If you’re anything like me, you were going crazy wondering what happened to Kevin Pearson after This is Us’ cliff-hanger ending to the mid-season finale. The weeks leading up to episode 11’s comeback were endless. Christmas meant nothing (okay, that might be a bit dramatic).

By now, most of us are used to the Pearsons’ bringing us tight throats and tears during pretty much every episode. “This is Us” is able to evoke these emotions due to two elements: phenomenal acting (hello Golden Globe nominations!), and incredibly relatable scenarios. Anyone who lost a parent at a young age can tell you how difficult it is to remember that parent in a less-than-perfect light, and watching the Pearson family in This Is Us exhibit these raw emotions is difficult because of how real it all is.

Therapy is hard for the Pearsons

Tuesday’s episode centered around the Pearsons sitting in on a therapy session intended to allow Kevin to make amends for the pain his addiction has caused everyone. When did this polite, perfunctory family meeting turn into a gong show? Probably around the time that Kevin said that he comes from a family of addicts. Nobody liked that.

Did anybody else find themselves wide-eyed and gape-mouthed when the therapist dared to suggest that Jack Pearson wasn’t a perfect man? The nerve! Of course, it’s true, but Rebecca’s pointed and heart wrenching statement that she didn’t want to blemish her children’s memories of their father was what we really wanted to hear. Yes, Kevin, we know that addiction is hereditary and maybe you need to talk to your therapist about how your father’s issues have affected you.

But the rest of the family doesn’t.

Spouses and partners need therapy too, right?

Meanwhile, Toby, Beth, and Miguel aired some grievances as they killed time at a pub near the swanky rehab center.

We feel for them, especially when they admit their frustration with the “Pearson no-fly zone,” but our hearts also swelled when Miguel said that negative comments about his friend Jack were his no-fly zone. That Miguel! He never gets enough credit.

It's all about forgiveness

What wasn’t real about this episode? The fact that all three siblings made up immediately afterward.

Well, it was hard to tell exactly how immediate it was, but it was definitely within the same 12 hours. The average family would take a least a few days to process information and emotions that ran wild during this bewildering counseling session, perhaps even weeks or months. I know I would need a while to think and adjust. Randall’s joke about being mom’s favorite would not have gone over well in a real-life situation. But he’s Randall. He’s Sterling K. Brown. So, we will forgive him.

And we will forgive Kevin for being rich, famous, and an addict. We have to.
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