This Is Us never stopped surprising us at just how crafted a show could be and has won all the Emmys in our eyes. We’re here to catch you up on the details!

Previously on This Is Us – Where shall we start? Well, This is Us has been a huge success for NBC and the entire television world. From the intertwined relationships and connections between past and present, This Is Us has crafted a true powerhouse in television.

We were first introduced to the show in what seemed to be similar to your typical romantic comedy flicks like Valentine’s Day or New Year’s Eve where the lives of whom you thought were strangers turn out to be interconnected. However, This is Us does not hold true to any of that cliche. In the first episode, we meet 5 young people: Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), Rebecca (Mandy Moore), Kate (Chrissy Metz), Kevin (Justin Hartley, and Randall (Sterling K. Brown). By now you probably know the drill. As it turns out, Kate Kevin and Randall are the three children of Jack and Rebecca Pearson. But we came to love them as their given name, The Big Three. The young and in love Jack and Rebecca aren’t just part of the story but it is their past.  

If This is Us is still on your bucket list of shows to start or if you need a refresher, here’s what you missed in Season 1. After it is revealed that the show is moving out of present and past, we find out that Jack and Rebecca were meant to have triplets but lost one, and coincidentally little Randall was dropped off at the local fire station and brought to the same hospital the moment Jack and Rebecca found out they lost their child. It was only meant to be and Randall became part of the family.

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Through the first season, we learned some heartbreaking and overwhelming news. Little by little, we got a glimpse into a part of the past and part of the present and had to put the pieces together. Creator Dan Fogelman has promised that the timelines of past and present will be extended this season with The Big Three at 15-years-old as well as Jack and Rebecca’s earlier struggles long before children.

The big takeaways were that Kate’s boyfriend Toby is  Next, Lastly, and probably the one we aren’t looking forward to in Season 2 due to tears, is the fact that it was finally revealed in and out of the flashbacks that Jack died. If that wasn’t worse enough, we sadly learned that Randall’s biological father, William (Ron Cephas Jones) was dying and could not stop crying from the FUNeral. We knew this was eventually coming, but definitely was not expecting how gut-wrenching this scene would be. More to come on that later. Through the present and past, we find that not only Jack and Rebecca have a lot of struggles but so did their children and we’ve gotten to gracefully explore all of their storylines.

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The Main Pearson Bunch

• Rebecca Pearson (Mandy Moore): Rebecca was married to Jack and is the mother of Kate, Kevin, and Randall. She and Jack met at a bar after he defended her and we get to know her in both the past and the present. She is instrumental in trying to help her children be well-rounded people. This was specially with Kate’s inner demons that started when she was nine. As the season progresses and we learn more about the not-so-great parts of Jack and Rebecca’s relationship was the people where she even kicks him out.
• Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia): Jack is the main Pearson. He had a beautiful relationship with Rebecca from the start at that bar. His marriage to Rebecca definitely had its ups and downs but he was a great father who tried his best to be there for him. He coined the name the big three, dance and all.
• Kate Pearson (Chrissy Metz): Kate grew up overweight and goes through a lifetime struggle with her weight. As a child, she constantly compared herself to her mother and her heart would break, along with ours, when she couldn’t fit into her Rebecca’s clothes and when her classmates would make fun of her. In her adulthood, Kate has grown a lot. She attends a group with other overweight people where she meets Toby and they begin a relationship that lasts the entirety of the season, and then some. She and Toby are now engaged!
• Kevin Pearson (Justin Hartley): In his youth, Kevin had some heartbreaking moments of feeling forgotten about for being the only “normal” child. As an adult, Kevin has had some of his own inner struggles this season in regards to his career. He is an actor who is The Manny, or Male Nanny. The show is filmed Full House style with a live audience, and he eventually makes a huge scene quitting in front of the entire audience. After this, he struggles with booking a role, books a play, and has a false start. He got a re-do and later on in the season he get’s the call from Ron Howard who wants him for a movie in LA, and he get’s Sophie’s full support. Kevin is very understanding of Kate and still acts as the supportive older brother.
• Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown): Randall’s story is learned in both the past and present. As a child, we learned that Randall struggled greatly with not only being adopted but adopted into a white family. He is also extremely intelligent, known to Jack, who did amazingly well in touching conversations with Randall about his gifts. In the present, Randall is successful and wealthy and married with two children of his own. He tells his wife, Beth, by the end of the season that he wants to adopt a child to give him or her a better life just as Rebecca and Jack did for him.

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The Rest of the Family & Friends

• Toby Damon (Chris Sullivan): Toby is introduced as being in the same group that Kate is a part of. He tries very hard to win Kate over the entire season and it takes a while for Kate to let anybody in, but it eventually works. The pair began dating while also trying to lose weight together. Toby, being a man, was able to lose a lot of weight at a much faster pace compared to Kate. This put a bit of a strain in their relationship. However, they are able to work through it. In the mid-season finale, Kate invites Toby to their Christmas party, and Toby collapses and lands in the hospital. When the series picked back up we learned Toby was thankfully fine and Kate was able to realize how much she cares for him. Toby proposed, and she accepted!
• Beth Pearson (Susan Kelechi Watson): Beth is Randall’s wife with whom they have two children with. Beth is a strong woman and great mother. Over the course of the season she was hesitant in allowing William into their children’s lives but over time is able to develop a great relationship with her. At his FUNeral she was very much a part of, William told her she was like the daughter he never had. In Season 2 Beth will be contemplating adopting a child with Randall.
• William (Ron Cephas Jones): William is the biological father of Randall Pearson. William had a problem with drugs and was the one who dropped Randall off at the fire station to do what was best for him. Once he got clean he wanted to be a part of his son’s’ life, and it is revealed that Rebecca was the reason William never met his biological father sooner.
• Tess Pearson (Eris Baker): Tess is the eldest daughter of Randall and Beth. Like Randall, she is very intelligent but is also interested in soccer. William teaches her Chess and she enters a tournament and wins the match.
• Annie Pearson (Faithe Herman): Annie is the youngest daughter of Randall and Beth. Unlike her sister, Annie is less interested in sports and more interested in cosmetology.

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Cast to Series Regulars in Season 2

• Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge): NBC announced that Sophie would be returning as a series regular in Season 2. She joined midway through the season who is (surprise!) Kevin’s ex-wife he’s been separated from for 12 years. Eventually, by the end of the season, we think he’s won her over. Keep watching to see if this romance continues into Season 2!
• Miguel (Jon Huertas): It was also announced that Miguel will be back as a series regular in Season 2. Sure, he’s a sweet guy, but he also was Jack’s best friend in the past and (scandalous!) Rebecca’s now current husband in the present. We hope Miguel didn’t cut in on Jack and Rebecca’s marriage before Jack passed, and can’t wait to explore.

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Death(s) (Are you ready?)

• William: We knew he was sick and dying from the first time we met him. He knew he was dying and wanted to have a relationship with the child he left at the fire station. He grows closer with each Pearson and is particularly close with Tess and Annie, his biological grandchildren. In the end of the first season, a fun funeral aka a FUNeral is thrown for William. He has the time of his life, he’s laughing and smiling and spending time with his grandchildren. Annie and Tess even made him a card. Then suddenly the next day while Randall took him back to his hometown he becomes very ill and is instantly on his deathbed. Cue one of the saddest scenes in television. Randall tried to pull any measures to be able to get him home. He even would have bought a private jet if it would have helped. Unfortunately, it was too late in the course of William’s’ illness and he passed away. It was one tearjerker.

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If you haven’t cried enough:

• Dr. Nathan Katowski (Gerald McRaney): Dr. Nathan, or Dr. K if you want to call him that, get’s his own section. As the season progresses we are able to learn more about the doctor that was almost like a parent figure to Jack in his first days as a father. When he and Rebecca find out they lost the third baby, Dr. K was there for guidance. He gave some of the best scenes and made us cry in almost all of them. He is a minor character but we were still able to explore his storyline.
• Dr. K lost his wife a year prior to the Big 3’s birth and still had her clothes hanging in her closet when we were first introduced. In probably one of the hardest scenes (and that’s saying a lot) Dr. K goes to visit his wife’s gravesite and says he doesn’t know how to live without her. He thinks he should just be with her when he get’s the page that The Big 3 is coming. In a way, the Pearson’s saved him.

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There are Emmy winners

• Sterling K. Brown: This Is Us was nominated for 10 Emmy’s and won two. Sterling K. Brown Won the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series and it was the first time a black actor has won since 1998, so naturally, we were screaming with joy.
• Gerald McRaney, aka Dr. Nathan Katowski: Won an Emmy the night before in the Creative Arts Emmy’s for his guest-starring role.

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Some new faces will be joining season 2

• Teenage Kate (Hannah Zeile): Playing Kate Pearson as a teenager. Kate’s storyline will progress in her teenage years and her struggles with her weight, all whilst trying to fit in as a teenager.
• Teenage Randall (Niles Fitch): Playing Randall Pearson as a teenager. We will discover how his adoption affected him as a teenager.
• Teenage Kevin (Logan Shroyer): Playing Kevin as a teenager. Little has been revealed about The Big Three as teens but we are interested to see how Kevin deviated from a job to instead pursue acting.

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Season 2 Preview:

This Is Us Season 2 is expected to be even better than the first season. In the trailer we have for you below, we get a closer look into Jack and Rebecca’s decision to adopt Randall. NBC has graced us with yet another tearjerker with taking us back into the past in the hospital room. Randall and his wife  Beth are considering adopting a child and Randall goes to present-day Rebecca for advice.

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If you want tears, be sure to stay tuned to This Is Us Season 2

Overall, the cast and crew of This Is Us killed it last season and we cannot wait to learn more about the lives of the Pearson’s. Season 2 will pick up in the past the day after Season 1 ended: The morning after Jack and Rebecca’s huge fight. Season 2 in the present starts at The Big Three’s 37th birthdays. We will get to learn how Jack and Rebecca’s separation affected their now older children as the season progresses.  Also to brighten your day, or of course make you cry, we will, in fact, find out how Jack died this season.

Final conclusion, because This Is Us returns to NBC on Tuesday, September 26th, 2017 at 9/8c, you’ll definitely need to take a minute from your day to watch the trailer:

This Is Us Season 2 First Look

THIS IS US returns to NBC on Tuesday, September 26th, 2017 at 9/8c