Its bracingly sad break out the tissues for this one but also sweet and even a little optimistic.
It resonates, and it lands asThis Is Us best season 2 episode so far.
But when Kate leaves the room, we hear a crash off screen and hear Kate scream, Toby!
Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC
Based on the reveal from last week, we know whats happened.
Were in the hospital in the next scene, camera on a near-catatonic Kate.
I know how difficult this is, the doctor says.
Once out of the hospital, Kate tries to bury her trauma.
She gets a text from her mother, asking how the ultrasound went, but doesnt respond to it.
She puts on makeup in the bathroom, trying to avoid flashbacks to losing the baby.
Toby, slumped on the couch watching old sitcoms, appears puzzled by Kates glam look.
I think youre a little overdressed for watching classic sitcoms and trying not to cry, he says.
Toby is stunned by Kates decision to go but agrees to pick her up after her gig nonetheless.
You dont know what your path is just yet, and you know what?
I think thats okay.
But Kate takes it as yet another coded insult from her mother.
She accuses Rebecca of calling her passionless.
(Ah, the days before the Common App.)
Rebecca appears moved and slightly perplexed and then turns to that cassette tape Kate has been listening to.
She plays it, and we hear Kate introducing her audition tape a performance of Summertime.
Its a powerful contrast.
Carl agrees, noting its not yet on a truck but could be anywhere in the warehouse.
They search endlessly, and when Carl finally finds it, Toby offers it to him.
Toby might have good reason to protect Kate from reminders like that.
Each glimpse is more devastating than the last.
Toby arrives at the cafe, meanwhile, and Kate is nowhere to be found.
He calls her cell.
He calls Kevin (which wed witnessed in the previous episode).
Distraught, he heads home, where Kates already returned.
She then calls Kevin, but again, as we already know, he doesnt pick up.
Lets go big because you like to do things big, she snaps.
You pushed and you pushed, so congratulations Toby, you got me excited.
As a teen, we see Kate push back against another person she loves: her mother.
I thought you sounded terrific, Rebecca gushes.
she says, frankly but tenderly.
Weve been waiting two seasons for that moment and in this episode it finally arrives.
Kate just falls into her arms, sobbing.
Its a deeply sad moment, but its also a safe space for her to grieve.
How can I be this sad?
Kate asks her mom.
I never even met the baby, never held him or her.
It wasnt even old enough for me to know.
(Headherefor Metzs thoughts on the emotional hour.)
Toby says she never could, and the two hug and make up.
Its a moment of necessary levity after such a gut-wrenching hour of TV.
