‘This Is Us’: Major Character Comes out During Thanksgiving Episode

This Is Us saw one of the younger members of the Pearson family make a big reveal about their sexuality during the special Thanksgiving episode.

In an episode that also showed how William (Ron Cephas Jones) met his later-in-life partner, played by Denis O’Hare, Tess (Eris Baker) had a major milestone of her own.

During “Six Thanksgivings,” Randall (Sterling K. Brown), Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) and the girls were set to volunteer at a soup kitchen while Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby (Chris Sullivan) prepare the food for the holiday. At the last minute, Tess tells her mother she’s not feeling well and she stays behind.

After a tense moment following a disagreement between Beth and Randall’s camping manager, the family makes their way back home.

Back at the house Toby and Kate work on the dinner, share a sweet moment before he goes up to bring Tess some soup when he finds her trying to figure out what to do after her first period. Kate gives her a pep talk so she doesn’t embarrassed, revealing that her first period happened while on a family vacation with Miguel and his kids.

“So, when I was around your age, we were staying at a beach house with Miguel’s family, and I’m sharing a room with Amber, Miguel’s daughter, who I worshipped… I was asleep when it happened,” she says.

“So I’m tip-toeing down the hall and who do I run into? Her older brother Andy, who was a lifeguard…” she says. She makes a joke to deviate the subject, but she tells Tess she has nothing to be embarrassed about. She then tells Tess that she can look forward to having a lot of firsts along the way, including first kiss and first boyfriend.

“… or girlfriend,” Tess says in a nervous tone. Kate stands stunned for a second, but responds. “yes, or girlfriend.”

Later in the episode, Tess and Kate come downstairs after their talk.

“Don’t tell mom and dad about… you know,” Tess says to Kate later.

“I won’t. But Tess, your parents are going to love you no matter what, so you should tell them,” Kate tells her.

The Pearsons them come together — with Kevin (Justin Hartley) Facetiming in from Vietnam — for dinner, and the episode ends as they all enjoy the holiday. We’ll have to wait until a future episode to see when Tess will reveal her feelings to her parents.

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