‘This Is Us’: Zoe and Kevin Reach Serious Relationship Milestone

This Is Us saw Kevin and Zoe reach a relationship milestone — after a big setback — during the emotional winter premiere.

As the family gathered to see if Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown) would get enough votes to get a surprise win in his council race, the episode, titled “The Last Seven Week” revealed Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Zoe (Melanie Liburd) were no longer together following the Vietnam trip.

At first viewers see Zoe avoiding Kevin at Randall’s campaign headquarters, but when Kevin sees her he approaches her to talk about their relationship, with Zoe saying she can’t handle that conversation at this minute.

The show then flashes back seven weeks to the day after Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) made Randall sleep on the couch following their fall finale fight.

Kevin and Zoe then arrive back in America, with as many questions about Jack Pearson’s (Milo Ventimiglia) past as they had when they left for the trip, but a better understanding of their own relationship. Kevin takes the moment to ask Zoe to move in with him.

Two weeks later, the campaign rages on as Kevin and Zoe continue their mission to find Nicky, leading them the office of Veterans Affairs. Kevin tries to convince the employee to help him get information on his uncle, but she refuses unless he has an official letter saying that he is granted access to the information. At that point, Zoe reveals she might have a way of getting that letter from a congressman, who she used to date.

The couple meets with the congressman and Zoe attempts to ask him for the favor. The man agrees to help, though he seems upset to be doing something for Zoe due to their history. Kevin asks Zoe what happened and she reveals that they were in a serious relationship for two years until she broke up with him via email.

The show then jumps three other weeks to New Year’s Eve with Randall finally apologizing to Beth and the girls for being away on his campaign. In New York, Zoe arrives late after the hair salon took forever but Kevin is busy looking at Nick’s file. All the papers say that he left Vietnam in 1971 and was discharged after a quick psychological evaluation.

Kevin gets frustrated, however, and lashes out at Zoe for not unpacking her stuff. He asks her if he should be expecting a breakup email. Zoe says she only agreed to move in to make him happy, and that he has been in control for their entire relationship. The fight ends with Zoe saying she needs space and walking away.

Back on Election Night, Zoe gives Kevin the key to his apartment back and breaks things off with him.

As he is heading out from Randall’s event, Zoe stops Kevin and tells him that she doesn’t feel safe most of the time given her history of abuse with her father. That is what caused her to freak out about moving in with Kevin. She then says that she loves him and wants to live with him and fight her insecurities.

While they unpack her things later, Zoe finds a box of old Vietnam items and she finds a postcard from C.K. — with the reveal Nicky called himself Clark Kent to sign himself out of psych — and a return address in Pennsylvania.

How will the Pearsons react to meeting their uncle? Can Zoe and Kevin work out their complicated relationship? This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.