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This Is Us Season 5 Episodes
Season 5 Episode Guide
16 Episodes 2020 - 2021
Episode 1
Forty: Part One
Tue, Oct 27, 202044 mins
The Big Three's fortieth birthday is fast approaching. On Madison's suggestion, she, Kevin, Kate, Toby, and Jack rent a trailer and drive to the cabin where Rebecca and Miguel have been living since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for the milestone. With the trial in St. Louis placed on hold due to the pandemic, Rebecca has thrived at the cabin with a system that she and Miguel have to deal with any of her possible memory lapses if/when they occur if she is without him. The one person not joining this celebration is Randall who has not talked meaningfully to Kevin since their fallout earlier in the year. As such Randall plans on celebrating his fortieth birthday quietly at home with his family. The day also marks Déjà and Malik's first date first anniversary. With the birthday milestone, flashbacks are shown of the immediate lead ups to the Big Three's own births, including of Randall's biological mother, Laurel, who is only a footnote in his life. Also presented are the discussions of future Pearsons, including Kevin and Madison deciding to raise their twins together and Kate and Toby anxiously awaiting any news about their adoption application.
Episode 2
Forty: Part Two
Tue, Oct 27, 202043 mins
With the Big Three's 40th birthday now here, the stories in the immediate lead up to their own births are continued, Randall's which is not as straightforward as it appears on the surface. Following the medical distress issue concerning the twins which required a trip to the hospital, Kevin and Madison make a decision about their future. And as the collective they have had to call the police in Rebecca never having made her way to the bakery to pick up the cake and they not having heard from her, Kate sends a frantic text to Randall, who makes the decision to drive to the cabin. Beyond the issue of Rebecca herself, Randall being at the cabin may not only provide an opportunity for he and Kevin to address the issue of their current estrangement, but for Kate to learn if she is indeed not imagining that her own relationship with Randall has been negatively affected, she believing, if so, it having something to do with the unknown issue between him and Kevin. That trip to the cabin leads to Randall making a decision about how best to deal with his own mental health.
Episode 3
Changes
Tue, Nov 10, 202043 mins
The Big Three have started eighth grade, and each has paired up with someone else for the day with differing results. In present day, Madison comes to a realization about her relationship with Kevin and the baggage she has thus far hidden from him. Kate and Toby meet with Ellie, the first opportunity both sides have to evaluate the possibility of Kate and Toby adopting Ellie's yet unborn child. Randall finds a new therapist Dr. Vance who issues him some homework in a "get to know you" exercise, which leads to Randall remembering back to something that happened on that previously mentioned day in eighth grade that he has never mentioned to anyone. Randall and Beth have to deal with Tess on an action she took that they know is inherently wrong but that Randall can't help but admire at the same time. And Hai spends a day with his granddaughter Linh, to whom he eventually mentions the woman in the photographs in his house.
Episode 4
Honestly
Tue, Nov 17, 202043 mins
Kevin has received the much coveted part in the new Jordan Martin Foster film. His insecurity begins to show in Foster not coddling him during the first read-through with the lead actress, Ava. The source of that insecurity is shown in two previous time periods, when he was an infant as he would not stop crying when Rebecca could not, against Jack's wishes stemming from advice from Miguel and Shelley, let him cry himself to sleep instead of running to his crib side, and when he was named quarterback for the school's football team at age 13, he wanting to give up when the going got even a little tough. Old wounds are opened up for both Kate and Ellie in their latest encounter, when Kate accompanies Ellie to her next ultrasound. For a civics class, Malik, much to Déjà's chagrin, gets the okay to shadow Randall for a day at city hall. Malik's seeming disinterest in the goings-on at city hall, which leads to a mishap of internet epic proportions, masks a more fundamental issue in Malik's life. And Hai, in watching a live stream, recognizes a name from his indirect past mentioned.
Episode 5
A Long Road Home
Tue, Jan 5, 202143 mins
In confiding to Toby that she had an abortion when she was eighteen - something that she has never told anyone else - Kate is forced to confront whether she has truly put her toxic relationship with Marc behind her despite the fact that it was over 20 years ago and only for the relatively brief duration of six months. Kevin and Madison are interviewing nannies, the importance of which is highlighted by the fact that Kevin has just been told that filming of his movie has been moved to Vancouver. This change of filming location and a statement Kevin makes during the interview of his nanny of choice brings up an issue that Madison was generally aware of but had never really thought about concerning their future life as parents. And after Randall's striptease video goes viral on the Internet, he receives a message from a stranger in Louisiana telling him about his birth mother that contradicts what William had told him about her, leading to feelings of betrayal yet again. Randall has to decide what to do with the new information both practically and for his own emotional health.
Episode 6
Birth Mother
Tue, Jan 12, 202143 mins
Randall and Beth are in New Orleans on Hai's invitation so that he can tell them about Randall's birth mother, Laurel. Almost immediately upon their arrival, Hai drops some big news on them before he settles into Laurel's story, which is to the best of his knowledge because much of it is second hand from what Laurel told him. While Hai tells them the unabridged version about her growing up, the strain she had with her banker father, how the two of them met and fell in love, and how she made it to Pittsburgh where she met William, Randall wants to skip to an explanation the difference between William's reality of believing her to have died right after Randall's birth and Hai's story of Laurel having only recently passed. After getting the basic outline of his mother's entire life story, Randall feels the need both to connect with her and by association release the lifelong pain he has been carrying with him.
Episode 7
There
Tue, Feb 9, 202142 mins
Young teen Kevin has been invited by his coach to an expensive out-of-town quarterback training camp for seventh and eighth graders. Jack will be accompanying him, seeing this as the first major step to a possible football career with Penn State players and thus scouts in attendance, they providing information back to the institution for future scholarship consideration. Kevin's emotional state is affected by a conversation he secretly overheard between his parents about him which may set him up for failure, beyond some other issues, including words said directly to him by the coach and his own insecurities in knowing he gives up easily when the going gets tough. For Jack, this trip only reminds him of his childhood as a minor leaguer whose joy of baseball was quashed by his father's behavior, Stanley who always attended Jack's game, the one thing Stanley did with Jack. Jack just hopes that with Kevin, he has not turned into a version of his own father. In present day, Kevin, still in Vancouver, is close to completing filming with a few key scenes left, when he receives a telephone call from Madison who believes she is going into labor, six weeks before her due date. As Madison is all alone with the only other person she would normally turn to, Kate, being preoccupied with her own baby as Ellie is being induced, Kevin has to decide what to do. Even if he does choose to abandon the film in favor of Madison, he is not assured that he can find a flight home; if he does, whether he will make it back in time, let alone if any of life's unexpected surprises pop into the picture. Through it all, Kevin tries to channel his hero, Jack, in Kevin's mind, who would have found a way to accomplish it all.
Episode 8
In the Room
Tue, Feb 16, 202143 mins
The Pearsons as a collective are awaiting the arrival of the new Big Three, in the same vein as the original of two biologically related in Madison and Kevin's twins, and one adoption in Kate and Toby's as Ellie is being induced. However, the situation is not perfect as any of them would have wanted beyond pandemic-related issues. Kevin is MIA, no one knowing if he caught his flight from Seattle, leaving Randall and Beth, driving home from Louisiana, on a video call with Madison as long as she needs support. While Kate is in the room with Ellie, Toby has to wait outside assuming the position of a tailgater outside the stadium. Toby's peace is interrupted by Arlo, another hospital visitor whose situation is making him a little more agitated especially in Toby having invaded his space. And Rebecca and Miguel are feeling isolated at the cabin, not knowing what to do as they wait and wait and wait for any news about Kevin and the three grandchildren. Rebecca can't help but focus on a framed "picture" on their wall of five different colored blobs, making her reminisce about about Jack and a trip the two took to the cabin alone when the Big Three were 13 and were starting not wanting to hang out with their parents anymore. With all these situations up in the air, it isn't a guarantee that all will turn out all right with any of Kevin or the three grandchildren. Nasir and Esther's story is also told from their chance initial meeting in 1963 to when their son turned four, their story which has a profound effect on the way the Pearsons are dealing with this situation.
Episode 9
The Ride
Tue, Feb 23, 202143 mins
Four separate trips transporting newborns from the hospital to home are featured. In one, Jack and Rebecca are taking the Big Three home. While the attending nurse can see their fears especially in having three in their first go 'round, Rebecca is open enough to wear her emotions on her sleeve, especially when she's alone with Jack. Jack, in not wanting to turn into his own father, hides his fears with he potentially facing a breaking point. In two, Randall and Beth are taking Annie home, they being old hats in this being their second time after Tess. As such, Beth can only focus on the promise of a Dairy Queen Snickers Blizzard, while Randall already has thoughts of number three. In three, Kevin and Madison are taking Nick and Franny home. Kevin, working on little to no sleep, can only think "what would Jack do?", not realizing that he is more like his father than he thinks. And in four, Kate and Toby are not only taking Hailey Rose home, but are driving Ellie to her home as well. In Ellie's emotions having changed since the birth, Kate and Toby realize how sensitive the situation is, while Toby further has to deal with an issue that he will eventually have to tell Kate about in it affecting their immediate future. Also featured are Randall and Beth's three daughters in the future as adults, one who doesn't even have to tell another what's going on in her life.
Episode 10
I've Got This
Tue, Mar 16, 202143 mins
With three newborns simultaneously entering the Pearsons' collective lives, the parallel track stories of Jack and Rebecca handling their three and Kate and Toby, and Kevin and Madison handling their collective three newborns plus baby Jack, are told. Randall and Beth's family enters that parallel track when the stories shift to a dinner apiece. Not wanting to splurge on a babysitter with their limited financial resources, Rebecca decides to stay home with the babies while Jack attends a business dinner with Miguel and their bosses in Jack, bucking for a promotion, needing show them that he is "more than just a foreman." Jack gets caught between a rock and hard place in a game of roulette he can't afford to lose. Kevin and Madison, wanting a break from the constant role of new parents, invite Kate and Toby and their family for a sit-down dinner. Toby doesn't want to let especially Kevin know that he lost his job, and that, of the many Zoom interviews he's had, there is only the remote possibility of getting one of those jobs. The fact of Natasha lending her support for the evening only highlights the reason why Toby wants to keep this part of his life a secret from Kevin. And although Randall and Beth have been home from New Orleans for some time, Carol, who had been looking after the girls, still has not gone home. While Randall and especially Beth have to deal with the judgmental presence of Carol in their day-to-day lives, they prepare for what was supposed to be a "last supper" before Carol heads home, that dinner which changes in tone with Carol's announcement that she plans to stay an extra week, and with issues Randall and Beth have with Tess and indirectly with Déjà through Malik, which are only exacerbated by Carol's presence.
Episode 11
One Small Step...
Tue, Mar 23, 202143 mins
Three periods in Nicky's life are presented. In the first, it's the summer of 1969, and with the backdrop of the excitement of the moon landing, Nicky has settled into a life of hiding out at home with his parents, in the process thinking about the possibility that he may be drafted later in the year. The one bright spot that takes him out of his comfort zone is seeing Sally, a free-spirited coworker at the veterinary hospital where he works. Beyond whether he can either make the first move with her or act on any indications from her, what happens is proverbially and literally driven by a third, Pearl. In the second, it's the post-war era, and Nicky has been invited to a reunion of his platoon for an event, which he normally would have avoided except it is near his home and Jack, whom he has not seen since Vietnam, will probably be there. And in the third and final period, it's present day, and Nicky, without telling either Kevin or Madison, is getting ready for a trip to California to meet his namesake and his namesake's twin sister. He is ill-equipped to handle everything on his own, including the flight because he has not been on a plane since Vietnam in 1971. Each of the three segments are fraught with Nicky's fear and self-loathing.
Episode 12
Both Things Can Be True
Tue, Apr 6, 202143 mins
With Miguel's help, Jack is preparing to recreate his and Rebecca's first date in her apartment as a setting to propose. Beyond a mishap in a test run, what Jack may regret most is not hearing back from her father, to whom he reached out for his blessing but who has remained incommunicado despite Jack's best efforts. In present day, news of Kevin and Madison's engagement has hit the tabloids as they start making wedding preparations. Madison, who has always had problems truly expressing herself, especially to men, may see the details of the wedding a little differently than Kevin, who seems to be leading the process. While Kate is Madison's obvious choice for matron of honor, Kevin knows the appropriate choice for best man is Randall, which may be easier said than done for both brothers. Nicky wants to be involved in a meaningful way for Kevin in lieu of Jack not being there, which may not sit well especially with Miguel. It's Kate's first day at work as assistant to the music teacher Phillip, who is not shy in openly expressing his feelings about her hire. With Kate at work, Toby is now officially househusband/stay-at-home dad, a transition which may be more difficult than he would like to admit. Randall has entered into a transracial adoptee support group, he in the process hearing slightly different experiences than his own. And Tess is having her first official study date with Alex at the house. Beth, who wants to be supportive of Tess and her choices, may view what Tess is going through holistically at this point in her life differently than she did with Déjà or what she will eventually do with Annie without even realizing it, something that Carol may see more clearly.
Episode 13
Brotherly Love
Tue, Apr 13, 202143 mins
Kevin is making a special trip to Philadelphia to speak to Randall face-to-face to clear any ill feeling between the two of them before Randall stands up for Kevin at the wedding, their blow-out talk a year ago, that which has placed a strain on their relationship ever since even more so than any other time in their life. While knowing it will be difficult, Kevin does not want them to fall into what has been their usual routine of fighting then being uncomfortably cordial. And even before it happens, Randall is anticipating the less-than-satisfactory words Kevin will speak in saying what he thinks is politically correct and thus what he thinks Randall wants to hear rather than truly making any sort of amends in understanding what Randall has faced in his life. The strained relationship between the brothers highlighting their current issues are shown in two specific earlier periods: the first when Jack had sole responsibility for the two boys at age five, Jack surprising them in taking them to a taping of one of their favorite shows, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968); and the second when they were in their late teens and Randall stayed with Kevin in Los Angeles shortly after his move there while Randall was attending a model UN conference.
Episode 14
The Music and the Mirror
Tue, May 11, 202143 mins
The current state of Beth, Kevin, Kate, and Toby's professional lives are presented as they go through or settle into a transition. With the pandemic and doing things via Zoom not working, Beth is forced to close the doors to the dance studio, the second major blow in her dance career while reflecting the end of her life as an aspiring ballerina. She has to decide what her next move will be, whether that be going back to her old life in urban planning or something else. After going to a private screening solely with Foster of the now completed movie, Kevin is reminded that walking out on him is only the latest in a series of his high profile "walk outs," which may negatively affect his career unless this film is a commercial and critical success. He unexpectedly runs into someone from his past as he and his team plot his next move. For the first time in her life, Kate by teaching music seems to have found her professional footing. In what has been their less than smooth lifelong mother/daughter relationship, Rebecca can provide some insight into Kate's current career. Kate's professional happiness is something that she feels she can't share with Toby while he is unhappy being househusband/father after losing his job. Wanting to feel useful and cognizant of their cash flow, Toby is determined to fix a leaking water pipe in the house despite not having the inherent skills to do so. Needing to call in some reinforcements, Toby gets another point of view of unemployment from someone who was also the proverbial breadwinner in his household. Meanwhile, Madison is nervous about having Rebecca along on her and Kate's wedding dress shopping outing because she gets along with her best friend's mother but is unsure how she is received by her fiancé's mother.
Episode 15
Jerry 2.0
Tue, May 18, 202143 mins
Kevin and Madison are having their respective Pearson family-only bachelor and bachelorette parties, Kevin's which has Randall, Toby, Miguel and Nicky at the cabin centered on a weekend of fishing, and Madison's, which on Kate's initiative ends up being an adults only affair with Kate, Rebecca and Beth at Madison and Kevin's house. Beyond a brief moment of discomfort for Madison and Kate's expected unexpected guest in recognition, both affairs are punctuated by the underlying white elephant of Kevin and Madison's union perhaps being neither's dream - Kevin's which is further inbred in the men watching Jerry Maguire (1996), a movie that shaped his young adult life, and his recent encounters with both Zoe and Sophie - leading to all in attendance quietly addressing their own relationship and/or family issues, Kate, of the Big Three, further remembering back to a family trip to the cabin in the late 1990s shaping her conflicting thoughts in being in the unique position of Kevin's sister, Madison's best friend and Sophie's childhood friend.
Episode 16
The Adirondacks
Tue, May 25, 202143 mins
It's the day of Kevin and Madison's wedding, and all involved who have different priorities for the day. A common theme, however, for a few is remembrances back to their own weddings and what those vows actually meant. For Kate, the thought of those vows relates to the current issue with Toby and work after he was offered a job requiring him to be in the office in San Francisco three days a week, which may result in Kate needing to quit the job she loves. For Rebecca, her thoughts go back not to her first wedding to Jack but to the impromptu family wedding the two needed to have to show the Big Three, who were five at the time, that they still loved each other. Those thoughts are not only related to Rebecca's current health issues but to her relationship specifically with Randall, who has not opened up to her about his time in New Orleans and discoveries about his biological mother, Laurel. Kevin and Madison are each dealing with the stress of the day in a different way, but their less than traditional route to the altar remains the elephant in the room, especially in light of their respective bachelor and bachelorette parties.
