‘This Is Us’: Alexandra Breckenridge Returns As Sophie As Kevin Pearson’s Life Takes An Unexpected Turn

A fan favorite character is returning to This Is Us. As Kevin (Justin Hartley) faces yet another downward spiral, his high school sweetheart-turned ex-wife Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge) is back — and it might be just in time.

This Is Us fans were shocked to see Kevin’s relapse with alcohol. The former Manny star couldn’t even get through a hospital waiting room stay without sneaking vodka into his water bottle. Now, his relationship with new girlfriend Zoe (Melanie Liburd) is on the rocks as they realize they may not be on the same page when it comes to their future.

NBC’s YouTube promo video for the upcoming This Is Us episode, titled “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away,” shows snippets from several Pearson family storylines, but it ends with a surprising cameo by Breckenridge’s character, Sophie, who was last seen on the show more than a year ago.

With Kevin and Sophie’s relationship in jeopardy—trust issues are her thing, and, let’s face it, he lied to her face while drinking vodka out of a clear water bottle. In the new episode they will also face off about their stance on children hours after Kevin’s twin sister, Kate (Chrissy Metz) gave birth to her first child. (Hint: Zoe doesn’t want them, telling Kevin, “I don’t want to have kids. But if having kids is something you need, I don’t want to waste your time.”)

Enter Sophie, who Kevin runs into while walking in the rain a year after she cut all ties with him,

Kevin’s history with Sophie is being resurrected at a pivotal time in his life, and it has all the makings of either a love triangle or total closure for the back and forth couple.

Of course, Alexandra Breckenridge’s future status on This Is Us has not been confirmed. The actress was previously upped to a series regular before Melanie Liburd earned that status. Last year, This Is Us executive producer Isaac Aptaker further confused fans when he pointedly told Glamour, “We’ve seen the last of Sophie for this season. Going forward, who’s to say?”

In addition, Logan Shroyer, who plays teen Kevin on This Is Us, recently mentioned Sophie in an interview with TV Line and hinted that fans of the NBC series can figure where the storylines are going if they want to put in the time.

“I can just say that if anybody wants to do the research and look back at scenes and things that are discussed, like what is Sophie doing, and where Kate’s dreams lie and stuff like that, you can probably deduce what’s going to happen, or some possibility of what’s going to happen because the writers are very specific about the stuff that they bring up. They’re not going to set up something for nothing.”

Shroyer’s mention of the Kevin-Sophie relationship is an interesting one. While the childhood sweethearts married, divorced, reunited, and broke up once again, it looks like their story is not over just yet.

You can see the promo for the This Is Us episode, “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away,” below.

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.