Last week on This Is Us, the Pearsons had a rough time in the hospital Beth and Randall fought off and on about their future as Randall wanted Beth to put dancing on hold again. She didn’t like this whatsoever but the two didn’t get much alone time to really discuss it. Relationship issues were a dime a dozen though as Zoe got up close and personal with Kevin’s addiction, and the lies it makes him tell. Kevin also got an earful from Randall though as the waiting wore everyone thin until Rebecca stepped up and shut up the rest of her family. Finally, the night gave way to good news as Toby came stumbling into the room. Baby Jack was here, but he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
Stay caught up with This Is Us by checking out last week’s full review here.
A couple of days after Jack is born, Randall and Beth say their goodbyes to the new family before heading back east. Toby is still in a daze as Kate seems surprisingly well-adjusted as she sings to Jack. Toby excuses himself from the room. In the hall, he meets the father of another newborn in the NICU born with a hole in her heart. He returns to Jack and Kate, where he apologizes over his recent demeanor and recommits himself to the two of them. Kate goes to take a shower, leaving Toby and Jack alone for the first time. After she comes back the new couple get to hold Jack for the first time.
Elsewhere, Kevin and Zoe try to work through their problems in therapy. Excited and charismatic, Kevin says all the right things but Zoe obviously isn’t convinced. At one point hypothetical kids come up; Kevin wants some but Zoe doesn’t. She sees this as a reason to break up but he walks back his comment a little. Later he goes to an AA meeting near Sophie’s place and ends up getting coffee with her. After a quick, blunt chat with, a now-engaged, Sophie about how he’s always gotten his way, Kevin decides to commit to Zoe. But, when he goes home to tell her this, she obviously isn’t convinced.
In the past, Jack and Rebecca chaperone a school dance for the Big Three. (It’s for Kate and Kevin’s school but Randall gets an invite to come with a friend.) Kevin’s main goal for the night is to get his first kiss from his then-girlfriend, Sophie. Meanwhile, Randall sneaks off to spend most of the night studying for a big test in the library. Later, Rebecca and Jack find him when they also sneak off for a little fun. Back at the dance, Rebeccas learns it’s Jack’s first and Rebecca gets the DJ to play a song for them to slow dance to.
Back in the present, Randall and Beth find a strenuous new normal as they try to balance their diverging lives. After Randall barely makes it to one of Beth’s recitals, she fails to make it to one of his political dinners in Philly. This prompts him to leave a VERY angry voicemail he probably shouldn’t have and, unfortunately for him, she does show up after all. She was only late because of traffic. After they get done with dinner, Beth doesn’t even want him to come home. But, being Randall he does anyway and arrives to meet a furious Beth. We don’t see the ensuing fight though as the door closes and ends the episode.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays on NBC.
