All eyes were on Kevin as he raced home for the arrival of his twins on This Is Us.
This Is Us Season 5 Episode 7 Recap: “There”
Kevin Hits The Road
If you thought Kevin’s twins were going to arrive on their due date, then you must be new to This Is Us. Right before his A Few Good Men moment with Robert De Niro*, Kevin receives a call from Madison, who tells him she’s having contractions. Stealing a page from Jack Pearson’s playbook, Kevin leaves the film, jumps in his car, and heads back to LA. Fans everywhere were happy when Kevin stood up to the director and quit the film.
Side note: Do you think they had to ask De Niro if they could use his name in the show? I think they did. More importantly, does De Niro watch This Is Us? Up until 2020, I’m guessing he never watched. However, I bet he watched a few episodes during quarantine and liked what he saw.
I’m a sucker for a long car ride as a framing device for Kevin’s internal crisis. In the span of an hour, Kevin quits the movie, talks to Randall, secures a flight home thanks to Miguel and Rebecca, and promises Madison he will make it in time for the delivery. Oh, that’s right. He also saved a man in a car accident!
Side note: I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I predicted Kevin wasn’t in a car crash. Instead, he would be the one to help out at the scene.
While conversing with the victim (Joshua Malina from The American President and The West Wing), Kevin conveys how he wants to be like his father, who was always there for every major event. Malina’s character assures Kevin that his kids won’t remember anything about their birth. Still, Kevin doesn’t want to be an absentee father, and missing the birth of his twins would most likely send him on a downward spiral.
This conversation ties in with the two other timelines on last night’s episode. A young Jack must drive his drunk father home after a little league game. Jack’s father, Stanley, berates Jack for losing the game. Fast forward to adult Jack, who travels with 13-year-old Kevin to football camp. Kevin starts to feel the pressure especially after overhearing Jack call him “soft.” After discovering that the coach insults Kevin at practice, Jack takes Kevin to dinner to talk. Then, serendipitously (I pray I’m using that word correctly), Jack runs into Kevin’s coach in the bathroom of the restaurant and orders him to refrain from calling Kevin stupid.
To put a bow around the paragraph above, the idea of becoming a better father than your own father is on full display. However, you’ll always have a piece of your father no matter how hard you try to embrace or avoid it. Jack wanted nothing to do with his father and swore he would never act that way around his kids. When Jack realizes he’s pressuring Kevin as much as his own father, he stops that behavior immediately. Jack emphasizes that Kevin will be a better father than himself one day. Now, Kevin is trying to be like Jack by being “there” for all the big moments. As much as Kevin wants to be like Jack, he will soon realize he needs to carve out his path to become his own man.
At the end of the episode, Kevin makes it to the airport in time for his flight. When he attempts to get passed TSA, it’s to no avail since he dropped his wallet with his ID at the crash site. It’s unknown whether Kevin makes the flight or not.
Randall To The Rescue
I predicted that Kevin would help at the crash site, but I was surprised when Randall called Madison at the end of the episode. Ever since the fight between Randall and Kevin, I said that the birth of Kevin’s twins would bury the hatchet between the brothers. It appears my prediction might come true after all as the promo for the next episode teases Randall and Beth coaching Madison through labor over the phone.
Next week, babies might arrive for both Kevin and Kate!
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