The 'This Is Us' winter premiere featured an all-out Pearson family fight
Kevin's childhood was not as picture perfect as the Pearsons thought
Kevin's childhood was not as picture perfect as the Pearsons thought
The new year is here, the Pearsons are back, and if you thought your festive family gathering was awkward and tense and laced with unresolved emotional baggage, just wait until you see Kevin鈥檚 group therapy session with the family!
There are a lot of unexpected things to process in this winter premiere, which picks up a few weeks after the midseason finale: some overdue home truths about Jack, a deeply weird but fun Beth/Toby/Miguel trio, and…Randall being kind of terrible?
1. The Pearsons all going to a remote cabin in the woods together is giving viewers pause. We still haven't entirely ruled out murder in the .
2. How much time have we jumped here? Kevin and Kate apparently haven鈥檛 spoken in a month, but they鈥檇 already been out of touch for a while before the midseason finale, so maybe Kevin鈥檚 been in rehab for about two weeks?
3. Let鈥檚 all take a moment to appreciate how hard Sterling K. Brown committed to that pratfall, as Randall pretends to drop dead from horror when Tess says the sitter makes better brownies than him.
4. 鈥淐ut him some slack. He didn鈥檛 know Tess was in the car.鈥� Randall defending Kevin to Beth even though he鈥檚 also quietly mad at him makes me happy. You can talk all the shit you want about your own siblings, but nobody else can come for them.
5. 鈥淚 was raised by white people鈥�" 鈥淓verybody knows.鈥� Susan Kelechi Watson is full of comebacks this season.
6. Kevin. Don鈥檛 say 鈥渂lessed.鈥� Especially don鈥檛 say 鈥渂lessed鈥� while making that cringey prayer hands gesture. We can see that he鈥檚 initially trying to be sincere, then retreats into actor mode once he gets an awkward reception from Randall and Rebecca, but still.
7. Barbra kicking Toby out. Some fans find it extremely weird that Toby, Miguel, and Beth ever expected to be a part of Kevin鈥檚 group therapy session—it鈥檚 nice that you all came to support a Pearson, but you鈥檙e the plus-ones here. Back off.
8. Is Kevin just somehow not in pain any more? This may be a blurry line to draw, but it seemed he was less addicted to Vicodin than he was dependent on it to mask the pain of his unhealed knee injury—when he鈥檚 withdrawing, he always talks about how much pain he鈥檚 in. Also, he鈥檚 in pain because he went back to work way too soon after the surgery—because he couldn鈥檛 bear to feel like a failure or admit weakness or not finish the shoot. That seems like a very relevant thing that should be coming up in this therapy session, but right now everybody鈥檚 basically acting like he just started taking Vicodin for fun and then got addicted. (Which, maybe they think he did? Perhaps Randall wouldn't be this judgey if he knew the medical backstory.)
9. Watching Jack and Rebecca mutually have no idea how to handle Kate鈥檚 food issue is rough. There鈥檚 such a fine line—Jack errs on the 鈥済ood cop鈥� side of just giving Kate everything she wants, while, for all that the show wants us to think otherwise, some think Rebecca does a great job walking that line. She doesn鈥檛 ignore the problem, but she also doesn鈥檛 humiliate Kate, and tries to be supportive.
10. Randall and Rebecca side by side, buried in their books while the rest of the family plays sports? Relatable.
11. 鈥淭he new Big Three鈥�? Calm down there, Toby. It鈥檚 funny to pair Beth, who everybody loves, with Miguel and Toby, the show鈥檚 two most divisive characters.
12. 鈥淗e did kind of looks like a porn star.鈥� This is unfortunately a truth we all must come to accept about Jack Pearson. That moustache was his true fatal flaw.
13. So, Kevin didn鈥檛 hide Randall鈥檚 glasses and is going to get the blame for it anyway. But this is exactly the kind of jerk move he would pull, so I don鈥檛 feel bad for him, honestly.
14. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a family of addicts.鈥� It鈥檚 about time somebody said this. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 sit here and pretend that the only reason I鈥檓 messed up is that [Jack] died,鈥� was groundbreaking for the family. The fact that this family can all talk about Jack鈥檚 death only in the broadest strokes, while never mentioning his alcoholism at all, is not great.
15. Hmm, so Kate says that Jack 鈥渂eat鈥� his drinking problem, which suggests it didn鈥檛 play a role in his death. This effects a lot of fan's theories on Jack's death.
16. It is very strange how rarely anyone will acknowledge that Jack was anything less than a literal saint. The halo effect definitely happens after loved ones die, but the Pearsons take it to the next level. If fans didn鈥檛 know this show so well, you'd think all the 鈥減erfect鈥� references in this episode were building up to some kind of huge twist reveal where Jack actually showed a much uglier side shortly before he died. But that would be wildly out of character and cheap, and we don't think that鈥檚 where we鈥檙e going. Still, there are just so many heavy-handed lines about his perfection this week.
17. Randall, while lovable, is being a real jerk. He鈥檚 so rigid and self-righteous with Kevin, and doesn鈥檛 seem to be able to empathize at all if he thinks someone's pain is less meaningful than his.
18. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not an addict. The only thing you鈥檙e addicted to is attention.鈥� There鈥檚 definitely some truth in the accusation, but it鈥檚 so cruel and diminishing to deny someone鈥檚 addiction, especially when you鈥檙e not bothering to ask any actual questions about it. And the knee going unmentioned is really strange.
19. Rebecca finally snapping and admitting that Randall 鈥渨as just easier鈥� is so tough on so many levels. Hard to hear for Kevin and Kate, but also it鈥檚 sad because Randall probably felt like he had to be as easy and amenable as possible and never cause problems, because he was adopted and deep down felt at risk of being abandoned again. Pretty heartbreaking.
20. Wait, is Randall the only kid who didn鈥檛 move away after Jack died? Kevin and Kate are both on the west coast when the show starts, while Randall and Beth have obviously been in New Jersey for a long time.
21. The mental image of Toby crying during Kevin鈥檚 therapy session is...interesting. 鈥淚t would have been too much.鈥� 鈥淲ay, way too much.鈥�
22. Good thing Randall showed up to join this Kevin/Kate scene, because it's hard to watch when the Big Three are on bad terms. But specifically Kevin and Randall, to be honest. The brotherly feelings are very strong.
23. Kevin considers himself a movie industry person and he never saw Boyhood? More of a Birdman guy, maybe?
24. 鈥淟ast year when I was at my lowest, I was crying on the floor and I was shaking…鈥� Oh sure, fine, This Is Us, let鈥檚 just casually reference that Randall/Kevin scene like the very memory of it isn鈥檛 going to make fans reach for the tissues. But, wait for it...鈥淚 did a bad job today, and I鈥檓 sorry.鈥� Finally! Randall is obviously incapable of being a jerk for longer than an hour.
25. This final scene is sort of backing up Randall鈥檚 assertion that Kevin鈥檚 childhood was not the absolute worst. Sure, there was no room for you in the bed, but his mom got down on the freezing cold floor to cuddle with him instead. But it is still genuinely tough to be the kid nobody ever worries about, the kid everybody just assumes is fine all the time.