Toby lost his cool when Rebecca called his and Kate’s IVF plans into question during the Tuesday, October 2, episode of This Is Us, titled “A Philadelphia Story.” Meanwhile, Randall struggled with his identity, Kevin tried to determine where his relationship with Zoe stood and Rebecca had a hard time coping with Jack’s death in flashbacks.
Fighting Words
The Pearson family gathered for Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) movie premiere, but before they convened, Kate (Chrissy Metz) asked Toby (Chris Sullivan) to keep their fertility plans from her relatives. Toby agreed, but Miguel (Jon Huertas) accidentally discovered Kate’s shots in the refrigerator, setting off Rebecca’s (Mandy Moore) anxieties and warnings about the dangers of IVF for someone Kate’s size.
Kate told her mother that she was the only one who would be able to pass on a piece of Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) through her kids — a statement Kevin and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) both took issue with later — but Toby, who was suffering from withdrawal symptoms since dumping his antidepressants, was not as rational in his response, yelling at Rebecca to shut up and keep her opinions to herself. Toby disappeared for a while to clear his head, later blaming his outburst on jet lag. As Kate worried about his behavior, Rebecca stepped in to give Kate her shot and apologize for not doing more when Kate began gaining weight.
Looking for His Place
Randall took Deja (Lyric Ross) to a rec center near William’s (Ron Cephas Jones) old building so she could hang out with girls her age. While there, he noticed the diminished state of the facility and found out that the city was doing nothing to assist. Randall sought out a councilman, who said he would send a maintenance crew to check out the space. However, they never arrived, so Randall took it upon himself to start making improvements.
William’s friend wondered aloud why Randall had to find problems and try to fix them in the community. She also reminded him that he was not one of them, and Randall struggled once again with fitting in while feeling like he never got things right.
Stuck
In flashbacks, Rebecca, Kevin, Kate and Randall looked at a new house a few months after the fire. Randall called out Rebecca for not taking care of the kids as Kate gained 25 lbs. and Kevin was often drunk, even though she promised she would handle things after Jack’s death. Rebecca admitted to Randall that she had trouble getting out of bed each morning and she wondered where the family would be if she and Jack had purchased a home they’d looked at shortly before the fire. (She told Jack at the time that she wanted them to stay in their house forever.) Randall then informed Howard University that he would not be able to attend because he needed to stay close to home for family reasons.
The Manny Gets Serious
Kevin mentioned Zoe (Melanie Liburd) attending his premiere and offered to take her to the airport for an upcoming business trip, but she didn’t want their romance to become serious. He explained to Kate that Jack was the only person who ever took him seriously and lamented that he never got to see him act. Kevin noted that after his premiere they would know if he was taken seriously by the world, while Zoe asked Kevin to pick her up from the airport when she returned.
This Is Us airs on NBC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
