This Is Us: Season 3 | Episode 2 “A Philadelphia Story” Review

This week’s episode focuses on Kevin’s big movie premiere in New York. We also get a chance to see what life after Jack died was like for The Pearson’s.

In the flashback world, we get to see how each of the Pearson children and Rebecca are handling life without Jack. Rebecca seems to be hearing Jack’s voice while she does daily tasks which is messing with her head. Randall gets into his dream school but starts to have his doubts because he doesn’t want to leave his family. He tries to point out to Rebecca that Kate is starting to over eat again and Kevin is drinking. This all sounds a little too familiar which we all know cannot end well. They all go to see a new house which I seemed to forget, just for a second, that the fire destroyed it! Randall and Rebecca have another heart to heart about how much she is really struggling without Jack. She knows it isn’t fair to be selfish but she can’t help but think of where things could have gone differently.

In present day, Kevin seems to be struggling to not catch feelings for Zoe. She wants to keep things casual and he pretends to be okay with that even though he really wanted her to come to his premiere. Randall tries his best to make Deja comfortable at her new school so he introduces her to a girl at the rec center he thinks she would get along with. Randall really wants to make good with the apartment complex and change the neighborhood’s atmosphere.The Kate and Toby situation seems to be getting stressful and taking a toll on them. Kate notices that Toby has been more jittery and hyper than normal. We know that he had thoughts on stopping his depression medication but later see that he looks up withdrawal symptoms. Rebecca has her choice of words on the in-vitro process with Kate and upsets her. Kate, Toby, Kevin and Rebecca all have a discussion about their feelings on having the baby. Toby has an outburst and explains that this is about the two of them and it doesn’t matter how anyone else feels about it. They know the risks but they still want to try their best to have a baby together.

The moment that really touched me was when everyone gathers for Kevin’s premiere and speaks about how Jack never got to see him act. He was the hardest person on him and he just wanted to make him proud and do right by him. Kate and Rebecca make amends when Rebecca offers to give her the in-vitro shot. She explains how she always feared losing her or any of the children and that she should have done more for her. Zoe surprises Kevin with a text asking for him to pick her up at the airport after seeing him on the red carpet interview. One of the things I love about this show is that no matter what is going on in each of their lives, they always never fail to come together in the end. As always, I cannot wait to see what’s in store for next week!

Don’t miss This Is Us on NBC Tuesdays at 9/8c!