THIS IS US -- "A Long Road Home” Episode 505 -- Pictured: (l-r) Austin Abrams as Marc, Hannah Zeile as Kate -- (Photo by: NBC)

Welcome back, This Is Us fans! The winter break is over and we have a solid run of 14 episodes coming up, kicking off with tonight's "A Long Road Home". As narrative structures go, TIU has gone complicated with time jumps and tricky intercutting in the past - but not tonight. Sure, there were a couple of flashbacks, but overall, we were served up straight-forward, dramatic storytelling that went for the gut with each of the Big 3's storylines:

* Kate - settled years old business with perpetual record store assistant manager, Marc that put her on a path of low self-esteem, low self-confidence, overeating, trust issues...

* Kevin - has to decide if the big words he had for Madison at the beginning of her pregnancy will be something he can actually live up to...

* Randall - confronts the idea of an alternate reality in which his mother survived his birth - but would also make William a liar...

Watch this one. Then, listen to this podcast, and then comment on some of the questions we had for you!

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