‘This Is Us’: Three new developments from Season 3, Episode 2

Warning: Spoilers ahead

A screenshot of NBC’s “This Is Us.”

Did you miss last week’s episode of NBC’s hit series, “This Is Us”? Catch up before this week’s episode! Warning: spoilers ahead!

During last week’s episode, we got a first look into life after Jack’s death. Although we are left with many questions, we learned a few new things.

The Past: Rebecca broke her promise to the Big Three.

During Season 2, we witnessed Jack’s funeral, but never got a glimpse of life after Jack until this episode. At the end of the season, Rebecca promised the Big Three that they would all be okay and needed to continue their lives as normally as possible.

The start of this episode picks up a few months after Jack’s death, when the Pearsons are living in a small apartment and not doing well. Rebecca hears Jack’s voice in her head and has short conversations with him (which we learn later are fragments from a conversation before Jack’s death). Kate begins binge-eating, even telling Rebecca that she has gained 25 pounds since her father’s death and does not end up applying to Berkeley as Jack told her she should.

Kevin gets drunk at whatever chance he gets, showing up to an open house viewing inebriated, also announcing to the family that he will not be going to college and seems like he has given up on the future. Randall seems to be the one who has stepped up and is keeping the family together. He even calls out Rebecca for not paying attention to Kate and Kevin, stating that she broke her promise to them that they would all be okay. Randall even gets into his dream school, Howard University, and turns it down as he’s worried about leaving them behind. What does he decide to do instead? We’ll just have to wait and see.

The Present: Kate and Rebecca are able to see past their disagreements.

Despite Kate trying to keep her IVF treatment a secret from her family, Rebecca and Miguel find out after her medication falls out of the refrigerator. Rebecca is immediately concerned due to Kate’s weight and the risks. This, of course, starts a fight between Kate and her mother and disrupts the entire evening.

Long after, Kate admits that one of the reasons that she wants to have a child is because she feels she is the only one who can pass on a piece of her father, with hopes her child looks like her father or Toby. This is a heartbreaking yet understandable statement, as people who go through IVF do so for their child to be some part of them.

Rebecca admits to Kate that she should have done more to stop Kate’s binge-eating from the beginning and blames Kate’s health problems on herself. In the end, Rebecca helps her with the medication and only wants what is best for Kate. They seem to find some common ground, for now.

The Present: Toby’s withdrawal from his antidepressants kicks in.

The lashing out, inappropriate comments to Kate in the Lyft car and constant fidgeting are all signs that Toby off his antidepressant medication. Toby even notices it himself, when he is researching the symptoms while he continues fidgeting. After lashing out to Rebecca about giving Kate a hard time about IVF and disappearing for a few hours before heading to Kevin’s movie premiere, Kate picks up on his behavior. She even questions him about his behavior, to which he says he is fine. How much longer she will remain in the dark is still the question we’re left asking.

With Tuesday approaching, there is much anticipation for what we will learn next. Based on this week’s promo, it looks like we will get our first glimpse into Jack’s time in Vietnam.

“This Is Us” airs every Tuesday on NBC at 9 p.m.

Email Hayley Solomon at [email protected].

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