Spoilers for tonight's episode of This Is Us, "That'll Be The Day," below.
This week’s episode of This Is Us incited a deluge of emotions as we barreled closer to the truth about what led to Jack’s death. At the same time, we saw Kate, Randall, and Kevin struggle to find peace as they each embrace a new chapter in their lives.
Let’s unpack what went down in the episode.
Rebecca and Jack really are like one person, just like Miguel said.
Though the jury is still out on whether Miguel was telling the truth about not being in love with Rebecca while Jack was alive, he did make one good point: Rebecca and Jack were like one person, unbreakable. That impenetrable bond was evident in tonight's episode, which makes Jack’s death that much more crushing.
The two are preparing for another Pearson Super Bowl, gathering the pigs in a blanket and donning their Steelers jersey, when they’re hit with the fact that this will be their last Super Bowl before the kids go off to college. But Kate makes plans to go to her friend Molly’s house. Kevin, still on crutches, decides to ditch the game for Sophie, and Randall heads out on a date with Allison from the mall.
As their house gets emptier and emptier, Rebecca and Jack decide to rekindle their own passion for life—and relationship with each other. Jack asks Rebecca to be his new business partner (she accepts!), and shortly after, they celebrate their new venture by making sweet love. Actually no, it’s important to say that the two have sex—because we haven’t seen them be this frisky since the pilot episode, so there’s something especially sweet about this moment.
Adult Randall has turned into the perfect combination of both his dads.
I know they say like father, like son, but as long as we've known Randall, he's always been fiercely individual. But in tonight’s episode, as he reluctantly barrels closer to 40, we see him exhibit glimpses of both Jack and William—more than we ever have before. Randall is hyped to begin his new career as a house flipper (just like Jack talked about in his final days), and true to form, he’s overzealous and wants everything to be perfect. He’s even blown off plans with Kevin to focus on this new venture.
Randall and Beth (the actual expert in the housing market) lead a meeting at their new housing complex, where they're faced with the challenge of accommodating each tenant in the building—and each have a laundry list of things in their apartments to be fixed. When Beth tries to confront Randall about taking too much on, he tells her, “My dad was in construction. It’s in my blood.” Because we don’t see Randall talk a whole lot about Jack on the show, it's especially interesting to see Randall realize a dream that Jack couldn’t complete—and be cognizant of that importance.
The small moments with Jack and his kids make it that much harder to want to learn the truth.
Jack would likely agree that he was not a perfect human being. But the idea of Jack is just so darn likable, you forget about all his flaws. Through several brief but moving scenes, this episode reminds us just how deep of a mark he left on each of his kids at this most pivotal time in their lives.
The first features the eternally bitter teenage Kevin, still crutches-bound, who snaps at both Jack and Rebecca because he is tired of hearing them talk about alternative options if he doesn't get into his first choice college. He goes so as far to say, “I was supposed to end up at the Super Bowl, not watch it like you guys.” It’s another biting remark that stings both his parents, but he later calls them from Sophie’s house to apologize for what he said. Though Jack is not on the phone at this time, his presence is felt in this short exchange, that see Kevin in a moment of maturity.
Similarly, Kate barked at her dad after she caught him filming her for her college application audition tape and she pushes him away. Jack, of course, has only ever wanted Kate to see the beauty he sees in her, but as we know, Kate struggles with this this, and she asks him to stop saying things like that. But later, she also apologizes, and asks him to never stop trying to make her feel better about herself.
Later in the evening, when Randall comes home from his date, Jack goes downstairs and the two have a brief encounter. Randall tells Jack he “finally” kissed Allison, and the date was great. Jack only asks that Randall is a gentleman with his girlfriend, and Randall promises he will be. It’s a short but telling scene that reflects the values we see in Randall's relationship with Beth.
Kevin is making amends in his own way, and it’s the healthiest thing he’s done in a long while.
Kevin, too, has found the strength to move on, and he embraces the “amends” aspect of his recovery. His first stop? Randall. Now, before you get too excited, this was not your ordinary apology scene. Kevin didn't have a heartfelt apology for the brother he almost relentlessly abused for the majority of their lives. Rather, this was a very Kevin/Randall-type of amends, with the two very simply talking like grown-ups.
Kevin, who ended up bursting into Randall’s tight schedule at the building, decided to lend a helping hand with repairs (much to the delight of the building’s female fans of The Manny). Once Beth left to get back to the office, the two rolled up their sleeves, and later, reflected on how they arrived at this point in their lives. Randall mentioned Jack and Kevin didn't cringe (he paused at the mention of his name, which is progress), and Kevin said to Randall, “You’re going to be a great old man one day, like your other dad.” First of all, the fact that Kevin actually had this brotherly moment with Randall was so significant. But the fact that he also complimented him? Kudos, Kevin.
Kevin also makes amends with two of the women who made marks on his life: Sophie and Charlotte. Remember Charlotte? She was the woman he reunited with at his high school celebration a few episodes back. They hooked up, then he vanished from her house—leaving Jack's pendant behind. Well, she found some forgiveness in her heart after he wrote her a letter of apology, and she mailed him the pendant with a really nice note.
But when it comes to Sophie, the love of his life, it's even more difficult for Kevin, because he actually comes face-to-face with her. He apologizes, and she says she's sorry for not noticing the signs of his addiction. But she puts her foot down on the prospect of him re-entering her life and hurting her again. To be honest, I don’t even think Kevin went to her with the intent of rekindling their relationship. I think he just wanted to say sorry, no strings attached. It was a tough scene to watch because Sophie is clearly still in love with the man, but she too has to do what's best for her.
Kate might have more to do with Jack’s death than I thought.
There might be a reason why out of the Big 3, Kate seems to have carried the most profound level of grief for Jack’s death. I thought all this time it was because she was a daddy’s girl, but there might be more to that. She owned a dog as a teen, and I think that might have been the thing Jack went back in to retrieve from the burning house. We’ve seen this dog a few insignificant times in past episodes, but tonight its presence was very specific. When adult Kate finds out that just loves dogs, she visits a dog shelter (owned by none other than Lena Waithe!) with the intention of adopting one for him. But she toys with this decision, presumably because of Jack’s tragedy—the idea of having a dog seems to bring back terrible memories. Still, she ends up bringing home the adorable pup, named Audio, much to Toby’s pleasant surprise.
Jack somehow dies in a fire accidentally caused by a faulty slow cooker.
This is more of a theory, but judging by the last few moments of tonight’s episode, it was the Pearson’s own house that caught on fire with Jack still in it. He had turned off a slow cooker, given to him and Rebecca by one of their neighbors before the triplets were born, but it flicked back on in the middle of the night. It sets fire to the kitchen and starts to spread to the rest of the house in the show's final moments.
Connecting the end of this week's episode with previews for the next (which airs after the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 4), it looks like Jack manages to get the rest of the family out of the house. But it also looks like he stays behind—possibly because of Kate's dog. Oh Kate, this is tragic. During the previews, this is show in muted action, and we also see flashbacks to all the memories that took place in the house before that horrifying moment—making it all the more unbearable to watch.
