On the latest episode of "This Is Us," Kevin is in the spotlight in the episode titled, "Number One." He relives his glory days as an all-star high school athlete when a knee injury dashes his dreams of pro football. Alone, addicted and lost he is about to hit bottom. Kate suffers a significant loss.
First steps
This week "This is Us" focuses on Kevin Pearson's life. The opening is a heartwarming moment with the Pearson children at home. Kevin (Justin Hartley) taking the first steps of the three. Rebecca and Jack are filming it. His dad calls him, "number one."
Adult Kevin Pearson is the man who seemingly has it all, and he even knows it, but it’s not saving him as he spirals downward.
He is still struggling with his addiction as we catch up to the current time. He is isolating himself in a beautiful LA hotel room with a view. The suite is a mess, and so is Kevin. Continuing to self-medicate with pain pills and alcohol, he is about to hit rock bottom any moment. Kevin gets a call to remind him that his former high school in Pittsburg is honoring home during homecoming week and many people are looking forward to meeting him. He has lost track of reality, and the date, thinking this will be two weeks from now. No Kevin. It’s tomorrow.
Once he lands in Pennsylvania, he has the driver take him to his old home that burned down as a detour. Uber then takes Kevin to the school grounds for the event.
He immediately sees a mirage that he thinks is young Sophie, whose heart he just broke last week. Alas, it’s not her, it’s a current teen girl who is attending McKinley High School. Inside the halls, he looks into the trophy case and sees his football photos and awards in there. Toby is calling but he doesn’t answer.
The golden boy
We learned Kevin’s knee injury changed his life path in high school, but in this episode we see it happen on the ball field. All his dreams died in an instant. It humbled Kevin and Papa Jack was there to get him through. In a touching "This is Us'" father-son moment in the hospital post-surgery, Jack gave Kevin a necklace he was wearing the day Kevin was born.
He told Kevin he doesn’t have just one purpose. Football isn’t his only chance to greatness and to find his other talents. Kevin has worn the pendant in memory of his father all his life.
Kevin flashes back when he leaves the party to walk on the fateful football field by himself. He relived his life from all-star football player to the actual game in which he sustained the injury, walking again just in time to bury his dad, his marriage and divorce from Sophie (and botching up the second chance he had with her). It goes on to show the sitcom that made him millions, the big movie with Sylvester Stallone which is where he reinjured the same knee, and that is how he ended up here. Hooked on Vicodin post- surgery.
Disgusted, disgraced, desperate Kevin Pearson finds himself all alone sitting on the football field where his dreams originally shattered. Another act of desperation occurs because he can’t pull himself out of this just yet. He goes back to the party he left with one single mission.
Hitting bottom
We find Kevin (Justin Hartley) now in bed post-coitus with former classmate Charlotte who had a high school crush on him and has been flirting with Kevin all day. She was being honored at homecoming too. She is now a physician who works with children who have suffered disfiguring burns. He lays there holding her in a sweat with his mind racing. He is out of painkillers. He rifles through her bathroom medicine cabinet to no avail.
After asking her to make a snack for them he finds her prescription pad and steals a sheet and writes himself a prescription for more Vicodin. He leaves without saying a word. There is a problem. While he is in the pharmacy to get the prescription filled he realizes the pendant isn’t around his neck and that it fell off at Charlotte’s. He dashed out back to her house with no pills in hand. She is infuriated and will not allow him in nor does she produce the pendant. Kevin is completely devastated and falls to his knees crying out that he is hurting.
He turns up at Randall’s door. Once inside he says, “I need to tell you something,” ready to confess his addiction. Randall stops him, “I already know.
Kate lost the baby.” The twins both suffered a devastatingly emotional rock bottom day. Would things have turned out differently if Kevin took that call from Toby yesterday? Brace for next weeks' 'This is Us'. It’s going to be intense.