This Is Us, still playing with our emotions five seasons in.
We knew that Kevin (Justin Hartley) was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his and Madison's (Caitlin Thompson) twins while trying to film a big movie in Vancouver, and we knew based on an episode synopsis that he was embarking on a "stressful road trip." So when tonight's episode—the first in nearly a month—began with a car crash and a shot of Kevin's driver's license laying beside it, we feared the absolute worst.
We got a little mad, honestly. We simply weren't in the mood to worry about any of the Pearsons, so when it was revealed that it was a mean fake-out, we couldn't decide if we were more mad or less mad. It was rude to put us through that, but nice that Kevin wasn't actually in danger.
It ended up being a man played by Scandal's Josh Malina who had been in a bad car accident. Kevin was on his way to the airport in Seattle to try to catch a flight to L.A., since Madison was in labor. He passed the accident and stopped to help, giving up his jacket to help the man out. That's when his wallet fell out, and we knew his trip to the airport was doomed.
Madison, meanwhile, was trying to hold in her tears as the doctor told her the labor could still take quite a while. She was all by herself and realized that her only two people in the world were Kevin and Kate (Chrissy Metz). While Kevin was desperately trying to get to her, Kate was witnessing the birth of her own new adopted child.
As Madison cried, she got a call from Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson), in the car on their way back from New Orleans. Randall said he knew Madison was all alone, and he and Beth would be happy to stay on the phone with her while she waited for Kevin.
No joke, we teared up. Remember when Randall and Kevin hated each other just a few episodes ago? Oh, the growth!
It's probably not so great that Kevin blew up at his director over the phone and quit the Robert De Niro movie, but things worked out pretty OK after he quit The Manny in a similar fit.
Let's hope everybody makes it everywhere they're trying to go next week, and nobody tries to trick us with any more car crashes.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)