Things are quickly spiraling out of control with Randall (Sterling K. Brown) learning about Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and William's (Ron Cephas Jones) secret that they kept from him all his life. In tonight's episode, "This Is Us" takes viewers to a trip down memory lane that will reveal that the Pearson matriarch's betrayal is far worse than originally perceived.
As it turns out, Rebecca and William had a second meeting after the former originally sought out the latter when she was struggling to accept Randall as the family's adopted kid after losing her third biological child. The installment titled "The Trip" will reveal when Rebecca actually sent the letter that Randall found lying in his real father's apartment with a photo of him as a kid.
During the episode, some answers will also be revealed including why Rebecca continued to hide the fact from young Randall (Lonnie Chavis) despite the kid asking her about his real parents. Unfortunately, despite her good intentions — as assumed, it will just not be enough of an excuse for her betrayal. "This Is Us" creator Dan Fogelman advised fans to not get their hopes up just yet that the mother and son will soon be patching things up as he shared that Randall's emotions will become more intense.
"The anger level will really be ratcheted up. Sterling played it so beautifully — more than anger he's stunned, and you feel his entire world spinning on its axis," the TV producer told Entertainment Weekly. "I think anger comes with processing. Right now is disbelief and emotion in all the visceral, weird, ugly ways. There's this moment at his hottest at the end of this scene, he's almost laughing through it with a smile, because you don't just play anger or sadness or disbelief — it's all these things coming out. By the time we get to next week, whatever the scale of anger is, he's ratcheted it up high. But it takes this moment of this episode to get him to even process."
In the middle of Randall's debacle, he finds solace in his father, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), who is going to appear in tonight's installment as some kind of figment of Randall's imagination; if not, a flashback as what has been featured in the show. Fans know that the fan-favorite character has already passed on with the "when" and "how" still yet to be discussed. But that does not mean that the show is fully devoid of him. The promo clip for the episode also sees a younger Jack seemingly pitching to Rebecca about trying to find Randall's biological parents which obviously did not work out as the latter was obviously strongly against it.
While Randall and Rebecca's relationship continues to deteriorate, Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Kevin (Justin Hartley) offer solace to their brother. The Big Three will go on a road trip to an old cabin, presumably a house that they used to go to before as a family.
"This Is Us" airs every Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET on NBC
