This Is Us recap: 5 things you might have missed in season 1, episode 12

Have you forgotten the smaller moments of This Is Us? Let’s rewind to Season 1, Episode 12 and recap five things you might have missed.

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Over the course of its first season, This Is Us continued to find new and inventive ways to make us cry beyond gasp-worthy reveals and heartwarming family moments. Just a handful of episodes prior to the season finale, “The Big Day” swooped in with the flashback we never knew we needed, and the one that thwacked us over the head with feels upon feels.

This Is Us rewinds to the day of the Big Three’s birth, taking us further behind the scenes than the pilot’s limited time allowed. Now, we know what went down: Rebecca “stripped” for Jack’s birthday, her water broke, they lost one of the triplets and adopted Randall. But what events led up to the big birth and brought Jack and Rebecca closer as they became parents? Well, the Pearsons couldn’t have become parents without Dr. K and Joe, the firefighter who delivered baby Randall to the hospital. In “The Big Day,” we spend the entire hour in the past and get to know the humanity behind the decisions that made the Big Three who they are.

Do you remember how Rebecca made that birthday cupcake? How about Joe’s reasoning for wanting to adopt Randall? And surely you couldn’t ever forget the tears we shed for Dr. K and his late wife? Let’s rewind and revisit five things you might have missed in Season 1, Episode 12.

1. Dr. K misses his wife.

In the pilot episode during Dr. K’s monologue to Jack about life’s lemons, he alludes to losing his first-born child at birth and losing his wife one year ago. We find out that he has kept her belongings, still sets a placesetting for her at the kitchen table, and talks to her as if she had never passed way. On the “big day,” Dr. K. had been reckoning with his grief for his wife, having visited her gravesite while getting paged to deliver the Big Three.

2. Rebecca forgets Jack’s birthday.

Blame it on the pregnancy brain. In the early stages of her pregnancy, Rebecca loved being pregnant… and then the reality of carrying three babies set in. By the end of the road, Rebecca had had enough with not being able to complete a task as simple as putting on a pair of shoes. In a relatable and understandable fury, she finds Jack’s supportive presence grating. I mean, Jack, come on. You did this! No, but he’s incredibly patient, considering it’s his birthday and his wife has forgotten.

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3. Joe wants to keep Randall.

While arguably unnecessary, This Is Us provides some backstory on the firefighter who ushered baby Randall from the fire station to the hospital. At first, Joe wants to keep Randall in an attempt to save his failing marriage. But the hasty adoption idea doesn’t work, though it does jump start a new beginning for him and his wife. If nothing else, getting to know Joe showed us that Randall would have been loved no matter what, and that he was always meant to be part of the Pearson family.

4. Dr. K moves on.

“The Big Day” was a showcase episode for a beloved side character, and it surely earned Gerald McRaney his Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Apart from Dr. K’s yearlong heartache over his wife (which isn’t as outlandish as his son makes it out to be), we witness his resistance to moving on. He meets a woman at the grocery store, and they hit it off. But he closes himself off. By the end of the episode, he warms up to the idea of welcoming love into his life once more.

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5. Rebecca “makes” a banana muffin.

Before long, Rebecca finally sobers to the error in her pregnancy tirade. Upon realizing she kicked Jack out of the house on his birthday, she quickly tries to scrape up ingredients to make a cake — no dice. She decides to hoof it to the convenience store (even though the expectant mother of multiples would probably be on bed rest by now, but let’s not split hairs), and finds a pre-made banana muffin, Twinkies (for the frosting), and a Terrible Towel. When the pregnancy stress subsides, Rebecca speaks to her unborn children in a monologue that should have earned Mandy Moore an Emmy nomination.

What were your favorite moments from “The Big Day”? Let us know in the comments, and keep the conversation going on Twitter!

This Is Us returns for Season 2 on Tuesday, September 26 at 9/8c on NBC. Season 1 is currently available to stream online.

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This Is Us rewind recap: 5 things you might have missed in season 1, episode 12

By Reed Gaudens | Aug 24, 2017