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Yet as with a few other episodes this week, the ingenuity of the idea somewhat outweighs the execution. Lets go through the Thanksgivings. He excuses himself and Jack finds him another room, helping him through a painful moment. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC Jack gives an ever-inspiring speech about fighting for his family. You are still their father, Jack reminds. This part of the story gets wrapped up at the episodes end so more on that in a minute....

Its especially hard to do when great is so hard to quantify. She tells him to sell them. Theyve just returned from Vietnam, reeling from the revelation that Kevins uncle is alive. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC Im not going to tell my family a thing, he says, fearing the intensity of the reaction. Zoe, meanwhile, makes herself comfortable on his couch, cheerily saying it feels good to be home. Kevin catches her phrasing and he twists the moment into convincing her to move in....

Parenthood tends to driveThis Is Us in theme as well as plot. Its where the show powers its dramatic engine. Shes thrilled by the idea. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC Jack, meanwhile, drives away from Rebeccas house after seeing Alan and heads home. (I dont want to show up empty-handed, she tells him.) But this is the stuffThis Is Usis made of. And so Rebecca and Jack meet-cute, again, and talk about their dreams before parting ways, again....

Damn ifThis Is Usdoesnt still know how to unfurl a great, big family mystery. This is the show at its best: controlled, focused, and emotionally transfixing. He proposes a family road-trip. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC Rebecca, in a quiet, deep pain over the news, declines. And Kate initially says no, reasonably explaining shes too far away and newly pregnant. Cut to a few scenes later, where shes on Randalls doorstep. Let the Big Three road-trip commence....

“Sometimes” is a deeply haunted episode ofThis Is Us. (She’ll later regret the choice.) Though of course, the backstory is as significant as Kevin initially thought; little does he know. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC Much of it comes from what Jack himself goes through in this episode. In the War timeline, we begin where we left off: onJack and Nicky’s reunion. “Don’t touch me. Don’t look at me. I’m not here,” he tells Jack at one point....

Vietnam also works backward in time, beginning in November 1971 and moving toward the day of Nicks birth. The opening scene finds Jack in Vietnam, being transported to a new camp. We learn, immediately, that hes ascended to staff sergeant and that hes entering unfamiliar territory. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC Through his eyes, we see someone he recognizes. Hello, little brother, he says though we dont even see Nicks face. And backward we go....

Change is always scary especially if youve been through what theThis Is Usensemble has been through. The Big Three, at this moment in time, are but babies. Its high school graduation time, and shes at a loss. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC But then, as she leaves, he asks her out on a casual date. The suggestion is so jarring it leaves Rebecca frozen. The very notion of moving on in that way is heartbreaking....

We have been having the same fight since we met, Beth says to Randall in the present-day. Hes on the phone with Kevin, trying to figure out the best way to express his feelings. Its a giddy, fun scene, topped off with Randalls exuberant reaction of Holy crap! Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC But dinner doesnt quite go as planned. She storms out and he follows. Youre a very nice guy … but youre a lot, she says....

This weeks episode Kamsahamnida, while stronger overall than what preceded it, exemplifies this. As for why this comes up, lets rewind a bit. This, like his barbeque meet-and-greet fromlast week, proves rather disastrous. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC Kevin and Randall meet at a Korean restaurant. Is it love, or is it years of poverty and occupation by foreign governments? Randall jokes of the look in the womans eyes. (Boy does this show love its metaphors....

But this ones got a particularly unique vibe: a different score, a whole new bench of characters. They arrive at Carols house and find her immediately resistant to any take-it-easy nonsense, as she puts it. They enter the house and Zoe says, Shes still scary as hell. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC This beingThis Is Us, a single timeline wont suffice. You will have to be the best. Shes looking so closely its clear something in that child version of herself is speaking to her core....

Its an apt term for the story. She and Nicky lock eyes, initially awkward, then strangely familiar. You have his eyes, she says. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC She asks him if he knew she existed. Rebecca is jolted by this; she knows exactly which weekend hes referring to. I remember that weekend, she says later. He was acting so strangely. Back in time we go, to the morning after Jack returned....

What does happily-ever-after look like for the Pearsons? And as the episode rolls on it becomes too much for him to take. I can only see tubes and tape and needles and pain, he tells Kate. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC Toby makes it back into the room with Kate and the baby, holds him, and apologizes. Jack, this is your dad, she says to their new son. We check in on Kevin, meanwhile, in couples therapy with Zoe....

Thanks for putting up with us. Aesthetically, theres a lot to appreciate about The Waiting Room. Now the whole family has reunited under less than ideal circumstances. Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC Kevin has to face his family and girlfriend after relapsing. (Its clear from the opening seconds Toby informed them he was drunk.) Randall steps in, apologizing on Kevins behalf and saying his brother isnt his best self right now. (Recap continues on Page 2)...