This Is Us: Has Kevin Finally Hit Rock Bottom?

When it rains it pours for the Pearson children on This Is Us. But for Kevin (Justin Hartley), he's in more of a hurricane right now.

The end of This Is Us' three-episode tribute to the Big 3 ended with Kevin potentially hitting rock bottom with his addiction to painkillers and booze. The majority of "Number Three" focused on Randall (Sterling K. Brown) as he and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) grappled with having to send their foster daughter home to her mother, but concluded with the storylines of all three episodes coming together and Kevin in handcuffs.

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Kevin arrived at Randall's house to tell him about his addiction, only to find out about Kate's (Chrissy Metz) miscarriage as well as Randall and Beth's loss. In the shadow of his siblings' grief, Kevin drank a large glass of vodka and then went for a drive. Cue the heart-stopping moment of the episode when his niece, Tess (Eris Baker), popped up in the backseat as Kevin sped down a winding road.

The series, thankfully, didn't go the incredibly tragic route of having Kevin wreck the car, but he did get busted for driving under the influence. The final scene was Kevin being arrested while Tess sobbed in the backseat, Meanwhile, Beth and Randall argued back home about who would get to kill Kevin first.

On the plus side, the tragic event forced Kevin's addiction into the light where it belongs. He won't bury his struggle beneath more booze and pills while telling himself he's giving his siblings space to deal with their own problems. It's clear that he won't be able to deal with this by himself and will need his family's support, just as Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) did when he relapsed when the kids were teenagers. Once they get over their anger, the Pearsons can help guide Kevin to get the help that he desperately needs.

The bad news is that Kevin is famous and a DUI is going to get public attention. That attention could cost him the movie that kickstarted his downward spiral and force him into an even darker place. Kevin's journey on This Is Us has always been to find a way to give to the world with more integrity and this slip-up could cost him a second dream. Does he have it in him to come up with a third if this all doesn't pan out?

The chances are high that Kevin could see this as the wake-up call that it is. We can be sure that Beth is going to have one hell of a speech for him after he endangered her daughter, and that kind of butt-kicking could be the thing to push him on the right track. Kevin has had some lucky breaks, but maybe this terrible experience could turn into a deeper kind of win. Let's face it, he needs it the most right now.

This Is Us returns Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 9/8c.