Kevin Can Wait fans were treated to a Christmas flashback this week on the latest episode of the CBS sitcom.
Tonight on @kevincanwaitcbs we are throwing it back to Kevin and Vanessa’s first days as partners! #KevinCanWait pic.twitter.com/hp5nMsWEZu
— Leah Remini (@LeahRemini) December 18, 2017
The show flashed back to Christmas Eve 1994, the night Kevin met his former partner, Leah Remini‘s character Vanessa, on the Nassau Police Force.
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In the episode, fans also see Kevin crash his police cruiser, eat some Chinese food and attempt to woo a young woman he met before — who, fans learn, is Donna, who is never actually mentioned by name or seen onscreen.
While the episode doesn’t answer any questions about Donna’s mysterious death or even offer any details about her past, it does give fans a fresh insight into Kevin and Vanessa’s relationship, which is now riddled with sexual tension and awkward love triangles.
The episode dipped in ratings ever so slightly, drawing in 6.3 million viewers and a 1.1 rating in the key 18-49 demo, slipping just a tenth in the demo.
Earlier this week, Remini shared a sweet Instagram post dedicated to Kevin James after he arranged for a meal from Kentucky Fried Chicken be delivered to her dressing room on set.
“I just happened to mention my love for KFC and [Kevin James] has this show up to my dressing room. It’s going to be a good day,” the former King of Queens actress wrote in the caption for a photo of a table full of KFC food alongside a wink face.
James and Remini previously starred on CBS‘ King of Queens together. She appeared in the season one finale of Kevin Can Wait, which led to a full-time role in the second season. Erinn Hayes, who played Donna, was killed off between seasons.
James has insisted that Kevin isn’t just a Queens reboot. The biggest difference is that James and Remini aren’t playing husband and wife in the new show.
“This show was originally going to be about a single dad, but the way the story started going, we went with the great Erinn Hayes,” James explained to Entertainment Weekly in September. “But then it felt like a very familiar family sitcom again and it kind of went down the track where we felt like the show needed a little emotional weight to drive the character. So when we had Leah on last season, it was great to have her and we knew that connection. I’ve always wanted to work with Leah again, but it was never to do the King of Queens again.”
