On This Is Us Season 2 Episode 3 Kevin finally came to the realization that he's not really ready to talk about Jack. 

Out of all the three siblings, Kevin has always been the one to refrain from acknowledging his father's death. 

We know Randall struggled with the loss of both of his dads and even had visions of seeing Jack after finding out that his mother lied about knowing his birth father. 

Kate has never shied away from talking about her father or admitting that she was affected by his passing. But Kevin? He rarely acknowledged his dad's death until This Is Us Season 2 Episode 2, when he brought up to Toby that Kate was the one who broke the news of his passing to him. 

When Kate brought him up during a walkthrough of his movie set, he immediately shut her down. It seemed like talking about his father was a sore subject, even though, as he told guest-star Sylvester Stallone, it was a long time ago. 

That's the thing about loss. If you bottle it up inside and ignore it, it festers, and then one day it'll blow up unexpectedly. 

And it started to blow up when Stallone mentioned that his father would have been so proud of Kevin and dedicated a scene to his dad. Thoughts and memories of his father started rushing in, and Kevin was literally unable to recite or remember his lines. 

Then, as he filmed the action scene, he threw himself onto the ground and injured his leg; the same leg that was broken when his father passed. 

There has been a huge focus on Kevin's leg, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it had something to do with the fire. 

My guess is that Jack saved him from the fire after Kevin broke his leg and couldn't get himself out. We know Jack was still alive after Kevin broke his leg because he visited him in the hospital.

How much time has passed since that hospital visit and when Randall and Kate found out about the death? And why wasn't Kevin there?

Did he sneak out of the house? Was Kate covering for him so when the fire started, Jack ran back inside and didn't make it out? Yes, I have a lot of working theories. Yes, it's frustrating. 

Maybe that's why Kate believes it was her fault, but really, Kevin's to blame which is why he refuses to talk about Jack.

Kevin's reaction to anyone bringing up his father makes it seem like he never mourned his death. Instead, he blocked that whole portion out of his mind because re-living or remembering it is too painful. 

Because of all the anger, he told off Kate by saying, "I don't need to walk around and be sad and damaged just because you are." 

It stung her, I'm sure, especially because it wasn't intentional. Kate didn't know bringing up her father would sabotage his important moment, but she knew how much it would have meant to him considering his favorite actor was Sylvester Stallone.

It'll be interesting to see Kevin's side of the story and why he's so sensitive when it comes to talking about his late dad. 

Could it be a coincidence that Kevin is doing a war-movie with his dad's favorite actor when we now know that Jack's time in Vietnam consisted of much more than just being the mechanic? Does his family know about that, and will this affect how Kevin interprets the movie?

In the flashback scenes, Jack and Rebecca were acting like two kids going on their first date. Except for this time they were two grown adults going on their first date after a while and dealing with how an alcohol addiction strained their relationship. 

Rebecca listened to Shelly, Miguel's ex-wife, for some reason and decided to rekindle the love between her and Jack. 

But considering Jack's been literally battling his demons and on the road to recovery, it seemed a little silly that she would think they could ignore all of that and get intimate. 

The first step to getting their marriage back on track was communication. Jack needed to talk to someone and found that it wasn't as hard as he was making it out to be. 

When they finally broke through that barrier, they spent half the night talking like kids on their first date, and I couldn't help but smile that for a minute; it felt like old times. 

Of course, we now know that the happy moments don't last too long because that night, Jack and Rebecca found a stray down chowing down on the burgers Rebecca tossed. That dog looks exactly the same when we see Kate holding him after getting the grim news of Jack's death.

It's fair to assume that Jack passes away shortly after his special night with Rebecca. 

Also, does anyone else find it weird that Shelly and Rebecca are friends? From that brief clip, it seemed like Shelly wasn't Bec's cup of tea, but it also seems like she doesn't have many other friends. 

At least their brunch gave us an update on Miguel's family and know that it's possible we might meet his daughter Amber somewhere down the line! 

Maybe I'm just reaching because I am so determined to find out how Jack lost his life, but he mentioned that he borrowed money from his dad to buy the house.

Why would he decide that this was a good time to tell her? Is it a hint that maybe his father had something to do with the fire? Or was he simply coming clean about everything?

We finally got to meet Randall and Beth's foster daughter, and those scenes were the highlight for me. 

For some reason, I thought that they were set on fostering a boy because Randall's vision was to honor his father, his adoptive father, and his own adoption. 

Still, since both of Beth and Randall's kids are girls, Deja might have a better chance of fitting in. 

It was nerve-wracking seeing Randall so excited and nervous about meeting her, but I was just waiting for him to come to the realization that they were in over their heads.

And while we know this is going to be a long and tough journey, I don't think anyone else would be more fit for the job than Randall. 

It was heartbreaking watching Randall search for his birth parents via the classified ads, but it highlighted why he understands Deja's situation so much. 

When he finally located William during This Is Us Season 1, that wasn't his first attempt at finding his birth parents. Wanting to meet them was something he had wanted since he was a little boy.

He was a little boy who loved his new family for taking him in and giving him many opportunities, but he still couldn't seem to let go of his birth parents and his desire to know them. His experiences then allow him to better relate to Deja's situation now. 

In fact, it's Beth who seems to be making things worse with her due to her motherly instincts. Those might work on your own kids, but a child who has been abused and neglected needs someone who has been through something similar before.

Randall, while worried about the uncertainty of the situation, really understood how to approach Deja and make her feel comfortable and hopeful. Even when she threw his picture frame of William, he understood her anger. He's felt it many times before.  

I also thought seeing things from her point of view, especially when everything was blurry, was effective and allowed viewers to understand the fear and confusion she was feeling. 

The best performer of the night award goes to sweet little Annie, however. 

I'm starting a petition to get her way more screen time because she's not only wise beyond her years, she's cute as a button. 

I love how she was the person to make both Deja and William feel comfortable in the home and that both of their initial reactions to the "rich people stuff" like alarm systems and everyone having their own iPad's was "this house is crazy."

It's almost as if the goal is to make us feel like Deja and William are the same person.

Everything about this episode worked, even the fact that Toby wasn't in it. It might sound mean, but I needed a break from his being in every scene with Kate. It was nice to focus on the siblings and parents for once. 

What did you think of "Highs and Lows"? What was your favorite scene?

Watch This Is Us online and leave me a comment with your thoughts! 

Lizzy Buczak was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in June 2021..