One thing nobody warns you about when it comes to watching This Is Us is that every episode will result in ugly crying, followed by an hour of googling Milo Ventimiglia. I’m serious—his character Jack Pearson has set so many unrealistic husband goals and is the reason why all of us are emotionally unstable each week. The NBC show, airing every Tuesday, follows the lives of The Pearson family across different time frames: the early stages of Jack and Rebecca’s relationship, the upbringing of ‘The Big Three:’ Kevin, Kate and Randall, and how each of them grow up with a permanent void in their lives following the tragic death of their father, Jack. If you want the blunt explanation; the show is about how one crock-pot emotionally destroyed us all. This Is Us does not miss a single opportunity to throw curve balls our way and will even do it in the last five minutes. So how are fans expected to make it through the whole two-hour, season five premiere on October 27th? Did NBC purposely wait until our midterms to air the show or do they constantly insist on torturing us? Inquiring minds need to know.
While October leaves us crying and exhausted over piled up exams, assignments and projects, I don’t know if we will be able to generate another fresh batch of tears that comes with every new Pearson storyline. It’s hard enough that the season four finale ended with such a cliffhanger. In the last episode, “Strangers: Part Two,” we find out that there is a discord between The Pearson kids about who can best take care of Rebecca as she begins showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Randall goes behind his siblings’ back and manipulates Rebecca into moving away and taking clinical treatment in St. Louis for nine months. This results in a hideous fight between The Pearson brothers. Randall tells Kevin that Jack died while being ashamed of him and that his interest in taking care of Rebecca was merely an act. Kevin fires back and says that the worst day of his life was the day they adopted Randall. Seriously, who’s cutting onions in here?
Throughout the episode, we find out that Kate and Toby adopt a second child and that Kevin has twins with Madison. The final and most emotionally depleting scene flashes forward to Rebecca in her deathbed surrounded by Uncle Nicky, Randall, Kevin and his two kids. Is this what happens when a TV show rips the beating heart of your chest? How are we supposed to focus on midterms when we are racking our brain with so many questions? Where is Kate? Is she still alive? What’s going to happen to The Big Three? Is Madison still in the picture? Did Randall and Kevin ever really come back from their rift? Does Rebecca end up going to St. Louis? Seriously, does Kate die?
I’m sure every minute of the two-hour premiere is going to be more tense than the last; the anticipation of waiting every Tuesday for what will unfold isn’t going to be any easier. If you’re like me and begin midterms the next day, you’re going to need to grab a tissue box, turn your Zoom cameras off, and grab another tissue box. If you think you know what’s coming, you don’t know This Is Us.