【eroticism of restaint】

Spoiler warning: This post contains plot details for episode 2 of This Is Us.

The eroticism of restaintfirst episode of This Is Uscurrently stands as the highest-rated series premiere of the fall, so there's a strong possibility that you tuned in last week to see whether it could live up to the hype.

After revealing that four of its main characters were linked not just by a shared birthday, but by a familial bond (sneaky, right?), a few questions lingered going into the second episode:

• Could the show maintain momentum following a pilot that often felt more like a short film than an ongoing series?

• Would its eleventh hour twist prove to be just another gimmick?

• And what were the chances that episode 2 would throw us another curveball to rival the premiere?

Now that "The Big Three" has aired, we have our answers. As far as maintaining momentum goes, the episode demonstrated the same heart, humor and humanity we saw in the pilot, confidently expanding upon the relationships established in last week's premiere while still leaving plenty of mysteries to be explored.

No new series is a sure thing, and there's certainly time for the wheels to fall off the cart, but given that NBC gave the show a full season order of 18 episodes just hours before the second episode aired, the network clearly has confidence in its new drama.

Was the premiere's twist a gimmick? The jury is still out, especially considering that episode 2 did indeed end with another curveball -- revealing that in the present day, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) is no longer married to Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), and is instead involved with Jack's best friend, Miguel, who was definitely a little tooappreciative of his buddy's wife during a flashback earlier in the episode. Et tu, Miguel?

Are Jack and Rebecca divorced, or did something happen to Jack in the intervening years? The episode doesn't tell us, but the fact that Randall's daughters refer to Rebecca and Miguel as "grandma and grandpa" at least implies that Miguel has been in the picture for a while. Perhaps we'll get our answers in next week's installment, and NBC is probably counting on the fact that you'll tune in to find out.

This Is Usairs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.

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