson) since Kevin later gave her new boyfriend, Elijah (Adam Korson), tips he learned while dating her. Cassidy concluded her conversation with Kevin by saying that she was already too messed up to let Kevin wreck her life.
Elsewhere in the episode, Deja (Lyric Ross) and Malik (Asante Blackk) dropped a bombshell on Randall and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson). Deja told her adopted parents that she planned to graduate early from high school and move to Boston to be with Malik. Randall privately urged Malik to break up with Deja so that she could find her own path, after which Beth told Randall that they could not risk losing Deja by being too strict.
The hour also included flashbacks that showed Rebecca (Mandy Moore) — accompanied by Miguel (Jon Huertas) — speed dating after Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) death. Kate (Hannah Zeile) lashed out at her mother after learning that she connected with a new man at the event, leading Rebecca to slap her daughter when she suggested Jack would have been upset about her getting back out there. They later made up, with Kate telling her mom that she should date again.
In the present, Kate (Chrissy Metz) told Rebecca that she and Toby (Chris Sullivan) were no longer comfortable with her watching their kids by herself because of her Alzheimer’s. Rebecca was initially upset, but she found a new way to bond with her grandson Jack by teaching him piano.
This Is Us returns to NBC Tuesday, February 22, at 9 p.m. ET.
