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This is us … with our jaws still on the floor. *Insert shocked emoji.* Fans were introduced to new characters on This Is Us, and needless to say, they. were. shook. Dozens took to Twitter to share their reactions to the new cast and the season 4 premiere’s twist ending.
But let’s backtrack first, shall we? Like previous season premieres, this one fell on the Big Three’s birthday, but we saw very little of them in this episode. Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby (Chris Sullivan) moved into a new house, Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) unpacked their Philadelphia home and Kevin (Justin Hartley) is back in Los Angeles.
This time, however, most the show focused on the new folks and, according to creator Dan Fogelman, it felt in “some ways almost like a version of Season 1 in the middle of our series,” he told Entertainment Weekly, likely because their identities weren’t understood until the very end.
Cassidy (Jennifer Morrison) was stationed in the Middle East before returning to her family in Pennsylvania. Despite her safe arrival home, it’s clear her time as a soldier took its toll. She began drinking, struggled to find a job and hit her son, much to her surprise, after learning the price of a water heater. While Cassie was detailing all of this during a meeting with Veterans Affairs, Nicky Pearson (Griffin Dunne) threw a chair through the window and got arrested.
So either Nicky is Cassidy's dad or she's Kevin's future wife/baby mama. #ThisIsUs
Fans are already head over heels for Malik (Asante Blackk), who seemingly has a good head on his shoulders despite being a junior in high school and a father to a baby girl. The teen, who has a summer job, was invited to a friend’s BBQ — which he initially turned down — because he needed to care for his child. Luckily, his dad was nice enough to offer to babysit, and it’s there that he meets Deja.
So Cassidy is connected to Nicky and probably will be connected to Kevin at some point, Malik is gonna be dating Deja (the brain aneurism R&B are gonna have when they find out about the baby) and Baby Jack grows up to be a rockstar. Wow. #ThisIsUs
At the very end of the episode, it’s revealed that the blind man (Blake Stadnik, the actor who plays him, has Stargardt disease and is visually impaired) is Kate and Toby’s son. His life changed for the better after a broken plate led him to a cafe, where he met his future wife. He was a struggling artist when the two first met but grew up to have a thriving music career, a gorgeous partner and a baby on the way.
