"Confident quarterback sees his dreams dashed by an injury" is high school drama cliché 101. Yet in practice, This Is Us manages to imbue that familiar story with beautifully observed details that make it come alive.
[It] uproots all the demons Kevin's worked tirelessly to keep at bay since childhood-and forces us to take another look at a character who never wants to expose who he truly is, because this is what we would see. It's not pretty, but it is necessary.
Was this our "very special episode" of This Is Us? I'm going to warn you right off the top: Your humble recapper came away from this episode with a slightly different take on things than it seems most of y'all did.
It's really hard to watch the 30-year-old Kevin grapple with all of this, but this heartbreaking episode really does give the background on Kevin that we've been needing this whole season.
This Is Us delved into Kevin's unrelenting battle with addiction and the first major obstacle he ever faced ... but the hour wasn't without its shocking revelations about another member of The Big Three.