THIS IS US: “Strangers” Revealed

“It’s so strange, isn’t it? How just like that a complete stranger can become such a big part of your story? It’s actually kind of terrifying, you know – how a single cross with one person you’ve never met can change everything.”

In the lead up to the extended season premiere of NBC’s THIS IS US we were told new characters would be introduced and boy, were they not messing around. On Tuesday night we met quite a few of the new faces teased in the season promo and there was light shed on how they would be connected to the Pearsons. In fact, if you were expecting a family reunion after all these monthsm you don’t even see the present day Pearson family until the closing 5-10 minutes of the episode, on the Big Three’s 39th birthday no less!

Let’s meet these new characters and how they are connected to the Pearsons…

(adult) Jack Damon played by Blake Stadnik

When we are first introduced to this young man, he’s lying butt naked in a bed as a dog tries to nudge him awake. There are empty bottles strewn around, so it’s not wrong to assume that he’s just another partying hard playboy. As we get more glimpses of his life, we discover he’s blind and actually a pretty charming and a musician. In the episode’s closing act, it’s revealed that this young man is actually the grown up version of Kate and Toby’s son, Jack. His retinopathy is a result of him being born prematurely and was a condition that wasn’t able to reverse when he was a child. Nonetheless, Jack has done well in his life – met a girl and even followed in his mother and grandmother’s footsteps of being a singer. The only difference is that he was able to turn it into a successful career as we see him perform in a sold out arena. These flash forwards of Jack actually take place about 10 years after the flash forward we saw in last season’s finale, where Rebecca is quite old and bedridden.

Lucy played by Auden Thornton

Lucy is a sweet waitress that Jack falls for. Throughout the episode we see snippets of the journey of their relationship. As Jack becomes a successful music artist, Lucy opens her own restaurant. Towards the end of the episode, she reveals that she is pregnant. She’s concerned as it has happened ahead of her life plan, but Jack is happy when he hears the news.

Cassidy Sharp played by Jennifer Morrison

When we first meet Cassidy, she’s part of the military and stationed in Afghanistan. She has a husband and a son back home that she misses. When her current mission comes to an end, she goes back home and we see that she struggles to adjust. She also struggles to find a job, is drinking and also has flashbacks to her time away. It reaches breaking point when in the midst of a flashback (and also slightly inebriated), she hits her son and her husband tells her to leave. Cassidy attends a veterans support group and a meeting is interrupted when a chair comes flying through the window of the room from the outside… thrown by none other than present day Nicky! Griffin Dunne has now been made a series regular this season and with him calling Kevin to bail him out of jail, we suspect it won’t be too long before Cassidy and Kevin’s paths cross. Time will tell what that encounter ends up developing into.

Ryan Sharp played by Nick Weschler

Ryan is Cassidy’s husband, who is raising their son, Matty, both while Cassidy is away and even after she returns. He knows his wife is struggling with being back, but he is also struggling to keep the family afloat and make sure all the bills are paid. Not to mention keep an eye out on his wife’s drinking. When she accidentally backhands their son while in a trance, he kicks her out. Will they be able to mend things and get past the incident or will this be the last we see of Ryan (and Matty)?

Malik played by Asante Blackk

Our first impression of Malik is that he’s just a regular teenage boy, who enjoys hanging out with his friends and being on his phone, checking out his girl. Turns out his girl is actually a baby that was in the NICU and Malik is a teenage single father raising her with support from his parents. He adores his daughter and wants to give her opportunities in life, even if it means contemplating getting involved in some shady business to earn extra money on the side. He’s a sweet kid though and when he has a chance to hang out with his classmates at a party, he gets sweet on the new girl who has just moved to town with her family… Deja! Turns out she’s just as smitten with him – the way he uses the same line that his dad uses on his mom: “For you, I’ll give it everything,” we can see why. We’re already shipping these two!

Darnell and Kelly played by Omar Epps and Marsha Stephanie Blake

Darnell and Kelly are Malik’s parents, who while they want him to be responsible, also support him and are happy to be on baby sitting duty from time to time so that he can enjoy typical teenage things like going to parties. Kelly works at a hotel, while Darnell works at a body shop, which Malik also has a part time job at. Before the Deja connection, we did spot a Vote Pearson bumper sticker from Randall’s campaign on one of the cars at the body shop, which clued us in that Malik’s story takes part in the present and in Philadelphia.

Dave Malone played by Tim Matheson

We have previously met Rebecca’s mom and now we finally meet Rebecca’s dad when flashbacks take us back to the early days of Rebecca and Jack’s courtship where he meets her parents for the first time. After a bit of an awkward beginning, Jack ends up charming the parentals by being frank and revealing truths about himself and his family, like his time in Vietnam and his abusive father. Papa Malone even discreetly gives Jack the heads up that the tag of the sportscoat he has borrowed is showing. (By the way, Jack borrowing said sportscoat lead us to see Jack and Miguel meeting for the first time!) What a nice guy right? Looks like the start of a great father and son in law relationship. Perhaps not… at the end of the dinner, Dave pulls Jack aside and while you can see that he has respect for Jack, he can also see the darkness in him from his life experiences and he doesn’t want that darkness near his daughter. Rebecca’s protective papa tells Jack that he’ll do whatever he can to make sure the pair don’t end up together. Ouch. Obviously we know that he’s not successful in the end, but we’re curious to see what his plans are.

THIS IS US airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.

RELATED ITEMS:

THIS IS US: Time to Prepare For Season Four
THIS IS US: “Her” Revelations and Questions
THIS IS US: “R & B” preview
THIS IS US: “The Graduates” preview
Women of the Week (featuring Susan Kelechi Watson, Rachel Hilson & Akira Akbar)