"This Is Us" "The Game Plan" ( Recap + Analysis) SPOILERS!!!

Welcome back! It's Super Bowl Sunday once again, at least on "This Is Us" and boy, does this one have a doozy of an ending, let's get into it!

 The episode opens on a flashback from Rebecca's childhood as Rebecca and her sister play with dolls near the TV while their dad watches a football game, and Rebecca's mother waits on him hand and foot. Even as a child, Rebecca seems to despise the "Stepford Wife" lifestyle, seeing it as indentured servitude to a man that has no qualms about treating his wife like crap.

We then cut to Jack and Rebecca, sitting in a bar as Jack watches a football game oblivious to Rebecca who's staring at him. She snaps her fingers in his face to get his attention, which wakes him out of his trance and tells him that she doesn't want to just watch him watch football, she wants him to teach her the game; so, he does, teaching her everything from what an offensive and defensive line are to what an end zone is. Cut back to the bar a year later, and Rebecca's yelling at the television during a Steeler's game. The morning of Super Bowl XIV, Rebecca's barging into her and Jack's room donning a Steelers jersey with Terry Bradshaw's number. This year, Rebecca's doing a pre-game gig at Froggy's, a local bar that she and Jack frequent. This is the first time that we've heard about Rebecca's dream of being a musician. Luckily this gig's a sweet deal since Froggy's will draw in the biggest crowd of the year, and Jack and Rebecca will get to drink for free! She tells Jack to get there early and then asks if Miguel and his wife Shelly will be coming.

"They're gonna meet us there, you know, depending on if they can get a babysitter, and one that doesn't show up completely stoned out of her gourd this time."

To that, Rebecca pours them each a glass of bourbon and then says, "Why do people have kids?" Jack seems a bit taken aback and pauses for a few seconds before replying, "No idea."

Courtesy of NBC

In the present, it's morning at the Randall Pearson household. Both Randall and Beth look preoccupied, with Beth almost running into Randall as they move around the kitchen and Randall accidentally dropping one of William's chemo pills into his shake. The stress of finding and maintaining a relationship with his dying biological father is starting to take a toll on him. Meanwhile, Kevin, William, and the girls are sitting around the kitchen counter; William's doing a crossword puzzle while Kevin reads through and writes notes on his script, and the girls wait for their breakfast. After getting introduced to William last week, Kevin's getting along quite nicely with him at one point, even complimenting his voice asking him if he's ever done voice-over work and saying that he could be "an owl in a Pixar movie." Kevin's got a rehearsal coming up and is trying to go "off-book." It's been three days since he arrived at Randall's, and Beth, again not one to beat around the bush, is wondering when he'll be leaving. Kevin, realizing he's overstayed his welcome apologizes and tells them:

"It's so lonely at that hotel. I mean, I got this big suite but I guess the bigger the hotel room, the emptier it can feel. You know? I'm sitting there. I got that 800 thread count sheets. I got the endless minibar snacks. You got the fancy oatmeal soaps, plush robes and all I can do is sit there and think about how...quiet it is."

As he listens to Kevin, you can see that the "wheels" in Randall's head are turning. Once Kevin finishes speaking, Randall pauses for a brief moment Kevin before announcing that he and Beth will take the room for the night. Beth is hesitant, asking Randall how they'll find a babysitter on such short notice too which he reminds her that they've got two family members living in their house, one of which played a "manny" on television. Kevin, of course, agrees to take up the task.

Back in Los Angeles, Kate treats Toby to breakfast in bed. Kate still seems to be trying to make amends after last week's episode. Luckily, Toby seems to have forgiven her although he seems less than thrilled to eat his breakfast; cheese squares with hemp seeds yum! Unfortunately, Kate's not eating with him as she's getting weighed-in at this week's Overeater's Anonymous Meeting. In a show of solidarity, Toby agrees to also be weighed in which means, no breakfast for him! Kate laughs, and then Toby asks her what she wants to do after the meeting; he's thinking minigolf. But Kate has other plans as it's Sunday Night Football and to Toby's surprise, Kate's insistent that she doesn't want any company.

Courtesy of NBC/GingesBeCray

At Froggy's, Rebecca's jammin' out to Little Feat's "Willin'" and the crowd's loving it except for one douchey bar patron. After her set, Jack walks up to her to praise her performance. They hug and kiss as the game begins! Miguel and Shelly arrive, apologizing for their tardiness. They explain why they were late, a story that features a vomiting baby, a violent toddler, and the cries of both and their overemotional babysitter. Needless to say, Miguel and Shelly need drinks and quickly make their way to the bar. Rebecca and Jack stay back, astonished, all Jack can say is "Wow." Rebecca has a bit more to say as she makes Jack promise they're never having kids. Jack again is shocked, but before he can respond, Rebecca walks away. This is an interesting side of Rebecca as the last few episodes we've seen her worry about whether she was being a good enough mother for "The Big Three."

Courtesy of NBC

Cut to halftime, and the Los Angeles Rams are leading the Pittsburgh Steelers 13-10. Miguel, Shelly, and Rebecca are fully sucked into the game while Jack's mind is elsewhere. Rebecca asks if he's okay, and initially, he says he's fine. However, a second later, he responds that he's not fine at all and asks her what she meant by her earlier comment. She quickly apologizes, but Jack won't let it go. Rebecca tries to brush him off, but Jack is adamant about discussing their future.

"We always say we're going to talk about it in the future, but it's the future now, Bec, and I want kids."

With that, Miguel and Shelly are off to the bar. Back in the present, Kate and Toby are at their support group meeting. As they listen, Toby passes an envelope down the line to Kate. When Kate opens it, she sees that it's an invitation for a "Steeler's Party" that Toby's having. She looks up at him and smiles.

Courtesy of NBC/GingesBeCray.com

Kate, expecting to have a quiet night with Toby, is unpleasantly surprised when she arrives to find that Toby has also invited his friend Shooter. She nevertheless sucks it up and tries to enjoy her evening; however, she becomes increasingly annoyed as Toby and Shooter talk through the game.

Kate, unable to take it any longer, says she's not feeling well and leaves. I know that last week I said Kate was bugging me and had been for a little while but this episode I felt bad for her. Yes, she needs to learn how to ring her feelings in and actually allow Toby to help her, but in this episode, she's making an effort to be more present it just doesn't make her feel any better.

Back in 1979, it's the third quarter, and Jack is visibly checked out. Rebecca, growing increasingly frustrated, decides to take the bait:

"You want to do this now? Okay. Let's do it.", she tells him.

Rebecca then proceeds to ask Jack why she's not enough for him. With shots fired, Miguel and Shelly race back to the bar, and it's on! Rebecca starts by reminding Jack that they've both joked about how terrible having children would be. Jack admits to that but tells her:

"Babe, you're right. You are right. And coming from the family that-that I did, I definitely never saw myself having kids. But then I met you. And, you know, we're [...] we're great together and I love our life. But the older we get, the more I think that...the more I think there's got to be something bigger than just me and you."

Of course, this revelation comes to Rebecca from out of left-field, and boy, she does not take it well!

"[...] Thank you very much for involving me in this huge invisible change of yours. Huge. Because you knew when you met me and married me that I did not want to be one of those women whose sole purpose in life was to be a mother."

She then sarcastically suggests that if that's the type of life he wanted, he should've married her mother. She then tells him plainly that she's not ready for kids. Before their fighting gets any worse, the douchey bar patron speaks up:

"Hey, Sid & Nancy, will you two take it outside?"

When Jack tells him to mind his business, the patron responds by telling him to "control his woman." This sets Jack off, and he and the douchey bar patron engage in fisticuffs. Miguel and another patron step in to break the pair off, and Rebecca grabs her coat and purse to leave the bar, but not before turning to Jack and suggesting that he's not mature enough to raise kids.

I have to agree with Rebecca, especially considering that, eight years later, when the going gets tough, she's the one doing the child-rearing while Jack downs a few bourbons after work.

Back in the present, Randall and Beth arrive at Kevin's luxurious hotel suite, and immediately Randall rattles off his big plans; shower sex and burgers in bed.  As he struts through the suite like a king in his castle, Beth remains silent. It's not until Randall's excitement reaches its climax; once he discovers that "Florence Foster Jenkins" is available to watch on Pay-Per-View that Beth drops a bombshell, she's missed her period and isn't feeling well. Now Randall's at a loss for words. Cut to the pair arriving at the drug store, and neither is speaking. Beth asks Randall to say something, and all he can say is...."How?" When Beth off-handedly mentions that there may have been a brief period where she went off her birth control, Randall loses it!

"Did it not occur to you that that might be something that you want to run by your husband?"

Then he let's loose a Freudian slip as he throws his hands up and says, "Well, there goes Charleston." Of course, Randall then has to explain that he'd planned for them to retire early in Charleston, South Carolina, (great quality of life, great restaurants) when the girls are in college. Unfortunately, Beth's feeling no sympathy for derailing Randall's "super top secret Charleston dream" as she tells him:

"Who has two hands and was about to go back to work full-time and maybe, maybe start to remember who she was? But now will have to split her time between a diaper station and a home office? This girl, right here."

In this episode, Randall and Beth's story closely mirrors Jack and Rebecca's. Both couples have desires that will impact their futures. Both of these couples are facing a potential crossroads, at different points in their relationships. At this point, Jack and Rebecca are young newlyweds while Randall and Beth have two children and are well-off enough to consider early retirement. Both couples are wondering what the future holds, but Randall and Beth already have the life that Jack and Rebecca want. Randall and Beth are nowhere near the end of their life but at this moment they're ready to move forward and not backward.

Back at home, things aren't going much better, as Kevin is trying to learn his lines and babysit. To make his job easier, Kevin enlists the girls and William to read through the play. However, things quickly take a turn for the worse as they run through one scene in which Kevin's character is visited by a ghost, Annie asks a question, and the following conversation takes place.

"So when you die you become a ghost?" Annie asks him.

Kevin tries to dodge the question and return the focus to the play but luckily, Tess completely derails that plan:

"Grandpa takes pills because he's sick, is Grandpa going to die?

Kevin decides honesty is the best policy and tells her that, yes, Grandpa is going to die. As if he hadn't already dug himself into a hole, he tells them that death is natural and that eventually, they're all going to die. At this point, the girls are visibly shaken, and Kevin realizing the damage he's done ushers them off to bed.

At Froggy's, Jack and Miguel sit together at the bar, and Jack leans over to him and asks when he and Shelly knew they wanted kids to which Miguel half-jokingly responds "about, uh, four months into her first pregnancy." From there, Jack tells him that Rebecca believes their life will be over if they have kids.

"She's right, pal. Yeah. She's totally right. You can kiss this life goodbye.," Miguel tells him.

Then he surprises Jack with a difficult question, "What if she doesn't want kids? Is that really like a, like a deal-breaker?" As he sits there watching the remainder of the fourth quarter, this question awakens something in Jack. As the game ends, with a Steelers victory, Jack finds Rebecca sitting outside the bar and goes to talk to her:

"If it's between you and having kids, you win. Every time. No question."

He then tells her why he wanted children in the first place:

"My father, he loved football more than anything. Most of the time, he-he pretty much didn't want anything to do with me. But...if he was watching football, he let me sit and watch the game with him. As long as I'd sit on the floor and I didn't talk too much."

He goes on to say that he hoped to one day watch football with his kids but that unlike his father, he'd "let them talk as loud as they wanted." Rebecca seems touched by this and tells Jack that she's unsure why at age twenty-nine, she's still resistant to the idea of becoming a mother.

"Maybe it's 'cause I'm still singing at Froggy's and I'm not as far along as I thought I would be. I don't know."

However, she reassures Jack that when she thinks about their future, she sees them with children. Jack assures her that he only needs her in his life, and he lets her know that no matter what, he never wants their relationship to change. Rebecca's disappointed that she's not further along in pursuing her dreams at the age of 29. The sad reality, as we learn from Beth, is that becoming a mother will further derail those plans, and within this new role, Rebecca might never be able to get back on track. However, if what we've seen so far is any indication, I don't think she'll lose herself at all, she'll just have to define herself differently and learn to be okay with that.

Speaking of Beth and Randall, back at the hotel, they're left wondering what the future holds for them as they sit on the bathroom floor both too scared to check the pregnancy test. They're both silent, but Randall breaks the tension letting Beth know that if she's pregnant, he can split his time between work and home, and they can get a nanny. Beth, meeting Randall halfway, tells him that they can consider buying the Charleston vacation home if he still wants it, but Randall's no longer considering it; he's starting to worry about hurricanes, thieving kids, etc. With both of them starting to come to terms with the idea of having another child, they're ready to check the pregnancy test. Like, Jack and Rebecca, they're on this journey together.

Courtesy of NBC

Meanwhile, Kevin sits at the kitchen table as William comes back from tucking in the girls. Kevin's still ashamed of how he handled their questions and wants to go talk to them, but he stops himself.

"What am I gonna say? You know, I am clearly not the man that needs to be talking to them about the intricacies of life and death."

To this, William senses there is something deeper going on and responds:

"You do that a lot. [...] Doubt yourself.," he says.

He then goes on to praise Kevin's performance in "The Manny" to which Kevin responds that he never should've left "The Manny" or have come to New York thinking he'd be able to do theater.

"You want to know what it is? It's this play, right? I mean, these people that I'm working with, wow, they're like next level smart. I mean, uh, they're brilliant. And then they look at me like I'm a joke, right? Which makes me start to think that I'm a joke and then I start spinning."

When he says he doesn't even know what the play's about, William's not buying it and asks him what he thought the play was about the first time he read it.

Courtesy of NBC/SpoilerTV

Meanwhile, Toby goes to check on Kate and asks her what happened. She rips into him a little bit, reminding him that she'd planned to watch the game alone and that she only accepted the invitation so she wouldn't seem weird. Toby, feeling dejected, is about to leave, but Kate stops him telling him that it's not just about football. She goes on to explain that growing up she'd watch football with Jack every single Sunday until she was an adult and moved to L.A.

"It wasn't until the 2006 AFC Championships when they played the Broncos. [...] I wanted to watch 'em with my dad. And I did. And they won. And then they won the Super Bowl. And I just...It's just-just what I do now. I watch the Steelers, and...I watch 'em with my dad."

Toby, finally understanding, smiles and says that Jack "sounds like a cool guy" and that he'd like to meet him sometime. With that, Kate decides now's a perfect time, so, she walks over to her mantel and grabs Jack's urn. She tells him that yes, it may be a bit weird, but football's a HUGE deal to her family; she was even conceived during the '79 Super Bowl!

Courtesy of NBC

Finally, Kevin goes to talk to the girls who are still awake, lying in bed. He apologizes for the way he handled things earlier. To smooth things over, he lets them in on a little secret; whenever he gets a new script, he paints the way it makes him feel. He then proceeds to show them a painting he drew after getting the play's script and proceeds to tell them exactly what they and I think he needs to hear:

"[...] I painted this because I felt like the play was about life, you know? And life is full of color. And we each get to come along and we add our own color to the painting. And even though it's not very big, the painting, you sort of have to figure that it goes on forever, you know, in each direction."So, like, to infinity, you know? 'Cause that's kind of like life. And it's really crazy, if you think about it, isn't it, that, a hundred years ago, some guy that I never met came to this country with a suitcase. He has a son, who has a son, who has me. [...] And then I started to think, well, if we're all in the painting, everywhere? And-and what if we're in the painting before we're born? What if we're in it after we die?"And these colors that we keep adding what if they just keep getting added on top of one another, until eventually, we're not even different colors anymore? We're just...one thing. One painting. I mean, my dad he's not with us anymore. He's not alive, but he's with us. He's with me every day. It all just sort of fits somehow. And even if you don't understand how yet, people will die in our lives, people that we love. In the future. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe years from now. I mean, it's kind of beautiful, right, if you think about it, the fact that just because someone dies, just because you can't see them or talk to them anymore, it doesn't mean they're not still in the painting. I think maybe that's the point of the whole thing. There's no dying. There's no me or you or them. It's just us. And this...sloppy......wild, colorful, magical thing that has no beginning, it has no end......this right here...I think it's us."

Courtesy of NBC

Up to this point, we don't know how or when Jack dies; if you've at least kept up with the headlines, like me, you know both of those things, but we won't spoil it here). However, we do know that Jack has a special relationship with The Big Three. So far, we've seen Kevin be very lost throughout the season. As a child, and even as an adult, he feels like the odd man out. He's constantly searching for meaning, and I think that if Jack were still alive, Kevin might have more confidence. But, now he's gone and Kevin and honestly, the rest of "The Big Three" and Rebecca are left to figure out how to navigate their world without Jack who's still very much present in their "Present."

That's it for this week! What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments. Don't forget to subscribe to the blog and like my page on FB @TheTelevisionZone and follow me on Twitter @TelevisionZone. Remember, you can follow along on this journey by watching "This Is Us" on the NBC website. See ya next week!