‘This Is Us’ Season 3, Episode 3 ‘Katie Girls’ Recap: Following That Feeling

This Is Us continues to leave us hanging on to every morsel of the Pearson’s story. With excellent writing and superb acting, it’s not exactly easy to avoid getting attached to this family drama. Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) definitely back to the spotlight. And though we still don’t get a glimpse of the whole Vietnam mystery, we still get to see the sweet love story between him and Rebecca (Mandy Moore). And it might just be the real-life equivalent of the famed love story in the movie Up.

After the events of the last episode, we’re finally feeling the build-up towards everything that’s been teased since last season. Kate (Chrissy Metz) is now going under the egg retrieval surgery with Toby (Chris Sullivan) by her side. Randall (Sterling K. Brown) is realizing the role he has to take up to really help the community. And lastly, Kevin (Justin Hartley) is now beginning to ask questions about his dad’s time in Vietnam. “Katie Girl” seems to be the episode to get the ball rolling for the third season of This Is Us. And with everything so far, we could only get ready to braise ourselves against the onslaught of emotions that’s sure to come.

The stranger at Rebecca’s doorstep

“Katie Girls” starts with Rebecca’s very own montage of childhood memories. Since she was a little girl, she’d see her mother serving her father at every opportunity. She’d practically do everything for him. So in high school, Rebecca opts to try a woodworking class instead of baking class. As she struggles to saw a wood plank, a boy named Alan (Hunter Parrish) comes up to her to teach her how to do it the proper way. He tells her that he’s never seen anyone like her and he’ll never see anyone like that again.

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It turns out that this same Alan is the man who knocks on Rebecca’s doorstep just as Jack pulls up to return the jacket. And Alan is back to try to rekindle an old relationship. After Jack sees them kiss, he drives back home. His mother serves his father a sandwich. But, the old man throws it down to the floor in disgust. This time, Jack steps up for his mother and makes the ultimate decision to get her out of that house.

Jack’s mother is hesitant at first but, Jack convinces her to stay over at her friend’s house. However, her mother insists on not showing up empty-handed. On the other hand, Rebecca meets up with Alan’s parents. Alan’s mother recalls that Alan and Rebecca ended their relationship because Rebecca refused to go with Alan when he asked her to move to London with him. And she admires that in Rebecca. Alan’s dad asks about the singing, and Rebecca mentions wanting to meet with a record label out in L.A. Alan quickly refuses, however, trying to convince Rebecca to move to New York with him instead.  

The Pearson group chat

Back in the present, Randall confronts Kate after Kevin’s movie premiere about her being the only one able to carry on a piece of Jack. However, the conversation only ends up upsetting Kate. On the other hand, a week after that premiere, Kevin picks up Zoe (Melanie Liburd) from the airport. Upon getting home, he asks if she wants to come with an interview with him in the morning. Zoe hesitates but, when Kevin mentions the interview’s with Terry Gross, she demands to come with him.

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Meanwhile, Randall calls up Councilman Brown (Rob Morgan). He asks the man to take a look at the recreation center again but, the councilman assures him he will in time before hanging up. Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson)  comes in and asks if Randall has called Kate to apologize. And he answers that he already texted her. Beth comes out with the harsh truth that Randall did overstep, and he did have a problem apologizing to his siblings. Randall immediately denies it. But, Beth backs up her statement with Miguel’s (Jon Huertas) idea that Randall might feel like he needs to be the rock for them. Randall quickly backs up and discovers that Beth, Miguel, and Toby have created a group chat where they occasionally talk about how messed up the Pearsons are.

Beth picks up the phone and dials Kate before force handing it over to Randall. He stumbles over his words and instead wishes luck to Kate. However, with Kate being aggravated by her whole family’s behavior towards the operation, she cuts the call short. Beth notes that Miguel mentioned that the siblings tend to overreact in these kinds of situations. And on cue, Randall decides to fly down to L.A. to support Kate.

Jack’s secret

At Kevin’s interview with Terry Gross, he unexpectedly faces questions about his father’s time in Vietnam. As Terry asks questions trying to relate Kevin’s excellent acting to his father’s veteran status, Kevin can’t find anything to answer. He realizes that he knows close to nothing about Jack’s service in the war. Kevin does, however, recall a time in his childhood when he and his dad were out buying toys. He begged to buy the gun and grenades but, Jack firmly refused.

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On the other hand, Beth faces a surprise on her own. Her boss calls her to his office, and she expects him to sign her proposal. Instead, she’s faced with a budget issue that lays her off her job. Meanwhile, Randall arrives at the hospital just as Kate’s operation starts. And Toby couldn’t be any gladder to see Randall there. The two embrace and Randall assures Toby that he’ll be there to help however he could. Just on cue, a nurse comes up to Toby and tells him it’s time to get his sperm sample resulting in some awkward seconds between the brothers-in-law.

In the operation room, Kate starts to imagine in her medication induced sleep. She meets 17-year-old Kate (Hannah Zeile) who tells her that she couldn’t raise a child. As the scene shifts to their old kitchen, 17-year-old Kate grabs a pack of cookies. Present Kate warns her not to eat them but, younger Kate snarkily replies that she didn’t care. She continues on the tirade saying that Kate has been afraid of taking care of a dog for a long time and now she wants a human being. A 10-year-old Kate (Mackenzie Hancsicsak) then interrupts their conversation. As they begin bickering, Jack enters the kitchen and calls for peace.

Facing your dreams

After the interview, Kevin broods over how little he knows about his dad’s time in Vietnam. He admits not asking his dad anything. Back in his memories, his dad came to him after their trip to the toy store. Jack told him about the war and how people were hurt. He made Kevin understand why he didn’t like him to be playing with guns and bombs. Jack asked if Kevin had any questions but the kid only shook his head.

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Back in the past as well, Rebecca agrees to go with Alan to New York. She then runs to the grocery store to get some celebratory champagne. Unexpectedly, she meets Jack who was helping his mother pick up a cake for her friend. Rebecca asks what he was doing there. Jack tells her that he’s bringing his mother to stay over at friends’ at Hampton street. And after a short moment, Rebecca mentions that he never showed. Jack denies it and tells her about what he saw.

Rebecca tries to explain that it was someone from the past but, Jack tells her that she doesn’t need to explain. Jack turns around to leave but, Rebecca calls back to him and tells him about her decision to move to New York. Jack encourages her to go after her dream telling her that she has a beautiful voice. He turns to go again but, Rebecca asks him if he has a dream. It stumps Jack. He says that no one ever asked him that before. When he recovers, he answers that at the moment, he only wants a decent job, a wife, a family, and a house that doesn’t feel like the one he grew up in. This time, he finally bids Rebecca goodbye.

Holding on to the good

Beth comes home dejected and pours herself some alcohol. Her memories take her back to when Randall had his most recent panic attack. She confides in William (Ron Cephas Jones) that she wasn’t sure if she could go through the ordeal again. But, William assures her that she could. He compares her to the bass in a jazz band that serves to enhance the soloist. However, he reminds her to be the soloist sometimes and to let Randall care for her. He asks her to promise him that she wouldn’t simply end up on a corner fiddling with her wedding ring thinking about her marriage.

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Meanwhile, Kevin tries to make a road map of the mementos of his father’s time in Vietnam. Zoe comes along and suggests that he try to contact one of the men his father served with. On the other hand, Toby and Randall wait in silence for Kate’s surgery to finish. The two bond over their own nervous mannerisms. And Toby notes that he couldn’t really picture Randall with anxiety. The conversation leaps as Toby admits to taking depression medication. Before Toby could say anything more about it, Dr. Jasper (Sumalee Montano) interrupts them. She reports that everything’s fine. However, Kate’s having difficulty waking up from the anesthesia.

In Kate’s mind, she and her younger selves are bonding with their dad. However, she ultimately decides to comfort them about their futures before saying goodbye to them and her dad. Kate wakes up to Toby. Then she turns in surprise to face Randall who apologizes. Dr. Jasper then enters the room and tells them that they managed to get eight egg cells from the operation much to everyone’s relief and joy. After congratulating the couple, Randall steps out of the room to give them space.

Trusting the feeling

Randall receives a call from Deja that gets him racing back home. He arrives at another hospital to find Chi Chi (Yetide Badaki) guarding her daughter Sky. According to Chi Chi, Sky got beat up by some muggers. Randall promises to do something about it. And Chi Chi warns him to not only say but, also do it. And he assures her that he will.

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Getting home, Randall rounds on the final solution to his problem. He announces to Beth that he’ll be running against councilman Brown in the next election. The news stuns Beth. But, she recovers to tell Randall that she got fired that day. Meanwhile, Kevin sends out an email to one of the men in his dad’s pictures. And it’s received with surprise by an old man with a prosthetic leg.

Back in the past, Rebecca asks for some advice from Alan’s mother. Alan would never force Rebecca to be the kind of wife that simply stays at home. But, she admits that there’s another who she feels would be good for her. Rebecca decides to follow that feeling. She drives around Hampton street until she finds Jack’s car. Jack greets her at the door and welcomes her in. Rebecca suggests saying hi to his mom and her friend, however, they went out for a walk.

Jack takes the first words to ask about Alan but, Rebecca immediately assures him that it’s fully in the past. And the two smile in silence. Jack looks to the kitchen and immediately apologizes for the leftover mess from dinner. Rebecca watches as he doesn’t hesitate to fix it up without a word as a smile grows on her face. She takes off her coat and joins him in washing the dishes. After a few moments of solemn silence, Rebecca asks if Jack wants to go on a ride. She tells him she wants to go to L.A. And Jack readily agrees.

This Is Us continues next Tuesday, October 16th, with “Vietnam” at 8/7c on NBC.