"The Night Before the Wedding" is an episode of This Is Us that first aired on April 26, 2022. Directed by Yasu Tanida. Written by Danielle Bauman.
Kevin's been in love with Sophie since they were schoolchildren.
On the night before Kate's wedding to Philip (Chris Geere), the whole Pearson family's gathered at a hotel. Kevin and his uncle, Nicky (Griffin Dunne), are staying in neighboring rooms.
Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge) needs a dress so Kevin pulls a scam on the dry cleaner. Sophie wants to have sex with Kevin but he messes it up by saying that her hair smells the same as before. Sophie's annoyed and leaves.
Cassidy (Jennifer Morrison) goes to Kevin's room so he can unzip her out of her dress, but she's not inclined to have sex with him, since, among other reasons, she's a contractor and he's the client.
Kevin is not so hard up for sex that he'll have sex with the wedding singer, even though presumably the wedding singer would very much want to.
Tropes
- Breather Episode: After a series of episodes focused on Kate and Toby's divorce and Rebecca's declining health, this episode largely focuses on Kevin reconnecting with Sophie and ends on a very positive note. Moreover, it is pretty much the last episode of the series that isn't intensely heart-wrenching.
- Both plots are acknowledged in that the setting is Kate's second wedding and Rebecca's cognitive problems cause her to think Kevin and Sophie are still married, but they don't carry the same gravity as in other episodes.
- Failed a Spot Check: Rebecca’s dementia means that she thinks Kevin and Sophie are still twenty and struggling to make their long distance relationship work.
- Generation Xerox:
- Discussed - After Kevin praises the wedding singer’s performance to Kate and Phillip, Kate notes that it’d be history repeating as Jack met Rebecca after first hearing her sing.
- When Kevin talks about the twins with Sophie, he comments that Nicky constantly does things without thinking twice, which Sophie and Kevin both agree is just like Kevin was as a child.
- How We Got Here: The bulk of the episode shows what Kevin actually got up to during the previous night’s events, and eventually catches up to Kevin and Randall’s conversation that ended the previous episode.
- Love at First Sight: A flashback shows Kevin’s class working on Valentine’s Day cards; as the children work, their teacher announces that they have a new classmate and introduces Sophie to the class. Kevin immediately addresses his card to Sophie.
- Once More, with Clarity: We briefly see the events of the previous episode with the added perspective of what happened to Kevin the night before.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: Kevin doesn't want to hear why his Uncle Nicky needs to get some ice for his wife. Cassidy doesn't want to hear it either.
- Prince Charming Wannabe: Oliver, Phillip's cousin. At one point, the wedding singer walks up to Kevin and abruptly tells him that she’s about to hug him, before asking if "he's" still there — the camera then showing that she means Oliver. Pointedly, she only introduces herself to Kevin as Arielle after this.
- Red Herring: The previous episode ended on a cliffhanger suggesting that Kevin could potentially start a romance with one of three women; however the bulk of the episode is devoted to resolving Kevin’s relationship with Sophie, with the potential romances with Cassidy and Arielle not receiving nearly as much attention.
- Ship Sinking: After Nicky suggests that Cassidy could be the one for him, Kevin tells her what his Uncle said. She immediately shoots the idea, pointing out that Kevin’s her best friend and as much as they care for one another, they have a purely platonic relationship.
- Shipper on Deck: When Kevin and Sophie kiss at the reception, the entire extended Pearson family is shown to be cheering for them.
- Shout-Out:
- Whilst talking to Kevin, Randall brings up the Buffalo Bills losing four consecutive Super Bowls when the Big Three were growing up as part of an overly long metaphor about life not making sense.
- Sophie compares a GQ photoshoot that Kevin did to the wardrobe of the Village People.
- Wham Line: “I am really happy, Kev. I’m also divorced.”
