This Is Us -- A Tale of Two Budding Romances

This Is Us is back after being off last week because of the election. Last time Toby seemed to be finally getting better. Kevin wanted Zoe to go with him to find out about Jack's life in Vietnam and Beth wasn't doing well.

The show opens with a Vietnamese woman working as she creates jewelry. A military man buys it. He comes into a bar and finds his girl with another guy. The GI leaves the necklace on the counter of the bar. A Vietnamese soldier sees it, picks it up and puts it on. Later, a woman find it on the dead Vietnamese soldier's body and picks it up and puts it on. I'm guessing this is the same necklace that will finally make it to Jack in someway.

The show picks up where they left off a few weeks ago. Jack and his brother coming face-to-face. Nick says it's won't be his fault if Jack doesn't make it back. Jack vows to get him out of there. He says he'll figure something out. Nick tells Jack it's just a nickname, he's not superman.

Jack and Rebecca on their road trip to California. Jack pretty silent while Rebecca keeps trying to find something to talk about. Jack says there's some people he'd like to reconnect with in California, but that's all he'll say about it.

Kevin and Zoe in Vietnam and he's wearing the necklace. Zoe says she doesn't want her dad to know she's in Vietnam. He lives in China and she doesn't want him to try and come and see her. When Kevin tries to talk about her family she changes the subject.

Jack goes to talk to someone about releasing his brother. Jack vows he can get him right. Jack says he needs to try and save his brother before Vietnam eats him alive. It doesn't work, because the Nick's commanding officer says two brothers can't be in the same unit.

Kevin keeps trying to get Zoe to talk about her childhood and she keeps giving him the brush-off. Kevin sees a tourist wearing a necklace just like him and he's told a vendor is selling them. He goes there and sees a whole bunch of necklaces like he's wearing, making him think this one is less special.

Jack and Rebecca eating dinner. Jack asks her to dance. They go back to a motel room they've rented with separate twin beds. They start kissing when they get ready for bed. They end up sharing the same bed. After that there's no more twin beds.

Jack wearing the necklace around his neck. He's having a bad dream. He claims he's okay when Rebecca tries to get him to talk about it. Back on the road she asks if he's been having a lot of nightmares since he got back from the war, but he doesn't want to talk about it.

In Vietname, Jack tries to get a man to take him somewhere. The man reluctantly agrees.

Back to Jack and Rebecca. They arrive at her friend, Nicole's. Rebecca says she doesn't know anymore about Jack than when their trip started. She says she wants to be wherever he is and wishes Jack would just let her in.

Kevin now thinks he should have left this alone. Zoe asks to go back to the motel cause she's not feeling well, and he doesn't believe her until she throws up. Before that he was becoming annoyed cause she won't tell him anything about her past.

At the party Jack jumps when someone pops a cork. He says he's fine.

In Vietnam, Bow [the guy who gave Jack a ride on the back of his moped] stops and tells Jack to wait for him. Jack is afraid he may have been lead into a trap. Jack doesn't stay where he was told to stay and watches Bow selling things for money. Then they get back on the bike and take off.

Jack tells Rebecca he can't talk about it; what he did and what he saw. He doesn't want to bring that part of his life in with him and Rebecca. He asks if Rebecca is going to come back to Pittsburgh and she says she doesn't know. The romance seems to be off as both keep their clothes on when they get into bed and sleep with their backs to each other.

Rebecca goes to audition for a record company, while Jack goes off to do his thing. The record company guy says it's beautiful. He thanks her for coming in and tells her to keep in touch. She wants to know what keep in touch means. The guy double talks her. He says she's Pittsburgh good. She leaves after that. In short, don't call us we'll call you.

Jack goes to see Mr. and Mrs. Waterson. He tells them he was their son's staff sargent and he's the one who got him killed.

Jack is back on his journey to the village, when Bow tells him to start walking. Jack asks if he's a good guy or a bad guy. If he's VC. He says sometimes he is and something he isn't as he leaves Jack stranded.

Jack says he doesn't know whose idea it was to pick up the football that day. Roger had a lot of energy. He says he let his guard down. He failed many times over there and taking his eyes off their son was the worst thing he did. And he takes full responsibility for what happened to him and their son was one of the good ones. Mr. Waterson and his wife tell him it wasn't his fault and end up comforting him.

Kevin finds Zoe in the bathtub fully-clothed as he brings her something to make her feel better. Kevin says his father kept the first 28 years of his life from Rebecca and it worked for them, but Kevin wants something different with her. He says if she can't do that it's okay. He says he's falling in love with her, whether she opens up to him or not. She tells him her father sexually abused her. He tries to contact her every so often to make amends but she's not interested. You really can't make amends for sexually abusing your child. She's not telling him this because he asked her to. She says her father has already ruined so much for her, she won't let him ruin this for her, too.

Jack comes and picks up Rebecca. She tells him they said she was Pittsburgh good. She doesn't want to sing the song sang but he gets her too when he calls her by a nickname she likes that no one has ever called her by, Bec. Jack starts crying while she's singing.

In the past Jack sees a Vietnamese woman wearing the necklace.

Jack is also given 2 weeks with his brother to try and make him shape up and fly right, so to speak.

Rebecca tells Jack it's time to go home.

What's was most interesting in this episode is how much Jack and Rebecca and Kevin and Zoe's relationship resembles each other. Both Jack and Zoe are haunted by their past and they basically tell Rebecca and Kevin the same thing, they don't want to bring their past into the relationship and they can't talk about their past. It was also interesting to see how much Kevin and Rebecca are alike. Usually, because of the singing Rebecca and Kate are compared. But Kevin may be way more like his mother than Kate is.

It was a good episode.