I really thought Kevin might pull out of his tailspin by the end of the three-episode arc, and now I'm going to spend the entire hiatus worrying that his day of reckoning might still be several painful incidents away.
Just when you think this episode has emotionally exhausted you (yes, it's just that good), in comes Kevin, whose story remains very unresolved and very problematic.
Quite a bit of "Number Three" seems stuck between providing an in-depth character portrait, in the vein of the past two episodes, and serving as an appropriate midseason finale.
But instead This Is Us does the unexpected: It tells a story about foster care that's sympathetic to every single person involved and ends with a realistic, hopeful outcome.
Feels less like a pause to focus on a character in an ensemble, and more like a glimpse into a world where This Is Us is a show about a man named Randall Pearson, who we get to see at all stages of his life and sometimes his extended family visits.
Deja shared a sad goodbye with Tess, Annie, Beth and Randall and clarified that just because she wanted to go home didn't mean she didn't like living with the Pearsons.
