This Is Us season 3, episode 3 recap: ‘Katie Girls’

This week’s episode of This Is Us brings us a double-dose of Jack, something no one can complain about!

At the heart of This Is Us, it’s a show about a family who is still trying to find their ways in life after the death of their father and husband. Episode 3 was all about the Big Three filling voids that have been missing in their lives, or what they thought was missing.

If you’re keeping score, I didn’t cry until about the last ten minutes of the episode. But still, that’s three-for-three – a perfect score!

Kate gets some special visitors

IVF treatments are difficult for anyone to go through, but especially for Kate. At her size, the treatments and the egg retrieval surgery is more dangerous. But we’ve already established that she doesn’t care and wants to be a mother – it’s worth the risk.

She’s terrified, and her brothers aren’t making things easier on her. Kevin sends her flowers you only send someone when you’re afraid you might never see them again. And Randall adds more stress by confronting her about what she said before the premiere (she’s the only one who will pass on dad). He then snaps at her about not considering adoption. Rightfully so, Kate storms off, “How dare you throw adoption in my face right now, and how dare you make me defend wanting this.”

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Of course, he’s going through his own issues, which we’ll cover later.

Kate and Toby have an adorable moment in the hospital right before she is taken back to surgery. She tells him he’s allowed to marry again if she doesn’t make it. But he can’t marry the girl from accounting or Madison.

While under anesthesia, Kate “wakes up” to Teenage Kate in their old home. “There is no way in hell you should have a baby,” she says.

Of course, Teenage Kate is doubting Adult Kate, because that is the era all that self-doubt started holding her life hostage. Suddenly, Kid Kate appears. And then, Jack appears and says hello to his Katie Girl.

It was a cool way to get all three Kates some screen time together. But it was also nice to get some bonus Jack footage that isn’t a flashback.

While the four of them eat banana pudding ice cream (yuck!) in dreamland, Kate isn’t waking up from her anesthesia as quickly as the doctors would like. Teenage Kate begs Kate to stay in dreamland because “he’s here.”

Even though she’s tempted to stay, she wakes up to find out her doctor successfully retrieved eight eggs!

Randall can’t apologize

Feeling guilty about what he said to Kate before her surgery, Randall tried to reach out to Kate, but she ignored him. Beth tried to make him aware that he has trouble apologizing to his siblings when he’s wrong.

So, what does she do? Flies out to LA to be there for Kate’s surgery.

He arrives about ten minutes after they take her back, but Toby looks happy that he now has the company.

When Kate wakes up and sees Randall, she is stunned. He apologizes for what he said, and Kate reassures him that he has Jack in him. After all, flying across the country just to apologize is the most dad thing he could do.

Randall gets a call from ChiChi and finds out her daughter; Sky was beaten near the rec center, putting her in the hospital. Randall flies to Philly and promises ChiChi he’ll do something about it since Councilman Brown still hasn’t done anything about the problems.

When Randall gets home, he tells Beth he’s going to run against Brown. But Beth delivers some shocking news. While Randall was out-of-town, she was fired from her job.

Kevin’s a movie star

Riding high off the premiere of Hill 400, Kevin picks Zoe up from the airport and invites her to one of his interviews – with NPR radio host Terry Gross. Zoe accepts saying she’s a goddess. She may or may not be a fan.

During the interview, Terry asks Kevin if he drew from his father’s experiences in Vietnam for his movie portrayal. Unfortunately, Kevin knows nothing about his father’s Vietnam experience. Terry reminds Kevin (and her audience) that many vets come home from war and don’t like to talk about their experience. But we already know this about Jack because he said it in the first episode.

After the interview, Kevin begins mapping out his father’s war experience with pictures and letters his mother gave him last season. We also see him reach out to Jack’s comrades.

Next week, we’re actually going to see Jack’s Vietnam experience. “Fun” fact, I cried during the preview for Episode 4.

Jack and Rebecca take a road trip

We see more of Rebecca and Jack’s origin story, including finding out who the mystery mustached man who shows up to Rebecca’s door in Episode 1.
It’s Alan, he ex-boyfriend of three years she met in shop class in high school.

We come to learn that Rebecca doesn’t want to be just a housewife like her mother. She wants to live out her own dreams and have a partner, 50/50.

Alan has come to win her back (great timing, dude). Rebecca wants to move to LA since a record label had interest in her, but Alan wants her to move to New York and find a label there so he can write.

She almost goes through with it, until she runs into Jack and his mom at the grocery store. Jack finally convinced his mom to leave his abusive father and was taking her to a friend’s house. But she wouldn’t go without bringing a coffee cake. They seem to part ways.

But after a conversation with Alan’s awesome mom (special guest Jane Kaczmarek), she ditches Alan and goes to find Jack.

After watching him clean up dinner plates, Rebecca knows she made the right decision. She asks him to go to LA with him.

What did you think about This is Us this week? Let us know in the comments.

Read last week’s recap to catch up.