‘This Is Us’ Heartbreak Pushes Kate & Kevin To The Edge In ‘The Graduates’

Fans of NBC’s This Is Us watched in horror how the decisions of one person affected an entire family on the show’s latest episode as Kate’s decision to help her troubled brother Kevin put the life of her unborn child at risk.

Life for The Big Three continues to take many twists and turns as each of these core characters moves forward in adulthood, forever changed by the choices they made in the past. Kate’s husband Toby wanted his wife to have the graduation ceremony she didn’t attend when she was a teen, so he invited her family to celebrate her graduation from college.

Kevin attended and tried to support his sister, but instead found himself continuing a downward spiral as he relapsed into addiction. He spent most of his visit with Kate and Toby alone in his hotel room drunk. Kevin also lied to his girlfriend Zoe, saying he was working when in reality he drank his way through the visit. Kate, who was always closest with Kevin, intuitively knew something was off with her twin.

In her quest to help Kevin, Kate offered to drive him to an AA meeting but during their drive, her water broke. At only seven months pregnant, her dire situation became even more perilous when Kevin was too drunk to drive her to a hospital, leading to a tearful confession to Toby that he couldn’t help his sister when she needed him most and instead, Kate was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.

In an ironic way, this turn of events was similar to Kevin and Kate’s situation in high school, where she refused to attend her own high school graduation in protest of Kevin moving to Los Angeles with Sophie to pursue an acting career. Kevin’s self-centeredness always affected Kate, even when the two were young adults and she tried to process it by being supportive and overprotective when it came to her brother.

When Kate arrived at the hospital, she was given assistance in the form of medical intervention to stop her labor. Randall flew to California to stand alongside his sister and assured her that she would be okay, but with big life changes looming for his own family, Randall faced even tougher challenges ahead once he returned home.

Randall’s wife Beth began teaching dance and finally felt at home in a career path she would have never expected but was delighted for. Randall expressed concern that her erratic work hours would conflict with the lives of their three girls and the fact that the couple would have to rely on assistance to watch them after school until a parent returned from work.

Beth’s frustration at Randall was evident, as she told him that she shouldn’t be held back in following her dreams while he pursued his.

The show’s flashback episodes showed The Big Three readying themselves for graduation just months after their father Jack’s death and the waves of grief Rebecca was experiencing as she faced her first major milestone with their children alone.

The kids made a vow to always stick together, no matter how their personal lives evolved.

This Is Us airs Tuesdays on NBC.