This Is Us 1x05 "The Game Plan"

In This Is Us 1x05, we learn more about how Jack and Rebecca's family came about, the Pearsons' love of the Steelers, and where Jack is in present day. Here's your recap for "The Game Plan."

Photo Credit: NBC

Jack and Rebecca are sitting in a bar where Jack's glued to the TV since a football game is on. This reminds Rebecca of her childhood, where her mom used to cater to her father as he watched football and not wanting to end up like her mom, she asks Jack to teach her about the game. Rebecca then turns into a big fan of football.

At Randall and Beth's, they've got a full house as Kevin's slept there along with Tess, Annie, and William. Kevin realizes that William is sick but that the girls don't know and asks Beth and Randall about it, and they turn the conversation to when is Kevin leaving. After complaining about how his big, fancy hotel suite is lonely, Beth and Randall tell Kevin they'll take the hotel room for the night as William and Kevin can watch the girls and they later leave for the suite.

After Kate makes Toby breakfast in bed, he tries to make plans with her for after their weight group meeting, but Kate tells him she has Sunday Night Football since the Steelers are on and watching them is something she does alone. At their weight support group, Toby has some of the members pass a note along to Kate, inviting her to come to his house for a Steelers party. Kate goes to Toby's house, where he's invited his friend Shooter, who loves sports, to watch with them. During the game, Shooter is more interested in the type of TV they're watching on and Toby pauses the game so he and Shooter can tell Kate about the time they accidentally went to an Ashlee Simpson concert, and Kate gets fed up with not being able to watch the Steelers game as she likes to and tells Toby she's not feeling well so she can leave.

Pre-kids, Jack and Rebecca are meeting Miguel and his wife, Shelly, who already have two kids, at a bar to watch the Super Bowl, where Rebecca was asked to sing before the show. (So Mandy Moore gets a chance to show her pipes on This Is Us.) After hearing about why Shelly and Miguel were late, that being that their baby projectile vomited on their older sibling, Rebecca makes Jack promise that they're never having kids -- which Jack doesn't do -- before heading to the bar. While sitting with Miguel and Shelley, Jack confronts Rebecca about her comments about not wanting kids since they've never really talked about it before and Jack does want kids. They then have it out in the bar, with Jack saying that he's changed his mind since they first got together and recently decided he wants kids but Rebecca tells him she's only 29 -- almost 30, Jack helpfully adds -- and she's not "there" yet with the whole wanting kids thing. One of the guys in the bar, who's been razzing on them for a little while, tells Jack and Rebecca to take their drama somewhere else before telling Jack to control his woman after Rebecca tells him to shut up and mind his own business. The guy and Jack then start towards each other, and even though Rebecca begs Jack to sit down, Jack punches the guy in the face, causing Rebecca to get up from their table to leave, but not before telling Jack that "yeah, they should really be having kids."

While watching the kids, Tess and Annie want Kevin to be a celebrity judge during their Barbie fashion show but Kevin is busy learning the lines of the play for rehearsal the next day as he wants to be off-book. He instead drafts Annie, Tess, and William to help him learn his lines. As they go through their lines, the girls question Kevin about what's happening in the play, which apparently is about a girl who comes back as a ghost, and they then ask about what happens when you die as they know that William takes pills because he's sick and want to know if William is going to die. After Kevin tells them that everyone is going to die, and digs himself a hole, he tells the girls that it's bedtime and sends them off. William puts the girls to sleep and comes back to the kitchen to talk with Kevin, telling him that Kevin doubts himself a lot and William really liked him on "The Manny." Kevin tells William he never should have left that show and come to New York, prompting William to tell him he's doubting himself again.

At the hotel, Randall excitedly starts to plan what he and Beth will do for the night, starting with sex of course, but Beth doesn't seem as thrilled with the suite, interjecting that she's a week and a half late and feels like crap but hasn't been able to force herself to get a pregnancy test. Randall is now the one who seems a bit lackluster. Beth and Randall head to a drugstore, where Randall asks Beth how this could've happened, before they get into it about how a baby could mess up their plans. Randall reveals he wanted Beth and Randall to retire early to Charleston in 10 years once the girls are in college. Beth shoots back that her plans were a bit more important as she was planning to finally go back to work full-time and now will have to split her time between changing diapers and having a home office to work from. Back at the hotel, Beth and Randall sit in the suite bathroom with the test, and start to come around to the idea of having another kid.

In the bar, Jack asks Miguel about when he and Shelly knew they wanted kids. After answering, Miguel asks Jack if Rebecca not wanting kids is a deal-breaker. Before Jack can answer, the Steelers score a touchdown and win the Superbowl so Miguel goes off to find Shelly, leaving Jack alone at the bar, as Rebecca sits outside on a bench listening to the bar cheering. Jack finds Rebecca outside and tells her that if he has to choose between her and having kids, she'd win every time. Rebecca tells Jack that while she's not as far career-wise as she'd hoped as she still sings at the bar, when she pictures the future, she sees them with kids. Jack reassures her that it's fine, he just wants her, and he doesn't want to change anything about their life right now either.

Toby shows up at Kate's house later to ask her about leaving, and Kate tells him about how growing up, she'd watch the Steelers with her dad every Sunday until she moved out to LA but started up again in 2006 when the Steelers played the Broncos and then they won the Superbowl and now she watches the Steelers every day with her dad. I DON'T LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING, PEOPLE! Toby tells her that Jack sounds like a cool guy and he'd like to meet him sometime, and Kate says okay, before heading to her fireplace mantle where there's an urn. NO, NO, NO! Kate tells Toby that she knows it's kind of weird, but football is a big part of her family, and that she wouldn't be here if not for football as she was actually conceived in a bathroom during the Superbowl. Flash to Rebecca and Jack making out in a bathroom at the bar, where apparently, Kate (and Kevin) was conceived.

Kevin goes to the girls' bedroom to apologize for his earlier comments and to get them to forgive him, he tells them a secret: he paints when he gets a script for the first time. He shows them what he painted when he first got the play's script and tells them he's sorry for scaring them before by talking about ghosts and death. He goes on to explain the painting - which is actually pretty cool -- and how it's about life, and life is infinite, and everyone is in the painting before and after they die, and the colors just keep being added until they all mesh into one thing, one painting. Kevin tells the girls that even though his dad (Jack) isn't with them anymore, that he's not alive, he's still with them. As Kevin talks, we see Kate and Toby watching the game with Jack's urn. Then Randall and Beth in the hotel bathroom finally look at the pregnancy test, which says Not Pregnant, and they're happy about it. Kevin goes on to say that people in our lives, people they love will die, and we see Randall folding a sweater of William's and putting it in a box before sitting with William's hat and crying. This is seemingly in the future and not at that moment as Kevin is talking. Kevin finishes by saying that even when people die, it doesn't mean they're not still in the painting and that this sloppy and colorful painting, with no beginning or end, he thinks is us.

While Kevin closed this emotional episode with a great speech about living and dying, it doesn't change the fact that Jack is dead. So how did he die? When did he die? How long did it take for Rebecca to move on with Miguel? What happened to Shelly and how do Miguel's kids feel about him being with Rebecca? When does William die? We may have finally gotten the answer about Jack's fate in present day, but there are still many more questions to be answered.

This Is Us 1x04 "The Pool" Recap

This week's episode of This Is Us, called "The Pool," explored race and gave us some insight into how growing up with a white family affected Randall, as well as more background into Kevin and Kate and the whole Pearson family dynamics. Here's your recap for This Is Us 1x04 "The Pool."

Photo Credit: NBC

In the 80s, Jack and Rebecca take the kids to the pool. Things quickly get out of hand as Kevin clamors for Jack's attention, Jack and Rebecca realize they can't find Randall, and Kate is handed a note by her friends that says they don't want her to play with them anymore since she embarrasses them with a picture of a pig drawn on the paper. Rebecca finds Randall playing with some other black kids outside the pool under the watchful eyes of their mother. After a not-so-friendly encounter with the black mom, Rebecca and Randall start to walk away when the other mom gives them some advice about Randall's hair, as he's been itching the back of his scalp due to razor bumps. Rebecca doesn't appreciate the other woman's judgmental tone and she and Kevin go back to their pool chairs on the other side of the pool.

Randall has told his girls about William being their grandfather and is learning more about William's life, like he protested during the Civil Rights Movement. When William goes to take his morning walk around the neighborhood, he's stopped by a cop and Randall has to swoop in to vouch for him, apologizing to the cop for the confusion as it's a predominantly white neighborhood, much to William's chagrin. Randall decides he needs to take William shopping so he may fit in better and look more respectable but feels William is judging him for that morning's events as he thinks William would've taken a stand.

While Toby and Kate are out to breakfast, they bump into Toby's ex-wife Josie, who is skinny and beautiful to Kate's surprise, which causes her to questions why Toby is with her. Kevin goes to his first audition in New York for a play, reading opposite Tony -nominee Olivia which really doesn't go well. He calls Kate on his way out for support but she's busy spying on Toby's ex, and then Kevin bumps into Olivia on the street and they go for a drink. She advises him to go back to LA and take an acting class if he's really serious about theater, only to receive a text moments later informing her Kevin got the part.

Kate goes into the boutique Josie runs and she mistakes Kate for being someone interested in the open job there. Kate goes along with it, spitting out lots of information about Josie that she's gleaned from stalking her online. Kate later shows up to Toby's and tells him that she got a job -- at his ex's store. They get into a fight as Toby's getting tired of going through the same cycle with Kate, where she puts herself down about being fat, he makes a comment to make her feel good, and they go through it again, and yet Kate feels validated when Josie gives her a compliment. Toby tells Kate that Josie was terrible to him, that she cheated on him, lied to him, and then took half of his life's savings, and after she left him, he gained 95 pounds in a year and was suicidal, especially when drinking, which shames Kate a bit as their relationship has been more about her problems. Kate tells him she wasn't going to keep the job anyway and they make up.

Meanwhile, back at the pool, Kevin feels ignored and swims into deeper water where he can't stand and almost drowns, without Rebecca and Jack even noticing as they're busy with Randall and Kate. After Kevin accuses them of not paying attention to him, Jack promises he'll be there for Kevin. Rebecca sees Randall continuing to scratch at his neck, swallows her pride, and approaches the black woman from earlier, asking her for the name of a barber before questioning if Randall can play with the woman's kids after school some time. Jack sees Kate covering up with a towel at the pool since she didn't bring a T-shirt and he gives her his, along with a story behind it, calling it a magical T-shirt that allows her to control how her enemies see her. Kate puts on the shirt, decides she wants to be a princess, and seems to lose the sadness the other little girls caused with their note. Jack for the win!

After Tess's play at the school where played Snow White, Randall talks to William at home about growing up with white parents in a white neighborhood and tells William he won't apologize for his actions earlier that morning or for how he was raised or how he's raising his daughters. William adamantly tells him he has nothing to apologize for before apologizing to Randall and telling him that while William may have done everything wrong by Randall, Randall is doing everything right, and then calls Randall son. Okay, pass the tissues please.

After leaving a message for Kate telling her he got the part, Kevin shows up at Randall's. As Randall goes to open the door, we see a picture on the mantle of Jack and Rebecca with Kevin, Kate, and Randall as kids, along with the black mom from the pool. Randall introduces Kevin to William, who he calls his biological father, before Kevin heads to Annie and Tess's room. After Kevin has left the room with the girls, William asks if that was The Manny, saying he loves that show, and goes after them to get an autograph.

This Is Us continues to impress and each episode keeps getting better -- but four episodes into its freshman season and viewers are still left wondering: where is present-day Jack?! Maybe we'll learn more in the fifth episode on Tuesday!

This Is Us 1x03 "Kyle" Recap

After being off for a week, This Is Us returned with its third episode, called "Kyle," and we quickly learn who Kyle is and get some insight into William, among other things. Here's your recap for This Is Us 1x03 "Kyle."

Photo Credit: NBC

In the 70s, William is riding the bus every day and writing poetry when he see a cute girl. They start riding the bus together, as they become a couple, and he reads her poetry by his favorite poet and also writes poetry about her but his handwriting is getting worse as they are both taking drugs. After they ride the bus on drugs a few times, we see William alone on the bus again, looking strung out, and holding a baby -- Randall. We then see baby Randall alongside new siblings Kate and Kevin with parents Jack and Rebecca in the hospital before they're taken home -- and it turns out Randall is actually named "Kyle" so he, Kate, and Kevin all have "K" names. Cute, huh? While Jack seems to be fine and excited to take home the babies, Rebecca seems less than enthusiastic and more overwhelmed.

Flash to the present where Rebecca and Miguel (called grandma and grandpa at the end of the last episode) have dropped by unannounced to Randall and Beth's house. Randall asks to speak to Rebecca privately so he can tell her about William, and after learning the few details Randall knows about him, Rebecca wants to meet him.

Toby wakes up on the couch at Kate's and hears her singing as she just got out of the shower. He goes to stand in the doorway of the bathroom and startles Kate when she opens the door, and she punches him in the face. They then have a healthy breakfast together where Toby compliments Kate on her singing and implores her to sing for him. In the midst of this, Kevin walks in and starts talking about their move to New York City and how he wants to do drama, tasking Kate with assistant-y duties to help him.

Back to the hospital where Jack and Rebecca are leaving with their baby crew in tow. Jack goes to get their car, leaving Rebecca holding Randall/Kyle and two nurses holding Kevin and Kate. While at the curb waiting in a wheelchair, Rebecca sees William standing across the street looking at her and Randall/Kyle and tries to talk to him but he walks away and gets on the bus just before Jack pulls up.

Rebecca walks in to Annie's room, where William's been staying and introduces herself to William, shaking his hand, before asking Randall to let her and William have a moment to chat. Once Randall leaves, William tells Rebecca that she looks well -- seeming to imply that they've met before. Interesting...

In 1979, Jack and Rebecca have their hands full with the three babies now that they're home, and Rebecca seems to be having the most trouble with Kyle, who she feels isn't the same as Kevin and Kate and who won't nurse from her. Rebecca tries to tell Jack about seeing William while leaving the hospital but Jack cuts in, thinking she was worried about bringing Kyle home and tries to reassure her.

Beth and Randall wonder what William and Rebecca are talking about privately. William tells Rebecca that Randall found him and brought him to his home, but Rebecca interjects that William is the one who stayed, and that they had a deal. William assures Rebecca that he won't tell Randall -- and Rebecca tells him that Randall finding out that he could've known William will break him. Seems like the deal Rebecca and William made was that William wouldn't be in Randall's life, which William tells her was the right decision for everyone. Rebecca then tells William that he'd better be worth it because Randall will put William before his job, marriage, and kids, since that's the kind of person he is.

Rebecca and Miguel then get ready to leave to go into the city, and when Randall goes to get William from Annie's room to take him to his doctor's appointment, William's gone. Randall jumps in his car and finds William a ways down the street with a duffel bag, where the argue about William just taking off without a goodbye and trying to blow off his appointment, and William gets into Randall's car.

Kate is making calls on behalf of Kevin while Toby sits nearby and it's clear Toby isn't happy with Kate playing assistant. So he hatches up a plan, laying out a red carpet outside of Kate's house and dressing up like a driver while holding a camera like a paparazzi and shouting questions at Kate as she leaves the house. Toby asks Kate to give him one day where she gets to be the star. Kevin starts to pack up his stuff but doesn't get very far into the process before pouring himself a drink and calling Kate, who he's already called multiple times, and leaves a message asking her if they can hire a company to pack up their stuff for them. Meanwhile, Kate's excited about her star-day with Toby, until she finds out he's taking her to her "first big gig" since her voice is too good to not be shared. Toby takes her to an old age home where she'll be singing in front of the residents and convinces her they're the perfect audience to sing for.

Jack's taken the babies back to their doctor for a check-up, without Rebecca, which the doctor notices and asks about. Jack then divulges to the doctor that Rebecca's not totally herself and isn't bonding with the babies, especially Kyle, and that the babies have broken his wife and he hoped the doctor would tell him how to fix her. The doctor tells Jack that he needs to give her some space to deal with the grief of losing the third baby in her own way and that she'll come around. While Jack's at the doctor's with the kids, Rebecca is sitting in a bus shelter nearby, waiting for a bus. When one pulls up, she gets on to ask the doctor about William, describing him to the driver, and the driver identifies William as "Shakespeare," before telling Rebecca to get in.

Toby introduces Kate at the old age home and Kate nervously stands in front of the seniors and starts to sing "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper. While Kate sings, we see Rebecca in 1979 riding the bus to find William and in present day, William and Randall arriving to his doctor's appointment. Rebecca gets off the bus and waits, soon spotting William getting off a different bus and starts to follow him, tailing him to his apartment.

Randall sits in the waiting room while William is examined and has blood drawn. As Kate sings, she gains confidence, until she's belting out the song as Toby looks on proudly. Toby and Kate then make out in a supply closet until Kevin calls and interrupts them. Kevin has locked himself in his closet since he called "Insane Elaine," had sex with her, then told her he was moving to New York, and she's now trashing his apartment, and demands Kate come over. Kate tells Toby she has to go, her twin needs her, blah blah blah, and Toby tells her that he really likes her but can't play second fiddle to her brother, to which Kate replies that he has to, that everyone has to, before leaving him in the closet, much to Toby's shock and disappointment.

The doctor meets with Randall and William and tells them the cancer has metastasized and that at this point, there's really nothing that can be done. Back in 1979, Rebecca knocks on William's apartment door, and he lets her in. William tells Rebecca that the baby came from love, and asks what they named the baby. Rebecca tells William they named the baby Kyle and explains that she and Jack were having triplets and decided to name them Kevin, Kate, and Kyle, but that she lost one of the babies during delivery and when his baby showed up at the hospital the same morning, it felt like destiny. As Rebecca gets ready to go, William asks if he'd be able to check on Kyle from time to time, and Rebecca tells him no, and that she has to know William won't come back for him so she can move forward -- and that's the deal, which William agrees to. On her way to the door, Rebecca admits to William that she's not bonding with the baby -- and William advises her to give him his own name. Rebecca asks what the name of his favorite poet is and William hands her the book of poetry by his favorite author, telling Rebecca maybe she'll see fit to give it to him someday. The name of the author? Dudley Randall. Rebecca thanks William and takes the book with her as she leaves.

We see that same book of poetry, among others, by Dudley Randall on a shelf alongside a picture of Randall, Kate, and Kevin as adults in Randall's home, so it seems Rebecca either gave him the book or he discovered the poet on his own, connecting him to his biological father in some way. Randall tells Beth what the doctor said about William and laments that he didn't try to find William sooner, saying the girls could've had a grandfather all this time. Does that mean Jack is dead and wasn't around to be the girls' grandfather? Where is present day Jack?! Beth reminds Randall that he doesn't know any more about William than he did when he first came to live with them a week ago, and that Randall doesn't have a whole lot of time to find out more since William's prognosis is bleak, and Randall silently sheds a few tears.

Kate lets herself into Kevin's, who's still in his closet, though Insane Elaine is gone. Kate shares with Kevin her day with Toby and Kevin is impressed and happy for her until Kate tells him that she answered Kevin's call and it interrupted her and Toby. It dawns on Kevin that Kate is always putting him first so he fires her as his personal assistant, telling her they should try going it alone for a while so they can both grow up a bit. Kate then calls Toby, who shows up at her house, and she apologizes, tells him she's not moving to New York, before holding up a condom and says she got him something. Toby accepts Kate's apology and comes into the house when her phone starts ringing but this time, Kate doesn't answer. Kevin is calling from the back of a cab since he booked himself a red-eye to New York and is leaving.

Going back to 1979, Rebecca comes home from meeting William, and Jack and the three babies have already been back from the doctor's for hours. Rebecca tells Jack how she can't stop thinking about the baby that they lost and Jack tells her he feels the same way before Rebecca says she thinks they need to give him a new name. Rebecca hands Jack the book of poetry William gave her (though she doesn't tell him the backstory of it) and Jack nods after looking at the cover.

Randall knocks on William's bedroom door and tells him that he's going to look into other bigwig oncologists and that he'd also like to tell the girls who William is, and William agrees. Rather than leaving, Randall comes into the room and closes the door and then asks William how he met his mother. William goes on to tell him how he met his biological mom on the bus, and so begins Randall learning about his biological family.

The episode ends with Rebecca picking up baby Randall, and calling him Randall, and he finally nurses from Rebecca.

Hopefully next week's episode will see Kevin and Randall together in New York, as well as provide some insight into how Rebecca and Miguel ended up together and where Jack is in the present!

This Is Us 1x02 "The Big Three" Recap

After that surprise twist in the pilot, where we learn that Jack and Rebecca are the parents of Kevin, Kate, and Randall, the second episode of "This Is Us" continued to follow their stories -- both past and present. Here's your recap for "The Big Three."

Photo Credit: NBC

Kate's trying very seriously to lose her unwanted excess weight but is frustrated that she's yet to see any change while Toby's managed to lose some pounds. After blowing up at some other members of their fat support group, Kate tells Toby she's stressed about finding something to wear to the Hollywood party her twin Kevin invited her to tonight. After hearing about the party, Toby invites himself along and turns the outing into a date, one in which he hopes they can forget about their weight problems. They get drunk at the party and Kate tells Toby that it'll always be about the weight for her as it's been a battle since she was little. Thanks to flashbacks to 1998, we see mom Rebecca giving Kate fruit for breakfast while we see brothers Kevin and Randall get sugary cereal.

Besides gaining insight into Kate's relationship with food, we also see Kevin and Randall's relationship as kids, which wasn't great. The two brothers fought a lot and Kevin worried about what others thought of him so he wouldn't stick up for Randall when mean kids called him "Webster," choosing popularity over his brother. Their childhood has affected their relationship today as the brothers aren't close.

Even though he's been warned that quitting "The Manny" will have repercussions for his career, Kevin is surprised when he meets with his agent (Katey Sagal) and is told he's contractually obligated for two more years. At the party, he meets with the network head (Brad Garrett) who tells him that unless he returns to "The Manny," his career will be Nagasaki-ed and Kevin won't be able to work in show business. 

After Kevin hears that, he calls his brother Randall, and they have a touching, if stilted, conversation, where Randall advises Kevin that their mom and dad didn't raise any whores. After reciting the "Big Three" chant their dad used to have them do in the mornings, along with a drunk Kate, Kevin decides he's not going back to "The Manny" and will instead move to New York and do theater. Since New York is where Randall lives with his family, we'll hopefully be seeing the two brothers together and working on their relationship.

Meanwhile, Randall's biological father William has been staying with his family, and Beth isn't sold on him. So Beth wakes up Randall for a late-night interrogation in the kitchen, asking him where he goes every day all day, if he's using drugs, and whether he's really sick. After Randall walks into the kitchen, William admits he's been going back to Philadelphia each day to feed his cat, making Beth feel bad about questioning him, but also relieved that William's not using drugs.

In 1998, we see Jack and Rebecca struggling as a couple, since Rebecca feels like she's taking on the bulk of responsibilities with the kids, while Jack's out drinking, causing tension between the two. While Rebecca is tucking in each kid, Jack is slinging back bourbon at the bar alongside friend Miguel (Jon Huertas), who tells him he should appreciate what he has in Rebecca and not screw it up with her or their great family whom he's kind of jealous of. Jack heads back home and after receiving a serious tongue-lashing from Rebecca and sleeping outside their bedroom in the hall, vows to stop drinking and be a better husband and parent. He then gives her a gold moon necklace which she promises to never take off, they make out, and are soon piled on by their kids as they wake up.

We return to the present day at Randall and Beth's house, where the doorbell rings. Their two daughters rush to answer it, only to announce that Grandma and Grandpa are here -- and when we see who's at the door, in a surprise twist, we don't see Rebecca and Jack. Instead, it's Rebecca (still wearing the moon necklace) and her husband, (gasp!) Miguel.

This surprise twist begets lots of questions -- did Jack die? Did someone cheat? WHAT HAPPENED?

Hopefully these questions will be answered sooner rather than later, but NBC just ordered a full season of "This Is Us" consisting of 18 episodes yesterday, so we may have longer to wait and much more to anticipate in the season ahead.

This Is Us "Pilot" Review & Recap

The new dramedy "This Is Us" premiered last night and it looks like NBC's got a major hit on their hands. Both funny and poignant, the show will have viewers hooked after that first episode and eagerly awaiting more. Here's a recap of the "This Is Us" pilot.

Photo Credit: NBC

To start, the show has a fact on the screen, which is that according to Wikipedia, each person, on average, shares their birthday with more than 18 million other people, but there's no proven behavioral link between those people. Unless, of course, they're the people in "This Is Us." The episode then introduces pregnant couple Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore), who are celebrating Jack's 36th birthday when Rebecca's water breaks, so they rush to the hospital since they're expecting triplets and they're early.

Successful businessman Randall (Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown) is turning 36 when he gets an email from a private investigator telling him that the father who left him at the door of a fire station when he was a baby has been located. He decides to go meet his father, William Hill (Ron Cephas Jones), mostly because he wants to tell him off. After making a big speech on his biological father's doorstep, about how he turned out pretty okay even though he was abandoned, his father invites him inside. Randall doesn't want to hear any excuses and William doesn't make any, and after Randall tells him off and storms out, he comes back inside and invites William to his home to meet his wife Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) and two granddaughters. (Yeah, I don't really get that either, but I went with it). After Randall puts his daughters to sleep, he comes downstairs in his home to see William looking at a photo of his adoptive parents, though viewers don't see who's in the picture. We learn a firefighter found Randall and took him to the hospital, where his adoptive parents were and he was with them from day one. William tells Randall that he's dying, and then William is seen in Randall and Beth's guest room as they've invited him to stay over.

Handsome actor Kevin (Justin Hartley) is questioning his life and choices as he turns 36, as he's the star on a not-so-great sitcom called "The Manny," a shallow role in which he is rarely allowed to don a shirt or really show emotion. After he acts in a particularly moving scene and is told to redo it without his shirt and in a lighter way, he goes on a rant in front of a live studio audience about how everything is fake and then quits. We learn early on that Kevin has a sister named Kate (Chrissy Metz) who is struggling to lose weight and is also pretty dissatisfied with her life.

Kate decides she's really going to lose her excess weight and attends a sort of overweight people support group where she meets Toby (Chris Sullivan). They go on a date and then back to Kate's apartment, where they are interrupted pre-kiss by Kevin, who's freaking out about the state of his life now that he's quit "The Manny."

We then return to Jack and Rebecca in the hospital, where we learn one of the triplets was stillborn and the other two babies are a healthy boy and girl. As Jack sits in the hallway, their doctor tells him about his life, and how he and his wife lost their first baby and that's why he now delivers babies, and then says something along the lines of taking the sourest lemon life gives you and still managing to turn it into something resembling lemonade.

In a surprise twist, we see a firefighter standing next to Jack as he looks at his twins in the nursery, and he tells Jack he brought in a baby that was left on the steps of the fire station. That baby is next to Jack and Rebecca's in the nursery, and then the camera pans out so we realize that Jack and Rebecca's story isn't taking place in present day. Back to Kevin and Kate who are commiserating in Kate's apartment on her couch who are remembering that their dad used to tell them about no lemon being so sour you couldn't make something like lemonade and the pieces are starting to fall together. Yes, Jack and Rebecca are Kate and Kevin's parents and Randall is their adopted son, so they did end up going home from the hospital with three babies, and Jack and Rebecca's story is occurring in 1979.

With a great premise, an all-star cast, and what looks to be an interesting and emotional season ahead, NBC's "This Is Us" has set itself apart from the other shows on TV right now and is definitely off to a promising start.

New Fall TV Shows Premiering This Week That Look Promising

Fall is here, and for TV-lovers, that means one thing: shows are premiering and returning from summer hiatuses. This week, a number of new fall TV shows are kicking off, which means it's time to decide what new shows you'll be adding to your TV watchlists this season. Here are the shows that'll be kicking off on non-Cable channels this week that you may want to consider watching.

Photo Credit: NBC

1. "The Good Place," NBC. Premiering Monday, September 19, this comedy stars Kristen Bell and Ted Danson, and was created by Michael Schur ("The Office" producer and co-creator of "Parks and Recreation" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"), so it promises laughs. The show follows Eleanor Shellstrop (Bell) who is killed and surprisingly finds herself in "the good place," having been mistaken for someone else as she hasn't exactly been a good person. Her presence in heaven upsets the balance, leading designer of The Good Place Michael (Danson) to try to figure out what's behind all the weird occurrences. "The Good Place" also stars William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, and Manny Jacinto.

2. "Bull," CBS. This drama kicks off Tuesday, September 20, and sees Michael Weatherly return to TV as Dr. Jason Bull, the founder of a successful trial consulting firm called Trial Analysis Corporation. He and his team use a variety of different methods to understand jurors, lawyers, witnesses, and defendants, so they can create the best narrative to help their clients win their cases. Bull was actually inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw, who is an executive producer on the show. Besides Weatherly, "Bull" stars Freddy Rodriguez, Geneva Carr, Jaime Lee Kirchner, and Annabelle Attanasio.

3. "This Is Us," NBC. The first trailer for this dramedy was watched more than 51 million times through Facebook in its first week online and looks like it may be this fall's breakout hit. The show debuts Tuesday, September 20, and tells the stories of a group of people who were all born on the same day and whose lives will intersect in unexpected and interesting ways. With an amazing cast consisting of Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, Sterling K. Brown, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullvian, and Ron Cephas Jones, "This Is Us" promises laughs and tears, and will be the show everyone's talking about the next day.

4. "Speechless," ABC. This ABC comedy premieres Wednesday, September 21, and follows the DiMeos, a family with a special-needs teenage son (Micah Fowler), who has cerebral palsy, which makes mobility and communication challenging. While the show deals with serious issues and may seem like it embraces some cliche comedy tropes, the show is funny and allows each character room to grow. Fowler has cerebral palsy in real life, making the show's casting decision noteworthy and heartening. "Speechless" stars Minnie Driver, John Ross Bowie, Kyla Kenedy, Mason Cook, Micah Fowler, and Cedric Yarbrough.

5. "Designated Survivor," ABC. This political drama sees Kiefer Sutherland ("24") make his triumphant return to TV. Premiering Wednesday, September 21, "Designated Survivor" follows low-level Cabinet member Tom Kirkman, who suddenly finds himself being appointed president after an attack during the State of the Union kills the President and all the other members of Cabinet. The show operates on three levels, focusing on the Kirkman family, who are thrust into the White House under extraordinary circumstances, Tom's uncertainty about his ability to be President and his grappling with decisions, and the attack itself and conspiracy behind it, with the suspicion that the attacks aren't over. The show also stars Natasha McElhone, Maggie Q, Kal Penn, Italia Ricci, Adan Canto, and LaMonica Garrett.

6. "Notorious," ABC. This ABC drama premieres Thursday, September 22, follows news producer Julia George (Piper Parabo) and criminal defense attorney Jake Gregorian (Daniel Sunjata) and shows how powerful the media is when it comes to influencing the public and framing a story. The show was inspired by the real stories of infamous criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos and cable news producer Wendy Walker, who serve as executive producers. "Notorious" also stars Kate Jennings Grant, Aimee Teegarden, J. August Richards, Sepideh Moafi, Ryan Guzman, and Kevin Zegers.

7. "Pitch," Fox. Debuting on Thursday, September 22, this drama follows Ginny Baker, a young female pitcher who has a talent for throwing screwball pitches, and who becomes the first woman to play in Major League Baseball when she's chosen by the San Diego Padres. The show looks like it'll be inspirational and ask hard questions and deeply examine the male-dominated world of baseball. Besides being the first female MLB player, Ginny is also black, which invites the show to not only discuss gender and sexism, but race and other social issues as well. "Pitch" stars Kylie Bunbury, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Ali Larter, Mo McRae, Mark Consuelos, Dan Lauria, Meagan Holder, and Tim Jo.

Mark your calendars, TV fanatics -- this week is going to be jam-packed with both series and season premieres of new and returning shows, so make sure you've got your DVRs ready.