This is Us, we’re still there! And we were DEFINITELY there for that twist ending!

This is Us gives us another shocker ending as we’re time jumping all over the place. In the nineties Kevin has chicken pox and we caught a glimpse of how the bond between Kevin and Jack developed. We also met Rebecca’s mom and boy is she a peach (please read a lot of heavy sarcasm here). She does super amazing racist things like giving Randall a basketball and being surprised that Randall was the kid who got into private school. But it’s all good because Rebecca totally shut her down and Jack shovelled her car out of the snow and she was sent packing.

RELATED | This is Us Roundtable 2×03 “Deja Vu”

As for the present, Deja won’t shower and when she bonds with Beth over her hair then finds out she spilled to Randall the poor girl cuts off all her hair. Kevin’s off the pills until he needs surgery and then is back on them to get back to work faster. And as for Kate? She’s distant from Toby and we couldn’t figure out why until we found out the big news. She’s pregnant! Holy toledo!

Let’s see what our roundtable had to say about the episode!

Andee (@andeesings): Writer for TV After Dark. Ginger, lover of all things nerdy, always up for a Renaissance Faire and a quick flight to anywhere.

Danielle (@dani_pitter): Couch potato, dreamer, writer, and recent college graduate! Also needs many tissues during This is Us, among other amazing shows. Danielle’s book blog, PoetryBooksYA, Danielle’s fansite, ParamoreRKLife.

Mel (@musiccitymel): Mel is a blogger, fibromyalgia warrior, and cohost of Two Dead Chicks: A Walking Dead Podcast.

Jake (@Jake_Lester): Disney World addict, comic book fan & Film and TV fanatic. Contributing Editor to Comicbookmovie.com. I’ve written some things you might have read… probably not though.

Nicole (@NicoleBlades): Novelist, runner, podcaster, pretend baker, and professional Canadian. Her next book, HAVE YOU MET NORA?, will be released November 2017. Read more at NicoleBlades.com.

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1) Poor Deja. Two steps forward, three steps backward for her this week. From the bowling alley to the hair, will anything get through to her?

Andee (@andeesings): That was pretty brutal. You soften to her and then you kind of hate her for making feel Beth bad. But kids are messy and someone with as much baggage as Deja has it’s clear it’s going to take a while. I still maintain we’re going to meet her mom and that’s going to be a turning point.

Danielle (@dani_pitter): I was just starting to like her during the hair scene with Beth, but she got so upset when Randall suggested running to relieve stress. I liked her braided hair though! But honestly, she should have expected Beth to tell Randall; they tell each other everything. When you live in a house like that, there are no secrets. BUT WHEN SHE CUT ALL OF HER BRAIDS OUT, I was LIVID!!!!! I know she’s still adjusting to living without her mom, but damn, why ruin your long, beautiful hair, and break Beth’s heart like that. Did you see Beth’s face?!

Mel (@musiccitymel): I think so. It’s just going to take a lot of time and patience. This is all still so new to her. We have to remember, she was placed smack dab in the middle of this picture perfect family all while her world was unraveling. I think she is struggling to see her own self worth. But, throughout this episode we saw Beth and Randall building her up. I think we are going to see them earn her trust and become stronger and more self assured.

Jake (@Jake_Lester): It’s going to be a trying time for Deja, but we are starting to see her let her guard down a little bit. I think she is starting to trust the family a little more, but things keep happening that she is unfamiliar with. Based on the way it sounds, she came from a single mother situation, so she’s not use to two parent system where everything is shared, so she feels, and who can blame her, that her trust was betrayed a little bit.

Nicole (@NicoleBlades): My heart cracks a little more every time she’s on the screen. You can see how wounded she is from the look in her eyes. She’s been done so wrong in her young life; you just want her to see that THIS is the home where she can feel safe and THIS is family that she can trust, finally. They got you, Deja. You can rest your worries down. I think she’s going to start to thaw out a little next few episodes, but there are still miles to go with her. The young actor who plays her is so very good!

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2) That hair scene with Beth and Deja was a heartstring tugger! Was Beth the This is Us MVP this week or what?

Andee (@andeesings): Ugh Beth I just love her. She always knows what to say. She’s caring and compassionate. And she just seems so competent! She’s literally the most competent person on the show. She makes everyone else looks like they’re actually useless. Though I’m surprised about Deja it’s clear Beth and Randall love and support each other and tell each other everything. I wonder how she’s going to keep going foward with Deja. This was all her idea after all.

Danielle (@dani_pitter): When it comes to us black girls and women, our hair is our identity! We can design it into so many ways: curled, straight, bob, weaves, braids, short, long, natural, etc. The list goes on and on, and I love it!! It takes forever to do, but that’s the price we pay to look however beautiful we want. So when I saw Beth doing Deja’s hair, it reminded me of so many times when my mom had to do my hair from scratch —Washing, deep conditioning, perms! It also gave me hope when Deja started opening up about her mom.

Mel (@musiccitymel): She handled that situation with such empathy and warmth. She was able to get Deja to open up and slowly we are learning more about what Deja’s life as been like. I cannot emphasize how wonderful Beth and Randall are going to be for her. They are going to be able to provide her with love, strength, stability and emotional security. But with that being said, they have to be careful to avoid more instances like the one where Randall basically revealed Beth told him what Deja said in confidence. Though Randall was just trying to relate to her, it came across as a violation of trust. It may be kind of a set back, but I’m hopeful we will see her begin to trust them more.

Jake (@Jake_Lester): It was nice to see this difficult situation start to provide some positive benefits for not only Beth, but Deja as well. We all know how it ended with her feeling like her trust was betrayed, but the moment that her and Beth shared was amazingly sweet.

I’m hoping, for Randall’s sake, that he is able to have a breakthrough with her soon. However, and maybe I’m reading too much into him telling her about his panic attacks, that Randall might have another nervous break-down coming up that maybe Deja will help him through.

Nicole (@NicoleBlades): Listen. Beth is the permanent MVP on that show. So smart and deep and levelheaded. Deja had started to melt a little during that hair scene, her shoulders relaxed just a bit. But I knew it wouldn’t last. Such a heartbreaking scene.

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3) Kevin, Kevin. We think he’s off the pills and suddenly he gets some pages and he’s back on the pills. What do you think was in the script pages, and when do you think this is going to start having an impact on his work?

Andee (@andeesings): Those pages definitely had a reduced role for Kevin. I’m sure they cut down a lot of what he was supposed to do. I was kind of wondering if they’d killed him off. He might finish this film but I think his career is going to hit the skids big time.

Danielle (@dani_pitter): Kevin was such a BABY when he’d had the chicken pox, my God haha!! I mean, I’m a baby when I get my periods every month, but dang!! That battle cry war between Jack and Kevin was funny though…until Grandma stepped in.

My thing is though, why was he torturing himself watching that old footage of Jack and his football games? I didn’t see what was in the new script pages, but it probably wasn’t good, since Kevin had to come back to work too soon.

Mel (@musiccitymel): I imagine there is something on those pages that reminds him of the loss of his dad. I feel like it could take a while before people begin to notice something is amiss. Kevin is pretty good at compartmentalizing his emotions and not dealing with them, kind of like his dad.

Jake (@Jake_Lester): I’m sorry, and I know that Mel and Andee are with me, but I just can’t get into caring about Kevin’s story. It is through not fault of Justin Hartley, who is great in the role, but the writers have made him super whiny and it gets on my last nerve. This week was a terrible mix of whiny young Kevin and whiny old Kevin.

That being said, Kevin is traveling down a dark path. Especially given his family history with substance abuse, Kevin seems to be coming up on some dark times, and more than likely it will effect his work. Like I said last week, I hope to see Stallone return and maybe provide him some fatherly guidance here.

Nicole (@NicoleBlades): The show runners have been eavesdropping on us, right? They are actually trying to make Kevin’s character interesting, give him depth and something that looks like a real arc. Step one in the right direction was leaving that ex-wife/rekindled love woman out of it. The FaceTime moment was the right dosage. I think the pill-popping and heavily hinted at dependency will have immediate impact. He’s going to unravel, and quick. Might even be called into ol’ Ron Howard’s office for a stern word.

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4) Rebecca’s mom was a lot, huh? What’s going on with racist grandma? What were her worst moments for you? And did anyone else catch whiffs of the Kate/Rebecca relationship in there?

Andee (@andeesings): For me it was a toss up between giving him the basketball when the kid was talking about science for God’s sake and then not wanting to see his science fair project. That’s total crap. Why does she seem to not value his intelligence? Why is it that she only values Kevin for his face, and Kate for her looks? That’s really the most ridiculous part.

Danielle (@dani_pitter): Oh, I hated her from the jump. From barging in without even calling Rebecca, demanding Jack to salt the sidewalk, giving Randall the third basketball (totally stereotyping btw), and making Kate fit into what she called a freaking “goal dress” WTF!! I usually give people the benefit of the doubt until further notice, but not for Rebecca’s mom. Nope. And Rebecca does let her mother bait her. A lot. Probably where she gets it from when she does it to Kate on her own.

I loved how Rebecca stood up for her family against her mother. It was a lot of suppressed emotions from her own upbringing, but it was needed. And her mother’s ignorance and bigotry made me even more angry for Rebecca and Randall.

Mel (@musiccitymel): Do you guys also find that people who are ridiculously critical like Rebecca’s mom are terribly miserable and insecure individuals? She nitpicks everything every person in the family does because she has this need to feel superior. I actually really loved how they had Rebecca attack her mom’s racist ways head on. She let her know in no uncertain terms that she was no longer welcome and that behavior wouldn’t be accepted. That’s how racist people should be handled. I think one of the best and most powerful moments was when Rebecca said, “When the snow is gone, I want you gone too.” I was also moved by the conversation Rebecca and Jack had explaining racism to Randall. Frankly, At the end, we saw Rebecca’s mom have a moment with Randall where you hope that she is beginning to see what she has been doing wrong. She has a long way to go, but this is where change begins. I hope the whole country saw this episode

Jake (@Jake_Lester): Rebecca’s mom is the worst, and Rebecca handled it like a champ. The worst moment for me is the fact that she hasn’t taken the time to try and get to know Randall at all, and they made mention that this is the fourth basketball she’s given him. Another low was her snide comment about being surprised he’s the one that made it to a better school.

Maybe Kate picked up on Rebecca and her mom not getting a long, so she thinks that’s how the relationship works? I don’t know, I’m still not on board with the whole Kate not liking her mom because she’s jealous of her.

Nicole (@NicoleBlades): Grandma, go home! She was awful from the minute she stepped through the door. Every moment with young Randall was horrible and the Archie Bunker dirt bombs she’d dropped–ugh. I shouted, “YES!” at the screen when Grandma and Rebecca had that standoff and Rebecca said: “When the snow is gone, I want you gone.” Get to steppin’! I think the Kate/Rebecca friction is very different than what was going on with Becks and her mom. A tense dynamic in both instances, yes, but different.

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5) Was it just us, or were the parallels between the past and the present a little vague this week, especially in Kevin’s storyline? Kevin and Jack’s battlecry to Kevin reliving his high school glory in the most perfect 90’s HD we’ve ever seen, did you find past to present parallels you found relevant?

Andee (@andeesings): Eh. Not really. Other than, “Kevin keeps losing the stuff he’s good at,” I don’t see much. And as great as it was seeing Rebecca stand up to racist grandma I’m not sure what the point of any of that was. Kevin bonding with Jack? I don’t know.

Danielle (@dani_pitter): This will probably be a repeat of what I’d said about Kevin and the script pages. But why was he torturing himself watching that old footage of Jack and his football games? I didn’t see what was in the new script pages, but it probably wasn’t good, since Kevin had to come back to work too soon. I thought the past to present parallels were relevant because they were a wake-up call for his feelings about Jack’s death.

Mel (@musiccitymel): Super vague! Total transparency: I am not here for Kevin. He is my least favorite character in a cast full of wonderfully likable, perfectly imperfect, realistic people. I keep hoping something is going to happen to give me a change of heart. So far, I still find him to be brooding and vapid.

Jake (@Jake_Lester): I was hoping that glorious HD video would inspire Kevin to continue his rehab the right way. I guess there’s a part of him that realized his dad masked his issues with substance abuse, so that’s how he should handle it. Once again, I’m just not caring about the Kevin character at this point in time. Something I hope changes in upcoming episodes.

Nicole (@NicoleBlades): I had to cackle at the HD quality too. It was like, did Ron Howard hook you up with some special digital moviemaking magic dust, Kev, or nah? And I agree; I couldn’t really make the connection between the past and the present. I was kind of expecting to pick up where we left off last episode with Jack struggling with his alcohol addiction. But this show has never promised to be linear, so I’ll go where they lead me in the story.

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6) What’s going on with Toby? Is it just us or does he seem kind of miserable? What’s up with that?

Andee (@andeesings): He is miserable. He’s a terrible cliched overweight character that they cooked up for the overweight main character. He’s never been my favorite and he bores me to tears. And for someone who seems to care so much about Kate he didn’t really press her too hard to find out what was going on, huh?

Danielle (@dani_pitter): Toby is almost always miserable lol. Between him pushing Kate to wear this ugly green dress, and Kevin whining about his knee, this episode was hard to swallow. I really have no large opinion on Toby at all, really. I don’t hate him, but I don’t particularly care either. Kate deserves better though.

Mel (@musiccitymel): Do you guys think maybe he was kind of reacting to the way Kate was behaving towards him? To me, Kate seemed on edge the whole episode. Though, I think we found out why at the end!

Jake (@Jake_Lester): Kate is (and has since the beginning of their relationship) putting Toby as a last priority. I get with her weight loss he doesn’t really “help”, but it just seems like shes annoyed to be around him lately, and that would make anyone miserable. Add Kevin to the mix, who is just completely disregarding any advice Toby is offering him, and I’m sure Toby maybe looking for an out sooner rather than later.

Nicole (@NicoleBlades): I cannot even begin with Toby. Am I the President of the UGH, TOBY Club? I am, right? Yeah, I am. The list is long when it comes to my gripes with that character. But now that he and Kate are having a bébé, I guess he’s sticking around for a good while longer.

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7) Did anyone see that ending coming?? Talk about a fake out. We thought it was a possible eating disorder, but Kate is pregnant! What is this going to mean for her career? And how will this affect her relationship with Toby?

Andee (@andeesings): I didn’t see it from a mile away. I really thought it was an eating disorder and that she’d have to go into treatment with Kevin or something. I think her “career” (one bar mitzvah?) is going to be put on hold and she’s going to have to go back to being her brother’s assistant or something. Toby seems unhappy but I think he’ll stick it out for the baby.

Danielle (@dani_pitter): I was spoiled about Kate’s pregnancy too early, so I was shocked!!! At first, I’d thought she was going through an eating disorder too. But that she’s PREGNANT is another thing. I don’t think she’s ready for a baby right now, but I guess my opinion means nothing at this point lol. I hope this means that she can keep singing somehow. In next week’s promo, it looked like Toby was surprised but not mad or upset, so that may be a good thing.

Mel (@musiccitymel): AHHHHH!!!! I did not see this coming and I am still freaking out! I’m a little worried about her though. With how much she was exercising, I worry she may put too much strain on her body. I think this pregnancy could cause some turbulence in her career, but I also think this may help Kate and Rebecca find some common ground. As for Toby, I’m not sure. I think he will be happy with the news, but I could also see him overly worrying about her every move and getting on her nerves. Hell, that would get on my nerves!

Jake (@Jake_Lester): I did not see the ending coming, but it makes sense. I’m still not a fan of her keeping Toby at arms length through the process though. I get it, there are health concerns associated with the pregnancy, but Toby has been nothing but supportive of her. I’m hoping that the distance she is putting between her and Toby wont come back to bite her through out her journey of having a child. In-terms of her career, this could help Kate and Rebecca’s relationship because both will not have singing aspirations derailed by having children.

Nicole (@NicoleBlades): Total fake out! Especially the pharmacy sign the camera kind of focused on when Kate first walked in there (multi vitamins and diet pills). Pretty sneaky, Writers Room! I think impending parenthood is going to push Toby over the edge. Correction! It’s going to push me over the edge in my anti-Toby posture. He’s going to be insufferable! Can’t you just see him freaking out and buying a whole bunch of baby stuff in a frenzy and then being told, “Uh, we don’t need eight bottle warmers, Toby.” Just ugh.

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Final Verdict: This is Us is still providing surprises and great emotional content. Where will these new developments lead?

Surprise! What will Toby do when he finds out Kate is pregnant? One thing is for sure: We loved that ending and we can’t wait to see what the repercussions are for the Pearson family! Will it go a little way towards repairing Rebecca and Kate’s relationship like Nicole suggested? Will Deja ever integrate into Randall’s family? And when is the rest of the clan going to think of her when they meet her? Will someone figure out Kevin is using drugs to cover up the fact that his knee isn’t healed and gives him constant pain? We’re digging these new developments in This is Us!

This is Us returns next Tuesday, October 24th at 9/8c on NBC!