Tonight on NBC their new honest & provocative dramedy series This Is Us airs with an all-new Tuesday, November 29, 2016, episode and we have your This Is Us Recap below. On tonight’s This Is Us season 1 episode 9, as per the NBC synopsis, “Kate, (Chrissy Metz) Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) visit their family’s cabin after a chaotic Thanksgiving dinner; and a wedge is driven between Kate and Kevin after Olivia makes a harsh comment. In the past, a 9-year-old Randall (Sterling K. Brown) reveals he’s been searching for his birth parents.”
So make sure to bookmark this spot and come back between 9PM – 10PM ET! for our This Is Us recap. While you wait for the recap make sure to check out all our This is Us recaps, spoilers, news & more, right here!
Tonight’s This is Us recap begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
This is Us starts tonight with Randall (Sterling K. Brown) writing in the bedroom, he can hear everyone whispering and tells them he is upset, not deaf! His wife, Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) comes in the room and asks Randall if he is ready to talk after hours of pacing. He tells William (Ron Cephas Jones) that he can come in too, and he demands to know when he met his mother, Rebecca (Mandy Moore)?
William tells him they met when she took him home from the hospital. He tells him he wanted to know he was going to a good home. Randall asks if his father Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) knew about him too; William says he never got that impression. Randall goes back to writing, when Beth asks him what he is writing, he says a list of reasons he is mad at his mother; but William wasn’t off the hook either, since he lied too.
He then turns to Beth and said she is third on his “mad” list, but he doesn’t blame them; it was his mother who betrayed him. He goes back to his list and says when he is finished the list he is going to read it to his mother and make sure she hears every damn word.
Back when the kids were small, Rebecca and Jack had taken them shopping. Randall was in one of the aisles with a black couple trying to see if they had anything in common with him, while the other two were running around the store. When Rebecca and Jack find him, they discourage him from doing things like that to strangers. He tells them he had learned about heritage traits, and rolling the tongue was one of them, and if he can find people who can do it, they could be his birth parents.
That night, Jack tells Rebecca he doesn’t understand it, because he knows as much as they do, and that he doesn’t want Randall sticking his tongue out to strangers until he is 80. Jack says it kills him that Randall will always have this hole where his parents should be, Rebecca cuts him off and says they are his parents. Jack tells her, she knows what he means. Jack tells Rebecca to look at him, and that it kills him too to talk about it.
Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Kevin (Justin Hartley) talk about what their mother hid from Randall, and how insane it was. Kevin says its not any more insane than suddenly wanting her stomach cut open. She says she wants to live in the now, and not wait any more.
Kevin asks if this has anything to do with her breakup with Toby, she says no and its no big deal. Kevin admits he is overwhelmed, about her, Randall, that their mom is selling the cabin and that he just had the single best kiss of his life…. Kate cuts him off. She is upset that their mom is selling the cabin. Kate says to Kevin they should cease the day and go to the cabin. The triplets head up there.
They arrive at the cabin and Kate says she cannot believe their mom is selling the cabin, Randall is bitter and says he has a lot of cannots about their mother. Kevin is in the backseat being self-absorbed like usual. Kevin tells Randall that he needs to make up with their mom before Christmas so another holiday isn’t ruined. Randall gets out of the car and says no. Kevin says that Olivia (Janet Montgomery) is funnier than she seems with the language barrier, Kate reminds him she is British and speaks English just like him.
Randall is busy packing up things that were his, so he can get out of there and give his mom the keys back. Kevin is busy trying to figure out a painting that he couldn’t figure out even as a child. Kate is going through things at the cabin too, but Randall is upset saying that the picture was always a bear, but who knows if that were true because their dad was the one who said it and it could be a lie like the rest of his childhood.
Kate gets mad at Randall telling him that just because their mom lied doesn’t make his whole childhood a lie, that Kevin and her are very real. Kate shares a photo album with him, and there is a picture of the three of them as kids and they are all smiling, but the next page he points at a picture of their mom, saying that is his mom, lying to him about not being able to find his birth father. Kate asks him that this may be their last day there and could they at least enjoy it together?
A car pulls up, and Kevin races out the door to see who it is. Olivia arrives with others they are working with. Kate is in the kitchen upset that this was supposed to be their day. Kate says she just wants to punch him right now.
We go back to when the triplets are young, and Jack and Rebecca are meeting with someone who tells them that maybe Randall needs some black male role models in his life. Jack is a bit upset that it only seems like he is only telling stories about black men who are his father, but never says things about his mother.
Back at the cabin, the adults are sitting around talking about childhood games, when Randall tells everyone to be quiet, he insists he is hearing a clicking and leaves the cabin. The others continue to play the game. The question was who was the best kiss you have ever had, and the playwriter says “Liv”. Kate and Kevin are both confused by her response when she says she leaves an impression on the people she dates.
The ex comes into the living room asking who drank half his smoothie because it had lots of ‘shrooms in it. The next second you see Randall outside, looking up at his father, Jack drilling the gutter on the front of the cabin. Everyone comes outside to see if Randall is okay. He refuses to come back inside, and calls Kevin “dad”. Kevin takes a picture of Randall and says he will check on him in a little bit.
Randall tells his father that Rebecca knew the whole time who his biological father was and kept it from him. Jack tells him that kind of secret would destroy her and it wasn’t true. Randall tells him he tracked him down. Randall tells Jack about William and how mom admitted to doing it. Randall looks away and when he turns back, Jack is gone.
In a flashback, Jack takes Randall to meet Ray, to sign him up for martial arts class. Jack encourages Randall takes to Ray right away who teaches him about the Black Dragon. Jack talks to Rebecca that night about a friend who thinks his wife is cheating on him, and hired a P.I. to follow her around. Jack says he wants to do the same thing for Randall so he can find the people who gave him up, and Randall will be able to get a better sense of who he is.
Rebecca fights Jack on it on every level. Jack just feels it would be good for Randall in the long run to know where he came from. Rebecca goes the next day to William’s apartment, who never expected to see her again. He asks if she wants to come in, and she does.
Back at the cabin, Olivia meets Kate and has no problem giving Kate a piece of her mind. Kate tells her that Kevin is complicated, Olivia says that actually he isn’t, that is the role the family has placed on him, and it is Kate who is holding him back. Kate says that her brother is earnest and sweet and Olivia will not take that away from him.
Olivia tells Kate that she understands she is jealous, Kate laughs. Kate says Olivia is the last person she would be jealous of, Olivia cuts her off and says she is jealous of Kevin, and how he is changing. Olivia says that Kate is afraid to lose all the weight and nothing will have changed for her, that all the dreams she had told herself will only end up being lies in the end.
Kevin is checking on Randall when Kate comes in and tells him about his guru who is a hardcore bitch. Kate tells him everything Olivia said to her; Kevin says she has a point. Kate tells him he is being a jackass, when he tells her that she is afraid of the surgery, and her breakup with Toby.
Randall finds his father again, who tells him they gave him everything…. a loving family, private school and black influences to help him understand his background; they gave him everything they could. Randall asks if he is just supposed to be thankful, to shut up and be grateful he had these great parents who wanted him when his birth parents didn’t. Randall continues to tell Jack that the truth was, he never wanted him either; that he was just a replacement for their dead baby.
Jack tells him he has got it all wrong. Randall confesses that the reason he always strived for perfection is because if he let up even a little bit, that he would be reminded how unwanted he was and what would happen to him. Jack tells him to stop, that the moment he saw him, he knew that Randall was his boy. He tells him that he wasn’t a choice, he was a fact! Jack tells Randall that he was never a replacement son.
Randall says had he known his whole life that his biological father regretted giving him up, that would have changed everything. Jack tells him that he is sorry his mother lied to him, but they cannot change that, so what can they do now? Randall admits that he wants his mother to hurt as much as he does.
In the flashback, Rebecca is at William’s where he tells her that he works at a music shop where he fixes the instruments. He says he has been clean for over 5 years. William asks about “Kyle”, and Rebecca tells him that they renamed him Randall, after the poet Dudley Randall.
William is touched, and asked how Randall is. She says he is very smart, and he is good. She admits that he is a very sweet boy. William spent the past 9 years wondering if he did the right thing. He admits that it seems like it was right though, for him. Rebecca says he has been asking about William and he really wants to meet his father. William gets excited about the prospect, but Rebecca is against it, and leaves while William is looking for something for Randall.
Jack asks Rebecca why she is so against trying to find Randall’s biological parents. She says what if they are really great people? What if they regret abandoning him, and want to take him back? Jack reassures her that Randall is legally their son, and no one is going to take him away. Rebecca says she cannot lose her son.
Kevin is talking to one of the playwriters. She admits that she hates Olivia because she is selfish. She has rented a car to see the birth of her niece when Olivia found out she had a car, and wanted to come to there to have the “cabin experience” instead. Kevin congratulates her on the birth of her niece and he leaves the room.
Kate calls Toby (Chris Sullivan) and needs to vent about her siblings and Olivia. Toby tells her he is sorry she is having a hard day, but they are still broken up and hangs up on her. Inside the cabin, Olivia and Asher are cuddling and sharing food like a couple should, while Kevin sits there. They are making fun of the video of Kate as a child.
Kevin turns off the video and tells them to stop making fun of Kate, and the cabin. Yes the cabin is quaint and it is American, but so are they! He points to Kate and says, “You’re obviously not. But what is wrong with being normal?” He confronts Olivia on always being real. He then brings up the kiss they shared yesterday.
He tells Olivia that she is just scared because she knows the feelings are real and she is just trying to sabotage it. He continues to tell her that he bets she hasn’t experienced anything real in her entire life. He tells her that a “calculated act is too much for her empty human shell to handle!” He ends his rant with pity for her. Olivia tells Asher that is their cue to leave, and they take the playwriter’s car, leaving her stranded at the cabin.
Kevin finds Kate sitting out in the woods and asks her how mad she is at him. Kevin sits down and apologizes to her, telling her she was obviously right about Olivia; Kate responds by saying Olivia was right about her too. Kate frets about having the surgery and nothing changes; Kevin tells her that is what he has been saying the whole time. Its dangerous and risky.
Kate admits she is scared and she cannot do this without her brothers. Kevin promises she won’t have to, but he begs her to stay with him. They then look at the tree where they all engraved their names into it with their dad’s pocketknife.
Randall is still high on the ‘shrooms, and he pulls out his page of reasons he is mad at her, and reads them out to her. Jack asks if he feels better yelling at her. Randall says no, because Rebecca couldn’t care less. Jack tells him that isn’t true and as a parent he knows things are never that simple. Jack says maybe he is looking at it all the wrong way, he tells him to relax his eyes and look through it, and its right there in front of you.
Randall sees his mother freaking out, locking the front door with all three locks, she is securing all the windows. Jack is telling him that they had three very different children, and a marriage that wasn’t always perfect, but Rebecca had her own problems too. Jack tells him that Rebecca kept everything out, that her top priority was to keep all of them safe. Randall raps on the window to tell Rebecca they are there, but she can’t hear them because this is all an illusion in Randall’s head.
Back at the cabin, a sober Randall fixes the gutter, and finds his and Kevin’s old G.I. Joe’s outside on the roof. Kate wakes up Kevin and finds Sloane in her bed too. Kate says he can’t still be mad at mom , if he is fixing things for her. He says its not for her, its for their dad.
We flashback to Randall’s martial arts class, where he is initiated. All the fathers sit behind as Randall says he has a good life, the teacher tells him that he hopes his life is always good, but the world isn’t always a kind place, especially for men like them. He tells Randall to look around at the men around him and says this is his community and they will always be there to hold him up. Jack smiles at Randall.
Ray turns to Jack and tells him as Randall’s father, he is his foundation. He tells Jack to lie down like he is going to do a pushup, and tells Randall to lie on his father’s back. He tells Jack that his back was built to carry his son through life, and asks him if he is willing to hold him up no matter what comes his way?
Jack says yes, and Ray tells him to show him. Jack starts doing to push ups with Randall lying on his back. Ray asks him if he is willing to raise this young boy into a strong man, Jack says yes. Are you willing to push him to be the best man in the world he can be? Jack says yes. Rebecca smiles at him. That night she tells Jack that they need to be enough for him.
Ray asks Jack if he is willing to raise him to greater heights, even if it hurts. Jack says yes. Ray tells him he can stop the push ups, but Jack refuses. Rebecca writes William and tells him that she is sorry the pain this may cause, but he cannot meet Randall because he has an extraordinary father who gives him everything he needs. She asks that he take comfort in knowing how loved Randall is, and she sends him a picture with it. William cries as he puts it in a book of poems he has for his son.
Back to present day, Randall comes to his mother’s house and tells her that he has a list of all the reasons she has destroyed him for lying about William. Rebecca tries to explain, but Randall cuts her off, telling her she must have been incredibly lonely to keep the secret for 36 years. Rebecca breaks down and cries. She tries to hug him and he backs away, telling her not yet, and he will see her at Christmas.
THE END!
