Kevin meets Cassidy for the first time while helping Nicky get his life together during the Oct. 8 episode of ‘This Is Us.’ Plus, Toby comes clean to Kate.
Before he threw that chair threw the window, Nicky was in a pretty good place. He was going to therapy and slowly started opening up to a therapist that he trusted. However, that progress takes a steep decline when the therapist tells him that she was being transferred. Nicky is devastated and starts drinking again. He throws the chair through the window while wasted. He’s sleeping it off when Kevin comes knocking. Kevin goes to talk to someone about trying to lessen Nicky’s sentence or even getting him pardoned. Kevin sure does love being the hero.
In the past, it’s the first day of seventh grade for seventh grade. He’s so excited to meet his new teacher, Mr. Lawrence, and rock his new Air Jordans. But Randall Pearson is not abiding by the dress code and Mr. Lawrence writes him up for it. Randall is shocked and begins to have a panic attack. Randall calls the house and Kevin answers. Randall is still breathing heavily and Kevin agrees to meet him. Kevin races to his brother’s side to help out. He signs the slip so Jack and Rebecca will never know Randall got in trouble.
Meanwhile, Jack makes a mistake at work and it costs him his job. When Jack tells Miguel, Miguel goes to bat for his best friend. He threatens to leave the company unless Jack stays employed. Miguel’s gesture means the world to Jack. Miguel and Jack are truly friendship goals.
Randall goes to work and has people in all day just to hear their complaints. He wants to help people but one of the women working for him — Denise — doesn’t think he’s going about being councilman in the right way. Denise tells him that he needs to fire Jae-won. Randall feels disrespected and fires Denise on the spot.
Kate goes to dinner with Toby and some of the people he’s working with and things get awkward very fast. When the hostess takes them to a booth, Toby tries to move somewhere else. Kate knows she can’t fit in the booth and is totally open about the situation. Later, Kate sees Toby’s body for the first time since he’s lost a lot of weight. Toby reveals that he’s been doing CrossFit over the last few months. He had a heart attack at 38 and wants to be there for his son. Kate gets offended and walks away. Her neighbor comes up to her and starts griping about Toby’s car being parked in the street. Kate tells him that she’s had a really bad day and needs to be left alone. The man explains his situation. He suffered a stroke that nearly killed him and uses the street to walk every day.
Malik stops by Deja’s place and tells her that he has a daughter. He didn’t want her to hear about his daughter from anyone else but him. His daughter’s mother wanted to put the baby up for adoption but Malik and his parents didn’t want to do that. Malik and his parents have custody of the kid. Later, Deja and Tess have a heart-to-heart and continue to bond.
While Kevin is waiting for Nicky, he meets Cassidy’s son. When Cassidy walks out and sees her 9-year-old playing games with an adult man. Nicky walks out and Kevin goes in to make sure everything went OK. Kevin later finds Nicky at a bar. He’s sick of Nicky wallowing in his own pity. They go to an AA meeting together and Cassidy is there. When Kevin is talking during the meeting, Cassidy suddenly bursts out laughing. Nicky joins in and then Kevin. This is the beginning of beautiful friendships between these three.
Kate and Toby finally finish their conversation about his weight loss. Kate admits that it’s hard to see him lose so much weight while she’s gaining it. However, she doesn’t let him feel bad about his hard work. “You look amazing,” she tells him. They agree that there will be no more secrets between them. The next day, Kate takes Jack on a walk with their neighbor.