Kevin is in a difficult situation on This Is Us. He never fully processed his father's death, and his mother is currently married to said father's best friend, which doesn't exactly make it easier. And though we still don't know the status of Jack and Rebecca's relationship at the time of his death, it's clear that the Pearson kids, especially Kevin and Randall, aren’t too fond of having Miguel as their new father figure. But the fact that Kevin let Miguel into an important family tradition on This Is Us in the Nov. 22 episode suggests that he's starting to become more open to the idea, and may be turning some kind of emotional corner when it comes to Jack's death.
Kevin admitted in a previous episode how angry he was with his father for dying. In fact, when Jack passed, Kevin was so mad that he destroyed all of the model airplanes and machines that they used to build together. So when Miguel first asked to “wear the hat” — a nod to the Pearson Thanksgiving tradition of dressing up like “Pilgrim Rick” — Kevin freaked out, saying that only he and Randall wear the hat and that’s that. Miguel was visibly hurt and by the end of the episode, Randall had blown up at Rebecca and William, Olivia had nearly left, and things were going sideways fast for Thanksgiving. That's when something sparked in Kevin, who turned the hat over to Miguel in the middle of the Pilgrim Rick speech that the family always gives (it’s a long story, as are most traditions). The look on Miguel’s face was priceless, and it definitely meant a lot to him.
While this is certainly a step forward, it doesn't mean that Kevin is completely OK with Miguel and Rebecca's marriage just yet. I think his relationship with Olivia and new role on Broadway are expanding him emotionally, both on stage and off, which is affecting his perspective on many things. Working on The Manny was not exactly difficult, and now that Kevin has to explore some very emotional, hard subjects on stage, it seems to be pushing him to deal with some real-life issues — namely, Jack’s death.
Kevin is realizing that Jack is gone and this is the family he has now, so he should try to embrace it. Miguel will certainly never replace Jack in Kevin’s eyes, but hopefully, this means that he'll certainly feel more welcome as a member of the family.
Images: Ron Batzdorff/NBC (2)
