‘This Is Us’: The New Upcoming Episode Will Be Especially Challenging
This Is Us knows how to take its fans through the wringer. Season 5 has had major revelations. The series follows the Big Three, Kate (Chrissy Metz), Kevin (Justin Hartley), and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) as they navigate their lives. The show also touches on their parents Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore).
Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, filming for Season 5 of the series has been stopped and stalled, which means there are many more gaps in the season than fans are normally accustomed to.
However, as Season 5 presses forward, fans should prepare for an especially challenging new episode.
When will ‘This Is Us’ return with a new episode?
Though This Is Us has not aired a new episode in a couple of weeks, fans can rejoice that new episodes of the Pearsons’ journey are coming sooner rather than later. Season 5, Episode 12, “Both Things Can Be True,” is set to air on NBC, April 6, 2021.
The trailer appears to focus on Randall’s wife Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) and their teenage daughter, Tess (Eris Baker). In the clip, Beth walks in on Tess kissing her non-binary partner and things get pretty awkward from there.
However, their mother/daughter relationship isn’t the only challenge that the new episode will explore.
The new episode of ‘This Is Us’ will be extremely challenging
The official episode description for “Both Things Can Be True” doesn’t focus on Tess or Beth at all though they dominate the teaser trailer. Instead, it reads, “Jack and Miguel bond. Kevin and Madison navigate challenges. Randall seeks out a new kind of support network.”
Jack’s relationship with Miguel Rivas (Jon Huertas) is a major part of the series. In the present day, with Jack having died in the late ’90s, Miguel and Rebecca are married. We’ve seen glimpses of how the men met in 1972, when Miguel allowed Jack to borrow a sports coat to impress Rebecca. It will be interesting to see more about the duo’s bond especially since Ventimiglia hinted at Miguel’s death since he is not in any of the 2032 flash-forward sequences.
“Speaking as Jack, it breaks my heart that Miguel is not around because that’s his best friend,” Ventimiglia told US Weekly. “But maybe that means that Jack and Miguel are just kind of hanging out in heaven together. I don’t know!”
Kevin and Madison appeared to be doing well with their newborn twins when we saw them last, but there have always been whispers that the duo might not wind up together, especially since Madison is also not seen in the flashforward scenes. Finally, Randall’s challenges may be from the past.
‘This Is Us’ might focus on these main characters for the rest of the season
With the mystery of Miguel, Beth and Tess’ relationship, and Kevin and Madison’s impending issues, we’re assuming that This Is Us will focus on these main characters for the remainder of Season 5.
“What happened to Miguel and where he is in the future is a bit of a longer-term mystery for the show,” This Is Us writer, Isaac Aptaker told TV Line. “The Miguel [mystery] is more bigger picture.”
Executive producer Casey Johnson told Entertainment Weekly, that a Beth-centered episode is coming. “We’re going to delve into how it’s been for her during this past year. Being a small-business owner and trying to balance everything in her life.”
Furthermore, it might be that Kevin and Madison aren’t end game after all. “I think there’s many more chapters in Kevin’s romantic story,” creator Dan Fogelman said in October 2020, per The Wrap. “Kevin has a journey ahead of him and I don’t want to get too far ahead of it just yet.”
