This Is Us Recap: Power of Three 

‘ second installment is a relief. It continues with the same heart and humor displayed in the premiere, delivering warmth and comfort as handily as though it were a bowl of matzo ball soup fresh out of the kitchen. On the whole, the hour gives us more detail on the drama’s central family, allows Kate to cut loose a little and sticks not one but two characters in some seriously dopey haberdashery.

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But, as a child of the ’80s, I would be remiss to let one thing slide: In the name of all that is Ecto Cooler and holy, what the heck is “Top-C?”

We are introduced to the juice-box brand — which is clearly intended to evoke Hi-C, aka the nectar of my youth — as Rebecca makes lunches for her three kids, who are in elementary school in this week’s flashback. I’m sure the change is probably because the show couldn’t clear use of the brand name (though it did for Crockpot, G.I. Joe and other hallmarks of 1980s suburban living), but c’mon. Was Capri-Sun unavailable? Hawaiian Punch? Heck, even Five Alive?! (Just kidding.

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‘BIG THREE!’ | We open on a flashback to the family’s kitchen, where Rebecca is bustling around, trying to get breakfast on the table and lunch boxes packed. When everyone comes down to eat, we see that Kevin, Randall and Kate are a lot older than when we first met them — I’d estimate they’re 8 or 9 — and that there’s a simmering tension between Rebecca and Jack.

Breakfast is sugary cereal for the boys and cantaloupe and cottage cheese (aka ’80s diet food) for Kate, a disparity that Jack tries to ease by sprinkling some of the cereal on top of his daughter’s dish… much to Rebecca’s dismay. Guys, I have to be up front here: We’re only on Episode 2, and Kate’s history with weight/food/body image already too closely mirrors my own. I may need someone to hold my hand through this season.

The flashbacks, interspersed through the hour, inform us that Jack and Rebecca’s marriage is creaking a bit under the strain of raising three kids. The main way this manifests is in him spending too much time at the bar after work, pounding bourbon with his best friend, Miguel (

‘s Jon Huertas). Miguel gently warns Jack that Rebecca is “the gold standard of wives” and that “You married way, way above your station. I’d be careful not to give her a reason to notice.” And if that sounds like the nicest, only-platonic-no-way-there’s-anything-else-going-on-here thing you’ve ever heard a bro say about his bro’s lady, may I suggest you stick around until the end of this recap? (Actually, how about you do that, regardless.)

Meanwhile, at school, kids have started calling Randall “Webster” — as in, the sitcom where a white family adopted a black kid — and Kevin cares too much about what the other kids think to stand up for his brother.

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KEEPING SCORE | When Jack comes home buzzed and bearing jewelry one night, Rebecca quietly but firmly demands that he cut back on the booze and the late nights at the bar, because on a parenting scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best, “I think we’re at a 6, and I think I’m being generous,” she says. She explains that she’s putting in 9-level work, and “I’m done letting you lower our score.”

Jack spends the night sleeping outside their bedroom door “like a Labrador,” she notes with affection the next morning. He begs her forgiveness as he promises to give up alcohol cold-turkey, adding he’ll be a “12, for you,” and putting the necklace — a quarter moon pendant — around her neck. The kids wake up to find their parents making out on the hallway floor, and that sounds gross, but it’s cute as the trio piles on and there’s laughing and smiles and I’M SURE THERE’S NO MARITAL HEARTACHE WHATSOEVER AHEAD.

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‘THE NETWORK OWNS YOU’ | In the present… Kevin, no. Just, no. Being pretty and earnest doesn’t mean that you can wear stuff from the Urban Outfitters clearance bin on your head. Take off that stupid ski cap. No one at your agent’s office is going to get serious about a discussion of your career prospects if you look like the kid in the freshman dorm who knows the best weed hook-ups.

Kevin expects an exciting examination of how to angle his future, post-his

freakout. Kevin gets some come-to-Jesus real talk from his agent, Lanie (

‘s Katey Sagal), who informs him that his contract means the network owns him for the next two years. Crestfallen, he realizes that he’s got to talk to the network head at a party at Lanie’s that night in order to grovel and get back to his

COCKTAILS AND CONTRACTS | Toby’s weight-loss efforts are going more smoothly than Kate’s, a fact that causes her great consternation. And when Kevin invites his sister to the party — so she can buck him up when he tells the network he definitely wants out of his contract — the stress over finding something to wear manifests in Kate going off on her fellow Overeaters Anonymous members. Or, as Toby puts it: “You Hulked out on a bunch of fatties.” (Heh.) While making it clear that he wants to be her boyfriend for realsies, he says he’s going to the party with her and they’re going to have some “non-fat time” where they can just cut loose and relax.

So they do. The pair toss back shots and hit the dance floor at Lanie’s party, and Kate enjoys herself for all of 90 seconds before she looks around and thinks everyone’s laughing at her. They are likely laughing at your date’s saddle shoes and hat-peacock feather combination, honey, but that’s neither here nor there. But Toby refuses to let her wallow, so they start imbibing tequila like it’s their calling.

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MANNY… IN | Meanwhile, Kevin meets with the network head — played by Brad Garrett (

) — who calmly tells him that “I really don’t care what happens behind the scenes on my third-rated sitcom” but that replacing the lead of a moderately successful show is the kind of drama he’d rather avoid. So, the bigwig adds, Kevin will finish out his existing contract or “I’ll be forced to Nagasaki your life and career.” Ouch. The one upside of this chilling conversation is the inebriated shuffle that Kate and Toby do as Kevin tries to explain his current effed state. Bravo, Chrissy Metz. You drunk dancing is all of us drunk dancing. Also? Sloshed Kate = fun.

Later, Kevin is near tears as he calls Randall. It’s clear the two aren’t as close as Kate and Randall are, but there’s hope. (Sample dialogue — KEVIN: “I was not a very good brother to you, was I?” RANDALL: “No, you weren’t. But you’ve still got time.”) As Randall warms to his brother, he reminds him that “Mom and Dad didn’t raise no whores, except briefly, during Kate’s eyeliner phase.” (Ha!) Then they both — along with Kate, who wanders over during the conversation — recite a cheer about triplet-hood their dad used to chant with them when they were kids. Would this happen in real life? Probably not. But I Do Not Care.

Later, Kate sobers slightly and gets sad as she tells Toby that she can’t ever stop thinking about her weight. And he understands. Then Kevin announces that “I told them to go screw themselves” and muses a future in theater (aka the only acting medium he’s now legally able to pursue).

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YOUR DADDY? | At Randall’s house, Beth is starting to wonder what the “endgame” is regarding William, but Randall wants them to take it slowly and figure it out later. It’s clear the girls are smitten with their grandfather (whom they don’t know is their grandfather), and Randall is going out of his way to set up doctor’s appointments and the like to deal with William’s Stage IV stomach cancer. But when William starts asking to borrow bus fare and then disappearing for the better part of every day, Beth begins to worry that his presence in their house won’t be good for the family — Randall, in particular. So she sits the old man down and point-blank asks him if he’s really sick, if he’s using drugs, and where he goes when he leaves during the day.

The answers: yes, no and his apartment in Philadelphia. Randall enters the conversation just as William says, “I have a cat… I go back and forth to feed him.” No, YOU thought William was some kind of slick con artist/grifter! He adds that even though he’s been given a literal death sentence, he feels so much better now that he’s able to hang out with the girls. “Well, now I feel like a bitch,” Beth says, and the two men laugh. I’m interested to see how the Beth-William relationship plays out as the series progresses, because that look she gives him the next morning when he helps one of the girls with her asthma inhaler isn’t 100 percent “Thank you, God, for bringing this reminder of life’s fragility into our midst.”

Anyway, the doorbell rings, and the girls go to get it. “Grandma and Grandpa!” they shout, and the camera moves to the entryway to show us Rebecca — wearing the moon necklace — and… Miguel. Wait, what?

Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!

Mother-effin Miguel. Something better have happened to Jack, but even so, your best friend’s girl???? Not cool, Miguel, not cool!

I figure he had to have died, otherwise she wouldn’t be wearing a necklace that symbolizes their song…

Agreed. I’m guessing/hoping it’s that Jack died instead of a divorce happening. It would make sense, too, if Randall’s decision to search for his biological father came as part of his process of coming to grips with Jack’s death. It would also explain Randall’s transition from enthusic greeting of mom to a hesitation and cool greeting of Miguel.

I hope he’s still alive. I would love to see the new family dynamic with Mom/Miguel and Dad/his new wife

I’m with you on this one – it would add an extra layer of complexity (and story) to detail what lead to the breakup and its effects on the family. Makes for a potentially strong, deep storyline.

Agreed. Jack better be dead or some crud, because I would be ticked to find out that Jack and Rebecca divorced and she got with his best friend.

Didn’t Randall say in the pilot episode that his adoptive dad had died? Or am I misremembering that, because I wasn’t watching very closely?

Based on some of the dialogue last week and the fact that she’s wearing the necklace I think Jack is dead in the future. The question is when did he die and how long after did Rebecca and Miguel get together.

He had to have died long enough ago that Randall’s girls think of Miguel as Grandpa, so 6 years at least maybe?

She could’ve been four or five at the time of the wedding and still call grandma’s new husband “grandpa”, though.

Agree. There was some mention last week of dad in the past tense so I assumed that the twins dad had died (this was before the reveal at the end that Jack was their dad).

Yeah, and at the end, Kate made Kevin repeat “what Dad used to say”, so I think he’s either dead or out of their lives. I’m hoping dead.

Love this show! Love the Big 3. Looks like Jack has died, and Miguel – not cool!

Love this show! But, the ending? OMG, what a twist!

Loved the episode so much…..but did not like that ending/twist at all…pretty much hated it

So are we getting one big reveal a week? If so we’re going to be exhausted by the end of the season. :)

This ending was more shocking to me than last week’s, since the twist was easy to figure out imo. Guessing Jack has passed because she still has on the necklace.

I thought they hinted around that Jack was dead last week, in Randall’s story. Really wish Rebecca wasn’t with Miguel, but I knew Jack wouldn’t be appearing in the present.

yea, and Kate’s “remember what Dad used to say?” from last week pretty much points to Jack being dead. If they were just divorced she wouldn’t be speaking in past tense.

Yeah, I kind of wish that last twist hadn’t happened. Still, a solid episode #2, and my definite fave new show.

Didn’t enjoy the twist at all but I did like the triplets more this week in the present day not liking the fact that this series is moving to 9 pm tho

I’ll be honest, the twist made me kind of mad. Because now the entire past portions are tinged with sadness, so even when they have happier times, I see that they didn’t get their happily ever after.

there is no such thing as happily ever after. everyone dies eventually. Happily ever after is about a destination, which isn’t relevant to life. It’s the journey that’s important. the question was were they happy during the time they had together.

I hated Kevin in this episode. I was waiting for someone in his family to say “Shut the hell up and get back to work. You’re not a whore, you signed a contract and you’re making a fortune!” Plus he was mean to little Randall. I feel like Kevin was definitely the golden child of the family and he acts like it.

Actually it seems more like Randall was the golden child or at least the one who got the most attention from the parents which is why Kate and Kevin bonded so closely together. When Rebecca had to decide who to yell at she went to yell at Kevin not Randall. But obviously it took a toll on Randall too because he felt he had to live up to that expectation of being perfect.

Also, Randall could have been trying to prove that he fits in and belongs by doing everything right. It is tough feeling rejected or unwanted when you are a little kid.

…you try to feel worthy and valuable. You try not to make any mistakes.

Well I guess Jack died and Rebecca married his best friend?

I’m ashamed it took me so long to recognize that the actor playing Randall previously played Romero on Mr. Robot. Great acting and makeup here …

2 episodes in, & I’m hooked for the season! My only? How many WTF moments can Fogelman keep delivering at the end of an episode? But TIU is a keeper!

I saw the ending coming since I assumed that he had died from past tense dialogue that happened last week. And then the way he was talking about her was questionable..that’s how it starts..(now Jack better have passed away or I’m going to be highly upset!!) I love the past and the present stories which doesn’t normally happen. I always find myself bored in other shows that do this..I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this show

I know Beth kind of touched on the back story of their house, but even so, wouldn’t you think she and Randall would have a house with multiple bedrooms given his fancy job and $140,000+ car, and William would be able to sleep in one of those rooms rather than kick a little girl out of hers?

based on my knowledge from watching HGTV particularly Flip or Flop, some big homes have not so much bedrooms

Beth did say they bought the house basically on faith before Randall started making big money and fixed it up themselves. It would make sense that the house isn’t super large. Or even if they do have that fourth bedroom, it may be an office.

The one character that made me laugh on This Is Us: TOBY

you’re right. he’s definitely brought it as comic relief.

Love the show, hate old people makeup. They should’ve just cast actual old people to play Rebecca and Miguel.

I thought that too when I saw them! Older actors may have been the way to go.

First thing came to mind during that scene.

Just for the record … I loved Five Alive

I suspected Miguel and Rebecca might eventually have a fling (wasn’t there a glimpse of them kissing in a preseason promo?) but was a bit surprised they showed up alive, well and married in the present day. I’m not at all upset Rebecca found love again because Miguel seems like a nice guy! Kevin, Kate and Tobey should definitely hang out together more often before he moves to New York and gets reacquainted with Randall and his family. I love bio dad, William, and hope we get to meet his cat. And Gerald McRaney is back next week! Wonderful show and cast!

Me too! I am glad she found love again with a man who appreciates her. Widows don’t have to be alone forever.

Yeah I mean if Jack died I don’t think it is terrible of his friend to end up with his wife. One of my closest friends lost his mom when he was a teen. His dad eventually married his mom’s best friend. She has sorta filled in as a”mom” to him after his mother’s death. Her son was the same age and was his best friend. When he needed a mom’s advice she was there for him. This meant she was around his dad a lot and eventually the two of them got together. He was actually happy about it. I can see how that could happen here as well.

My guess is Jack’s dead. I noticed in the first episode how Kate and Kevin referred to him in the third person.

So mad I missed the first episode! I will see if I can catch it on demand and get caught up for episode 2… Looks like a good show.

Plot twist: Miguel is actually Randall’s wife’s dad. That would be a crazy stretch hahahaha

Ouuuuuh maybe! That would be a stretch, but possible!! Especially since we know that Randall and his wife have been together for 17 years, maybe they met when they were young because their parents were friends. Who knows hahaha

Randall’s 6yr old daughter: “My vice is asthma, his [points to William] is cocaine.”

Really liking this show, but a few constructive comments in case the producers are reading. Kevin’s storyline is the weakest; hard to feel sympathy for an actor earning $3M a year on a tv sitcom who has higher aspirations (I agreed with Brad Garrett’s character: get back to work and fulfill your contract). I like Kate and her relationship with Toby, but I hope there is more to her character than just “the fat chick.” I really liked Beth’s conversation with William, however if they were so destitute eight years ago how do they suddenly afford a $140K car that Randall paid for in cash (as he bragged to William in the premiere)? I realize he was promoted and is doing well, but I thought that was a stretch and somewhat unrealistic. These are nit-picky because I really like the show and the twist at the end didn’t bother me at all (I understood from dialogue in the premiere that the dad had died).

It is not that hard to be in a different financial place in 8 years. I currently make about 3 times what I made 8 years ago about 4 times as much as I made 10 years ago. I can’t afford $140k car cash but could buy a pretty nice one. So it is not that unrealistic.

8 years ago I was living off of $20k a year and my husband (we were not married at that time) made about the same. Now we make well into the 6 figures. Things change. Jobs change. Depending on the company and line of work bonus checks show up. The year we got married my husband’s bonus check was big enough to pay for a big wedding and honeymoon.

I inferred from eps 1 that Dad was deceased. Since Mom is still wearing the necklace, I assume at some point Dad passed away and Mom marries their friend.

This is such a well written well acted show. Enjoying it tremendously! Loved seeing Brad Garret as the network exec. Such a treat for Tuesday nights.

This show is sooo good! Happy it was picked up for (basically) a full season :-)

I’m calling it now: Toby will die before the end of the season. He’s so much fun, no way he’s gonna stick around for too long! Plus, it will be something for Kate to deal with and possibly make her move to the East coast where both her brothers + mom & stepdad will now be…

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