The fact that although Jack and Rebecca lost the third triplet, they chose to give an abandoned Randall a home and raised the baby as their own.
Kate's beating down on herself and begs her brother to yell at her. Kevin refuses and subtly directs her to give herself the Tough Love speech.
Kevin's drunk and lamenting that he just torched his acting career, and Kate reassures him that he'll bounce back.
After plenty of tension over how Randall will reveal to his family that he found his biological father, he quickly tells Kevin the truth when he makes a surprise visit. And for his part, William is thrilled to meet the star of a show he loves.
The entire Thanksgiving episode, showing how a disastrous Thanksgiving from the siblings' childhood became a bunch of family traditions for the holiday, culminating in Kevin finally allowing his stepfather to take part in them.
As part of Randall's inclusion into a judo class just for black children, Jack is asked to do pushups with Randall on his back. He does so and continues to do so even after asked to stop. After the episode aired, Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K. Brown, and Justin Hartley posted on their Twitter accounts of them doing push ups with each other on their backs.
How nonchalantly William's Queer Establishing Moment went. William invites Jesse along to Randall's house for Christmas dinner, leading to Randall questioning their relationship. Tess catches on automatically (which becomes Heartwarming in Hindsight when she herself comes out a few seasons later):
Tess: Dad, Grandpa's gay. Or at least bi.
In the Thanksgiving episode, William telling Olivia that when someone who clearly adores you offers you pie, you accept. (It Makes Sense in Context.) Too bad it doesn't stick.
Kevin saving Sloane's play by convincing her she can act in it.
It's small, but William saying he wouldn't trust Jesse's opinion while out shopping, because in his words, "he thinks I look good in everything."
Kevin abandoning the play so he can be there for Randall when the latter suffers a nervous and emotional breakdown. The way he just sits there, holding his brother and comforting him is just incredibly moving, particularly since the two never had a close relationship in the past.
William paying his respects to his son's father at Jack's grave - his favorite tree - in "Memphis."
Randall's dream, which describes to Kate: William and Jack meeting and talking about the time they had with their son together. It just shows and reinforces that in the short months he was with him, Randall had accepted William as his father also.
Beth is saddened that William seemingly left her nothing to remember him by until later near the end where Beth discovers a postcard from Memphis that William had sent her while he and Randall were on the road. Tears of happiness and joy come from her eyes.
Randall forgiving his mother for hiding William from him all these years.
Season 2
What gave Jack the strength to kick his drinking habit the first time? Assurance from little Kate that everything was gonna be alright note that she uses the same technique Jack used to calm Randall when his anxiety would kick in.
Teenage Randall secretly arranges to meet his birth parents. When Kevin and Kate find out, they accompany him to the meeting spot. The (white) woman who shows up appears to be a junkie and is clearly looking for money so Randall storms off. Kevin and Kate later come to check on Randall and make sure he’s okay. Given that Randall has always been the odd man out with Kate and Kevin being twins and we’ve already seen that Kevin and Randall never got along very well, it’s really sweet that the twins were there for their brother when he needed them.
In “Brothers” Jack takes Kevin and Randall on a camping trip to help them bond more during the episode we see Randall writing in a notepad presumably on what to do during the camp trip. Later when Kevin looks at it it turns out he is writing down all the ways to get Kevin to like him and get on his good side and with this we see the rare moment of the brothers bonding together as children.
10-year-old Kevin giving all his Halloween candy to the boy Kate likes in "The 20s" so that the boy will hold her hand in the haunted house.
Charlotte mailing back Kevin's necklace which he thought he lost at her house. Kevin’s face alone just tells you how overjoyed and grateful he is to have the last reminder of his father back.
Jack going full on Papa Wolf at the beginning of “Super Bowl Sunday”: the minute he sees the house on fire he wakes his wife, makes sure to ask Rebecca if Kevin is indeed not home and safe, rescues Randall, then saves Kate by using her bed as a shield for her ( and getting burned himself in the process by the flames). Just the utter love and protectiveness he showed for his family is just incredible to see.
Rebecca getting her yearly laugh from Jack in the form of Kevin, joking that in his effort to make amends with his father, he might have spoken to the wrong tree.
The final twist in "Super Bowl Sunday" that an adult Tess is now a social worker helping kids find foster families, having been inspired by the family's experience with Deja.
“Vegas, Baby” shines light and more depth on the relationship of Kate and Randall and reveals that after Jack's death the two grew closer, with Kate even stating her fear growing up was knowing that she was going to lose him. Randall himself assurers her that she will never lose him and even reveals all those times he watched Sex and The City with her as teenagers was just because he knew she liked the show.
Kate and Beth bond after an intense argument between them involving Randall with the two confiding in each other over their flaws and issues.
Toby is enthusiastic to hang out with Randall and Kevin during their bachelor party in Vegas. Why? Because he sees them as his brothers after stating his younger brother (who is a decade younger than him) isn’t really close with him.
Season 3
Young Randall passing on attending Howard University for the fall. Why? Because his mother and his siblings need him.
Jack's grandfather is revealed to be an alcoholic and distant from his son, who continued the pattern and made it worse with his active abuse. This makes it quite retroactively touching that despite his own issues with drinking, Jack was able to break the cycle and be a good husband and father.
The Reveal of where Jack learned the “breathe technique’ he used to help calm Randall during his anxiety attacks: A war buddy from Vietnam named Donny who sadly lost his foot stepping on a mine and was sent home as a result. His advice to Jack? Just remember to breathe when it all gets too much.
Circumstances force Kate to be the one to guide Tess through her first period, which gets Tess to trust her enough to come out of the closet for the first time. Kate in turn promises not to tell anyone else, while encouraging her that her parents will love her no matter what, while we've already seen that she and Randall are still close in the future.
Jack’s estranged brother Nicky is found to be alive; although Jack could not help him, his children are able to slowly guide Nicky to a better path and save his life.
The season ends with the clearest look yet into the future timeline, and despite the major reveal of Rebecca's severe dementia in her old age, it's also very comforting for the most part: Randall and Beth are still happily married despite their difficulties over the season, Kevin has a son like he always wanted, Kate's son Jack survived his premature birth and seems to be healthy, and Nicky has become a lot closer to the rest of his family.
Season 4
The entire reveal that regardless of any drama that may surround him in future episodes and despite his blindness, Jack Damon becomes a happy, well-adjusted adult who even finds the success in his singing career that his mother and grandmother never did.
One of the things Toby had struggled with regarding Jack's blindness is not being able to show him Star Wars, considering how impactful the movies were on Toby when he was young. However, he finds a new way to share it with him: letting Jack feel Toby's figurines while describing them and imitating the series' iconic sound effects.
Deja immediately gets a crush on Malik, resulting in her coming home with a beaming smile that has Randall jokingly asking if something's wrong with her face.
Jack makes a small mistake on the paperwork of a deal that causes his company to lose $20,000. Despite 20 years of service, his boss is going to fire Jack for this. As soon as he hears this, Miguel marches into the office and tells their boss that if Jack goes, so does he and all the clients that bring in major money for the firm. Later that night, Jack calls up Miguel to tell how much it meant to put his own career on the line for him and how the man is his best friend. While he tries to laugh it off, Miguel is clearly touched by Jack's words.
Kevin and his uncle Nicky share a bittersweet moment when Nicky shows him how Stanley used to slice boxed ice cream, a rare instance in Jack and Nicky’s childhood where their father was nice to them. Jack also did this with his children, and Kevin appears to be very moved when his uncle repeats the tradition.
A season after seeing Randall and Beth's disastrous first date, we find out what got Beth to give him another chance: he noticed during the date that she ordered a Coke with lemon, and upon seeing her having another Coke at lunch he casually passes her a lemon without seeing it as any kind of big deal.
For the first time since being introduced to the modern version of the character, Nicky laughs. A lot. He, Cassidy, and Kevin have a moment where they laugh to the point of near tears.
Nicky, a man of few words, expresses deep gratitude toward Kevin for believing in him and saving him while at the courthouse. Later, Kevin invites him to Thanksgiving with the rest of the family, and later after the initial get-together, Nicky gently rubs Kevin’s face to express his love, and insists they can call each other for any reason.
As young adults, Jack and Nicky form their own Thanksgiving tradition involving five pounds of shrimp. Sadly, they did not get the chance to do this together more than once, but Nicky continues this tradition by introducing it to the rest of the Pearson family. In the future, we see Jack Damon carrying this tradition even farther with his wife Lucy.
The siblings dig up the time capsule from when they were kids, and discover Jack put in a recording of advice for them. Their faces at hearing something new from him...
In the season finale, Kate and Toby decide that given the great success the Pearsons have had with adoption, they should do it too, while in the future the younger Jack's sister Hailey is introduced eagerly meeting her new niece Hope. Meanwhile, Kevin learns that his one night stand with Madison resulted in her being pregnant with twins, and despite reeling from his horrible fight with Randall he swears to always be there for them and make them the true love of his life. The twins also appear in a future flashforward, along with Kevin and Randall having apparently gotten back some level of closeness.
Season 5
After a bit of misdirection where it seems the woman Kate and Toby are adopting a baby from will decide to keep it, it turns out she only wanted to give a heartfelt speech to the girl about how giving her to a loving family is the best thing that could be done for her, and this really is Hailey, who we already met in the future.
Jack takes Kevin and Randall to see a live taping of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and when circumstances lead to Randall being left alone on the set, Rogers sees his unhappiness and uses Daniel Tiger to talk to him about his problems. A scene that would likely come off as a ridiculous piece of saccharine with anyone else is fully believable from the universally beloved All-Loving Hero, and leaves you wishing they could have spoken for longer.
Kevin and Randall making up, natch. After taking the day to work things through with each other, they're able to come to a new understanding of each other, as well as the other's individual struggles throughout their lives, and openly say that they love each other. It's a huge moment of relief for them and for the audience.
Kevin names one of his children after his uncle Nicky, and Randall points out how happy Nicky will be to find out. As expected, the old man seems surprised but moved by this, to the point where he makes an impromptu trip to visit.
Cassidy reassuring a very nervous and doubtful Nicky, by pointing out how proud Jack would be of him.
The entire scene where Nicky visits Kevin’s twins in their nursery and not only gifts them each a John Grisham novel (replacements for their ruined snow-globes), but also gives them a moving speech about life and compares his life experiences to humanity landing on the moon. He calls them “his moon”.
Nicky spends a lot of time helping Kevin and Madison with the babies, and is shown to adore them, even clipping a baby monitor to his shirt at one point. He also expresses eagerness to help plan some of Kevin’s wedding and films a lot of amateur footage on an iPad, insisting they ignore him and continue to “be cute”, much to Kevin’s chagrin. He also has a special gift made for Kevin and Madison’s wedding: custom made Adirondack chairs with their initials engraved.
Nicky apologizes to Miguel after they get into an argument over Jack, and then the two bond over him and seem to form a friendship later.
One episode begins to show us a young medical student, who while being picked up by her sister after her first day confides that she may be pregnant, and gets full support from her sister. In the next scene they're in, the med student is revealed as the adult Deja and her sister as Annie, joining the rest of the family at Kevin's house, showing that they will remain close to each other and the extended family in the future.
Season 6
Nicky finally reconnects with his long lost love, Sally Brooks. It turns out she is now married, and despite having marital problems, he realizes they weren’t meant to be and is able to move on, and find new love afterwards. After years of loneliness, Nicky meets a flight attendant named Edie and begins dating her. He marries her in the future and appears at his happiest by her side.
Miguel, Rebecca, and Nicky all bond over their shared love for Jack Pearson. Rebecca insists that Jack certainly had something to do with Nicky’s return to the family, even as the two men poke fun at her about a possible Jack in the afterlife. Later, Nicky tells Rebecca and Miguel that Jack would be happy for them.
As sad as seeing Toby and Kate's divorce is, there is a great moment in the future where Toby talks to Phillip, telling him to always make sure to never hurt Kate and be there for the kids and be better at this than Toby was. He then educates the British man on American football as "it's kind of a big deal for that family."
Seeing Nicky finally happy and in love in general.
Nicky is shown to be fiercely protective over Cassidy, this season in particular. Due to their shared experiences with addiction and military related PTSD, he relates to her on a level that Kevin can’t. Nicky puts Kevin in his place when he makes Cassidy’s pain about himself, and Nicky is shown comforting Cassidy later while she is in the hospital due to a car “accident”.
After Kevin and Randall walked Kate down the aisle for her wedding to Toby, Miguel does so for her second wedding.
Kevin and Sophie get back together, with Kevin revealing to Sophie that he still has the Valentine’s card he made for on her first day in their class.
In his second to last scene, Nicky jokingly tells his nephew that Kevin’s parents would be “ashamed” of him, and that Kevin is a dick for saving his life, but Nicky is clearly moved and pleased with his life at this point. In his very last scene, Nicky is shown playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey with his great nephews and nieces.
with each other on their backs.