5 times we cried during This Is Us season 2, episode 17

In the latest episode of This Is Us, Deja’s emotional journey was front and center. Here are the five moments that brought the tears.

Over the past few weeks, This Is Us has granted us a welcome reprieve from the constant cavalcade of tears. From the brief hiatus to the (mostly) fun episode in Las Vegas, there hasn’t been much to cry about with the Pearsons these days. But all good things must come to an end, even our grace period for grief.

Just when our tissues were looking a little lonely, here comes an episode of This Is Us that might be one of the most subtly emotional and heartbreaking thus far. “This Big, Amazing, Beautiful Life” centers on Deja’s emotional journey through childhood and foster homes and includes an ending revelation that’ll thwack your heart upside down. These are the five times we cried during the penultimate episode of This Is Us Season 2!

1. The Pearsons make an appearance.

This Is Us does something it hasn’t attempted in its short history: A clip show. But it’s not a clip show like you might have been used to in ’90s sitcoms. Rather, the series uses pieces of the Pearson past to make parallels to Deja’s experiences. There’s births, deaths, mother-daughter reconciliations, and family heirlooms. All of the moments that made us cry in the previous episodes relate to Deja’s story as a pointed reminder that our lives may be different, but we trudge through similar struggles.

2. Yes, that was young Jack.

One of the most heart-clutching moments of the Pearson flashbacks (other than the one of Rebecca at Jack’s tree, of course) featured a glimpse of young Jack reading Goodnight Moon to his little brother Nicky. Apart from being another reminder that this story is coming very soon, it showed viewers the earliest memory of Jack’s sweetness. Whose eyes are sweating?

3. Deja injures her hand.

While left alone at home and preparing dinner for her mother’s birthday, Deja cuts her hand on a manual can opener. We’re talking a deep cut with excessive bleeding. You probably looked away from the screen if you’re squeamish. But the heart of this matter is Deja’s unfortunate need to step up and be the adult in the her home. She couldn’t always rely on her mother to provide for her. That’s why she takes herself to the emergency room and meets a social worker.

4. And leaves a toxic foster home.

After Deja’s accident, she’s placed in the home of Mr. Miller. Although she meets Raven, the definite yin to her yang in various ways, Deja finds herself in an abusive home. Raven convinces Deja to shoplift makeup from a drug store, and when Mr. Miller discovers their harmless crime, he hits them. It sends Raven to yet another home and separates the pair, but Deja tells her social worker of the toxicity in the foster home.

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Next: 5 times we cried during This Is Us season 2, episode 16

5. “I’m really tired.”

Beth and Randall find Deja and Shauna sleeping in their car and bring them home. Fans at first speculated the the Pearsons would give them an apartment in their new building, but This Is Us always zigs when we think it’ll zag. Deja reflects on her life with Randall, giving one of the series’ most beautiful speeches, and confesses that she’s tired. She’s tired of taking care of herself, of constantly looking over her shoulder. Shauna resolves to make Deja’s life happier and leaves her daughter with Beth and Randall. There’s not a dry eye in sight.

Which moments from the latest episode of This Is Us struck your heartstrings? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to keep the conversation going over on Twitter at @thisisuscrying!

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.