Following last week's Rebecca-centric This Is Viewers episode set on the day of Kate's
wedding, this week's episode brought us back to "The Night Before the Wedding," as the
title suggests, to investigate the mystery behind Kevin's apparent amorous tryst.
It may be Cassidy (Jennifer Morrison), Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge), or the wedding singer,
Arielle, according to the clues (Katie Lowes).
The episode opens with Kevin, a grade-school student, sitting in class on Valentine's Day
to set the tone for the response.
His days as a ladies' man appear to have started early, as he sends Valentine's Day cards and
exchanges smiles with three different females in his class.
From then, we bounce back to the three ladies he could be divided between now, 40 years
later, as the jigsaw of his newest possibly game-changing romantic adventure comes together.
The parts are listed below.
Sophie is enthralling.
Kevin (Justin Hartley) is plainly anxious the day before the wedding, ahead of the rehearsal
dinner, but he compliments the wedding singer to deflect Kate's questioning about why.
In response, Kate (Chrissy Metz) points out that Pearson kryptonite is attractive singers
on stage performing rock classics - it's how Jack fell for Rebecca.
This revelation raises the idea that the wedding singer is Kevin's new love interest (despite
fans insisting all week that it could never be a random new character).
Even so, there's still a lot of show remaining...
Cassidy then approaches Kevin, dressed to the nines in a black gown with white trim.
They joke about for a while, then she leaves, and Kevin resumes his restlessness.
Kevin is impatient about Sophie's arrival, as Randall (Sterling K. Brown) explains.
Randall reminds him that she is a married woman.
Kevin swears they're just friends, but as soon as he sees her enter the room from the
other side, he becomes quiet, the tension evident.
He ends up agreeing to drive Sophie into town to look for new clothes when her luggage is
lost at the airport.
Kevin had leased an ancient convertible for Kate and Phillip.
Kevin takes down the "just married" sign, making it less "awkward."
The only place open in town is the dry cleaners, so Sophie uses a thrifting tactic she learned
from her mother and begs for unclaimed garments.
Sophie and Kevin get up on each other's life while they seek for a dress — of course,
she finds a gorgeous one that fits and is the ideal shade of green — and then go food
shopping.
Sophie tells that she is currently employed as a travel nurse.
However, things advance into flirty territory, and the two make a pit stop at a winery on
their way home.
Sophie finally discloses that, despite all of her denials during the afternoon, she is
no longer married - she's newly divorced.
Kevin is taken aback and finds it difficult to answer.
He's probably ecstatic, but he doesn't want to offend her.
Sophie hints to the reasons behind the divorce as they wander around the vineyard, but she
never goes into detail.
This was particularly aggravating because it occurred shortly after Kate's engagement
party, at which Kevin met Sophie's husband, who appeared to be madly in love.
Sophie just seems to imply that she didn't actually love him.
Sophie finally inquires about Kevin's relationship status.
He claims to be locked in a poor routine, but he can't explain why.
Sophie believes she comprehends.
The inference is that neither of them can have a successful relationship since they
have never moved on from each other.
I'm not a fan because I've been there and done that, but Team Sophie appears to be a
winner here...
Sophie and Kevin exchange wistful looks across the flames that everyone has gathered around
that night, until they ultimately make their way to Kevin's chamber without saying anything.
Sophie grabs his key card and enters before him, and they kiss at the end.
Things start to heat up and get heavy.
The clue Beth and Madison discovered was that the bra comes off.
Sophie, on the other hand, unexpectedly comes to a halt when Kevin tells her that her hair
smells the same as it always has.
She admits that she has been carrying Kevin for far too long and that she does not want
to go backward.
Team Sophie plummets as she rushes out of the room.
Later that evening
During the day, Kevin had a lighthearted but brief encounter with Arielle, the wedding
singer.
When Kevin goes to the pub that night after Sophie's 180, Arielle is there, and he seats
next to her.
Arielle serves him his normal drink, which she'd deduced from her day's observations,
and then reveals song lyrics she'd written based on her other findings.
The phrases appear to allude to Kevin's worry throughout the day as he awaited Sophie's
arrival.
Arielle scribbled them on a napkin Beth and Madison had discovered.
Another puzzle piece has been found.
Kevin quickly departs from Arielle and returns to his room.
On the way, he runs into Nicky (Griffin Dunne), who admits to being flustered by Sophie and
getting "hit on through napkin poetry."
(I'm not sure whether Arielle was really hitting on him, but whatever...)
Nicky reacts with a strange pinball metaphor and the suggestion that Cassidy is Kevin's
person.
Rejoice, Team Cassidy!
Cassidy appears at Kevin's door, asking for assistance in unzipping her dress.
She expresses needs to find a companion so she can rely less on Kevin as she changes
into comfy PJs in his bathroom.
Kevin claims Nicky believes they should be together when she reappears.
Kevin has flung himself at Cassidy in desperation for the second time this season, much to my
disgust, since Cassidy deserves more, and even if they weren't endgame, it undermines
the true romantic connection they almost/once had, as well as the platonic connection they
still have.
Anyway, Cassidy claims that they were both hot messes when they met, and that despite
the fact that they've both worked things out, they're not the same "person."
Kevin grudgingly agrees once more, and the two express their gratitude for their relationship.
Team Cassidy, regretfully, hoist the white flag.
Kevin goes to bed alone, despite the fact that he is surrounded by three ladies.
The big day has here.
Kate's wedding reception delivers two key dialogues that propel us into the great conclusion
after the ceremony, speeches, and Rebecca's performance.
First, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) notices Sophie's sadness and realizes it's because of Kevin.
Rebecca believes the timing isn't right because Kevin isn't ready for Sophie yet — but one
day he will be, and if Sophie is still waiting for him then, he will be so amazing to her.
Kevin, on the other hand, informs Randall about Sophie.
Kevin reveals he's frightened of messing up again when Randall asks why he's depressed
that she's single.
Randall, like Nicky, reacts with a strange metaphor, but he finally insists that Kevin
and Sophie make sense, and that Kevin will not harm her again.
So Kevin goes up to Sophie.
She, on the other hand, insists on speaking before he can begin.
She claims she has prayed for Kevin to mature for much of her life, and he is now the man
she always knew he could be.
They're both their best selves, at the right place at the right time, but she's terrified
they'll revert to their old selves.
Kevin needs to love her for who she is now, not who she was, and she wants to love him
for who he is today.
FINALLY, I'm sold.
I'll always miss Cassidy, but this reunion made my heart melt.
Kevin takes something from his wallet after pondering his reaction.
It's a valentine he penned that day in elementary school, as revealed through a flashback.
The teacher presented Sophie as a new student after he finished writing ones for the other
females.
Kevin quickly penned one for her.
Kevin hands her the message in the present, stating he's always carried her with him.
The two kiss, and the entire room erupts in laughter.
As a result, the jigsaw is complete: Kevin's future will be spent with his first love.
Sophie was always the one.
While some fans have complained that the ending is too predictable for such a twisting program,
the poetry of it fits perfectly.
We have a Pearson college sweetheart romance (Randall and Beth), a Pearson stranger-in-a-bar
romance (Jack and Rebecca), a friend-turned-partner romance (Miguel and Rebecca), a business romance
(Toby and Kate), and lastly, a high-school sweetheart romance (Kevin and Sophie) (albeit
in a roundabout way).
That pretty much covers all of the non-app-based love-story clichés.
Maybe now we can all have a Pearson love story that we can relate to.
Here's to that, as well as the resolution of the true-crime-with-sex mystery and the
other Pearson happy endings to come in the show's last four episodes.