This Is Us is back — and to prove it’s still in its prime, the Dan Fogelman-created drama offered plenty of what it does best: heartrending speeches, crushing disappointments, sweeping montages, and cryptic reveals that only have us asking more questions. It’s good to be back.
However, things open in “Nine Bucks” a little unusually: We observe a mystery man’s morning routine as he confesses his nerves to his mother over the phone, jumps on a bus, and heads toward an unknown destination. His blink-and-you’ll-miss-them scenes are intercut with quick check-ins on the Pearsons, the day of Kate’s wedding (which closed out season 2) and the days that follow. Kate wants to press on with having a baby despite her recent miscarriage; Deja stays living with the Pearsons, but is dealt the trauma of her mother formally giving up parental rights in court; and Kevin is still courting Beth’s cousin, Zoe. We then move toward the opening’s climax, in which it’s revealed that the mystery man is, in fact, Franco Harris, the legendary Steelers halfback, whose famed “Immaculate Reception” occurred the very night that Rebecca and Jack met.
The core of “Nine Bucks” is, indeed, Jack and Rebecca’s first date, right down to the episode’s title, which refers to the amount of money he had to spend on her that night. He takes her to a carnival, paying for the tickets and buying her a candy apple and a hot chocolate, and covers for her when she doesn’t know the “game” that everyone’s talking about. (“New to America,” he explains to the carnival ticket-taker.) Things, however, will soon go south.
That “bumpy ride” is an experience shared by the Pearson siblings in the present-day timeline. After a bit of catch-up, we’ve reached the triplets’ 38th birthday — the traditional beginning for a new season of This Is Us. Beth is throwing a party for Randall, but there’s drama scattered in the house: Deja is nervous she didn’t get anything for her foster dad, and Zoe is staying with them for the time being — a problem, since Kevin’s invited to the party and it’s painfully obvious to Beth that they’re having, erm, relations. (“They’re knocking boots,” Beth laments to Randall, who hears that phrase for the first time. This recapper had the same experience.) She strongly disapproves of the budding relationship but swears — on Oprah — she won’t make a thing of it at the party. Randall, meanwhile, is gearing up to tell Deja some big news: They want to formally adopt her.
But both are handed tough doses of reality. For Beth, it’s an inability to keep quiet as she watches Zoe and Kevin dance around one another. (It’s worth noting that the pair already have great chemistry, and as a season 2 flashforward indicated, they’re in it for the long haul.) She screams at Zoe while Kevin listens with Tess and Annie by his side. And Randall’s big plan — taking Deja to William’s old apartment building, which he and Beth have bought — doesn’t exactly pan out. He makes a big speech about his own struggles with being adopted and losing his dad so quickly after meeting him. He says to her, “We don’t want [the adoption] to happen unless it’s your choice.” She scoffs. “Don’t tell me we’re the same, Randall,” she says, angry that he tried paralleling their experiences. “Don’t tell me I have a choice in anything.” They leave with no “choice” made.
Then there’s Kate and Toby, who are still working hard to conceive. She learns she has Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, while he’s reminded that taking antidepressants — a reveal from last season’s finale — may make the process more difficult. They meet with a fertility doctor whom Kate has high hopes for, but who nonetheless informs them she can’t take them on as patients. The doctor tells Kate, bluntly, that her weight would render the necessary IVF treatments unsafe, and that there are liability issues. Another hopeful new beginning. Another painful setback. (Recap continues on page 2)
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