The Fate of Kate's Pregnancy and Honoring Jack: This Is Us' Most Emotional Episode Yet in Season 3
This Is Us has welcomed a new family member.
Chrissy Metz‘s character Kate Pearson is officially a first-time mom after her water broke early at 28 weeks and was hospitalized. In “The Waiting Room” episode, which was modeled on a one-act play and took place entirely in a hospital waiting room, family members Rebecca (Mandy Moore), Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown), along with their respective significant others, all gather to anxiously await the fate of Kate’s baby boy.
Hours go by without a word about Kate or the child’s health, leading those in the waiting room to unleash their feelings about Kevin’s alcoholism. Randall and Beth’s marital future also takes center stage.
That is until they hear the news that Kate and her baby were taken into emergency surgery.
“He’s here. It’s a boy and he’s very premature,” Toby says as he finally emerges from inside hospital quarters. “His heart rate dropped and they had to do an emergency C-section. Everything happened so fast. He’s really, really small. So they put him on a machine because he can’t breathe on his own yet and he’s in this plastic box; it keeps him warm.”
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Metz previously told PEOPLE she was “sure” that Kate would honor her late father Jack by passing down his name to her child.
“That’s what’s so special about naming a child after a loved one,” she said. “The legacy and beautiful memories that will be created are that much more meaningful.”
And that she did.
“Hey little man, you came early. Are you impatient too?” Kate said to her newborn, who was placed in an incubator. “You get that from me. Oh my God, I already love him, so much, this is insane. Like I would murder somebody for him, Toby. Like full-blown drag ’em.”
Though Kate’s motherly instincts have already kicked in, Toby appears concerned.
“Is his chest supposed to be jerking like that when he breathes?” he asked his wife, who reassured him by saying, “Yeah, he’s just figuring it out.”
The first-time father also noted, “I can’t believe how small he is. He doesn’t look like a regular …,” before Kate stopped him and said, “Because he’s not.”
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Though not all the Pearsons were featured in this week’s episode, beloved patriarch Jack was on everyone’s minds.
“Toby, I’ve been hesitant but I want to name him Jack. Is that okay?” Kate asked after her labor.
“Hey dad, I don’t know where you are but I know you’re there. I don’t know why I’m looking up because I know you’re not up, you’re everywhere. I promised myself I would never talk to you like this, never for something like this,” the new mom said.
“But I need you to do something for me, and I swear I will never ask for anything like this ever again: This is Jack, this is your grandson. And I need him to be okay. I don’t know why but I know, I know that you can do that,” she added, before holding hands with her son for the first time.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays (9 p.m. ET) on NBC.
