‘This Is Us’ Season 3 Premiere: New Photos Of Jack & Rebecca’s First Date Released For ‘Ave Maria’ Episode

This Is Us fans have been waiting for months for the Season 3 premiere of the NBC drama, and it looks like it will be worth it. NBC has finally released a series of sneak peek photos from the This Is Us premiere episode, titled “Ave Maria,” which show the new season will kick off with a time jump as well as present-day scenes.

This Is Us will pick up on the 38th birthdays of the Big Three, Kevin (Justin Hartley), Kate (Chrissy Metz), and Randall (Sterling K. Brown). But the episode will also provide a big blast from the past as fans finally get to see the origins of Jack and Rebecca’s (Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore) love story in the early 1970s.

NBC’s new photos show a clean-shaven Jack as he courts his future wife at a carnival on what appears to be a rainy night. While there are several smiley pics as the lovebirds hit the carnival, USA Today previously shared that a sneak peek of the episode played for an Emmy panel revealed things get awkward during Jack and Rebecca’s first date when it starts to rain heavily and Jack is too cheap to buy an umbrella. At one point, it even appears that Rebecca is ready to say goodbye to the Vietnam veteran for good.

In the “Ave Maria” scene, Jack reportedly explains that he didn’t buy an umbrella because he only had $9 in his pocket and he wanted to save his cash so Rebecca could play games at the carnival.

“If I bought the umbrella, I wouldn’t have enough to play any of the games. … You don’t bring a girl to a carnival and not let her play any games,” he says.

Other photos from This Is Us’ “Ave Maria” episode show present-day Randall and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) sitting painfully separately in a waiting room as he looks deep in thought and she reads a magazine. The room appears to be in some sort of office that works with children as can be seen by the toys and stuffed animals in the room. On a (possibly) related note, another photo shows Randall and Beth’s kids, Tess (Eris Baker), Annie (Faithe Herman) and, yes, foster daughter Deja (Lyric Ross) together doing arts and crafts in the Pearson living room.

Present day Kevin also appears to be doing a promotional interview with NBC’s Natalie Morales for his Ron Howard movie, Hill 400. Co-star Sylvester Stallone isn’t in sight, but Kevin seems to be charming TheToday Show West Coast anchor just fine on his own.

And Katoby is back. New photos show Kate and her new husband Toby (Chris Sullivan) in their kitchen as they get ready to celebrate her birthday, and based on the promo below, her birthday wish is a doozy.

This Is Us Season 3 premieres Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 9/8c on NBC.