This Is Us Recap: “Number Two”

After Kevin had such a powerful stand-alone episode last week on This Is Us, “Number Two,” had high expectations to meet.

This episode of This Is Us is focused entirely on Kate, who suffers a miscarriage in the beginning of the episode. While last week’s cliffhanger spoiled the premise for the hour, it still ends up being a much more hopeful ending than anyone could have predicted.

Poor Kate and Toby spend the start of “Number Two,” happily basking in the glow of their pregnancy. She’s drinking disgusting green smoothies and making cute lists of questions for their doctor while he is ordering baby stuff online. Their bliss is interrupted when Kate has a miscarriage in their bathroom when checking to make sure the baby tub they ordered will fit and the couple is sent spiraling down a hole of grief.

Yet, she isn’t willing to let this disrupt her life and the next day she’s ready to return back to work. Toby is a bit shocked because he expected they were going to sit on the couch all day while watching old sitcoms in an attempt to cheer her up.

However, when she’s singing at a wedding, the sight of a young girl dancing is too much for Kate to bear so she ends up leaving. With Kevin not answering and her mom calling her constantly, she ends up going to an all-you-can-eat buffet before returning home.

Toby, on the other hand, spends his day trying to track down the tub they ordered to prevent it from ever getting delivered to the house before going to pick up Kate from her gig. When he doesn’t find her at the event, he fears the worst which leads to the couple getting into a heated confrontation over the miscarriage. In one of the best scenes of “Number Two,” Kate lashes out claiming the miscarriage only happened to her while Toby angrily says that it might not have been his body but the loss effects both of them.

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The only thing that truly helps Kate to grieve is the arrival of her mother. “Number Two,” finally has the two Pearson women extend an olive branch to each other and seek comfort in one another. It’s nice to see this relationship finally begin to mend after years of strain and both talk about their miscarriages. In the past, their crumbling relationship is continued to be explored, with Kate’s refusal to talk to her mother about everything apparent.

When Rebecca stumbles upon her application to Berklee College of Music, she gushes with pride and happily hands her daughter the fifty dollars to apply. Young Kate is miffed that her mother went through her stuff, and later at the hospital after Kevin’s accident tells her that she’s worried about disappointing her. While Rebecca is shocked her daughter would ever think something like her getting rejected could disappoint her, Kate admits that she can’t tell the difference between her mother being disappointed in her or for her.

“Number Two,” turns out to be a hopeful episode with a terrific ending. While Kevin ended last week on a very low note, this time around Kate subverts the Pearson pain magnet by beginning to move forward with Toby. The two have been through so much and it’s nice to see this side of the Pearson family beginning to get along.

Next: This Is Us Recap: “Number One”

Hopefully next week Randall isn’t put through the ringer as much as his siblings have in these past two episodes.