‘This Is Us’ First Look: Pearsons Confront Kevin’s Addiction

This Is Us will finally tackle Kevin’s ongoing battle with addiction on Tuesday night’s spring premiere in what has been described as an “explosive” scene.

As previously reported, the episode, entitled “The Fifth Wheel,” will begin with the Pearson family members Rebecca (Mandy Moore), Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) heading to visit Kevin (Justin Hartley) in rehab. Kevin battled substance abuse throughout the season’s first half, culminating with a DUI arrest in the midseason finale.

This Is Us executive producer Issac Aptaker told EW that the family meeting will play out in a long scene that his have the characters “hash out” longstanding issues.

“It’s one of our most ambitious in terms of there’s a full act that plays out almost like a one-act play,” Aptaker said. “[We are] not using some of our fancier types of flashing around and montage and beautiful photography but really just letting [the characters] act and hash out what’s happened over these last few episodes.”

He added that the family will, “sort out how to best be there for their brother and son… and in a really, really explosive and ambitious way, playing out a lot of their family drama in this 11-page, nonstop, tour de force scene.”

The three Pearson children each received episodes centered on them each as individuals leading up to the midseason break, so this meeting will surely see them discuss some of the revelations they each had.

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo Credit: NBC / Ron Batzdorff