Randall is face-to-face with the intruder he found in last week’s episode. The intruder has a knife. Randall hands him the money that he has on him and says there are security cameras everywhere. Randall tells the intruder that he will not get past him if he stays. The man takes the money and runs. Once the intruder is gone, Randall can finally breathe. But he is left absolutely terrified.
The police arrive later and it turns out that Randall did not have any security cameras. The officer warns Randall that home invaders often come back the same day or the next night because the family is too frightened to stay in the house. Randall tells Beth to take the girls to a hotel while he stays behind. Beth wants to stay with Randall but he insists that she leave.
Randall wakes up in the middle of the night when he’s all alone. He calls Kevin, who is in Pittsburgh for Sophie’s mother’s funeral. Randall tells Kevin about the intruder and admits that it’s rattled him. However, he doesn’t want Rebecca or Kate to know about this. Randall lets it slip that he found the intruder when he came home from the airport. Kevin asks why he was coming from the airport and Randall lies to his brother.
The next night, Randall wakes up at the exact same time — 2:17 a.m. Despite the stress of the intruder, Randall agrees to do a town hall. Darnell shows up at Randall’s office to talk about the housing bill. Randall is too preoccupied with the new security cameras he had installed to pay attention to Darnell. When Randall gets home, he hears the alarm going off and panics. Beth forgot the code after Annie opened the window.
Beth tells Randall that she’s going to the town hall to support him. While getting ready, she notices her earrings are missing and Randall discovers his cuff links are as well. Randall realizes that he must have caught the intruder on his way out of the house. Beth knows that this is a lot for anyone to handle. She makes him promise they’ll have a real conversation about what’s going on and how to deal with it after the town hall.
After the town hall, Randall has a dream of the intruder touching Beth. Even though he’s right there, Randall is unable to move. The next day, Darnell stops by the house to talk with Randall. He asks Randall if he does anything besides run to release his stress. Darnell goes to therapy and admits that’s it’s helped him immensely. Randall says that running suits him just fine. When he goes for his run, Randall witnesses a woman getting mugged. He races over to the mugger and punches the daylights out of him.
In the past, Jack decides to handle the kids for the night since Rebecca is sick. It’s the Big Three’s first night in their big beds. When they’re all tucked in, Jack goes downstairs to watch The Shining. Suddenly, Randall surprises him. Randall is scared and can’t sleep. Jack takes him back upstairs and lays beside him. Years down the road, Randall wakes up in a panic when he hears the fire alarm going off in the dorm. He races to Beth’s room and urges her to get out. This is shortly after Jack’s tragic death, so the memories of the fire are still fresh in Randall’s mind.
Teen Randall goes to his mom’s house. Rebecca is getting ready for her birthday dinner. Randall mentions to his mom that he’s been having weird dreams but doesn’t elaborate because Kevin and Sophie show up. Meanwhile, Kate is currently having trouble with Mark. Randall continues to have strange and terrifying dreams, including one where Jack is alive. Randall freaks and Beth has to wake him up. Later, Randall is getting ready to go a grief group with Beth when Kevin calls. Rebecca’s birthday dinner has been canceled. Something’s wrong with Kate.
In the present day, Randall is showing up at work and everyone is applauding him. “How does it feel to be a hero?” someone asks. Randall has no words. He just walks straight out of the office and goes home. He breaks down and calls Kevin. “I’m not OK,” Randall admits. He cries as he recalls how the intruder had a knife on him and could have done something to Beth and the girls. Kevin is right there for Randall and tells him to breathe. All Randall wants is for Kevin to talk. “I’m going to be that guy, Randall. OK? I’m the guy that’s going to get you through this,” he says to Randall. Kevin admits that it’s a good thing Randall wants to hear him talks. He says he’s in the “middle of a whole thing. It’s been a hell of a week.”
Kevin looks over his shoulder and a woman is in bed with him. We don’t see her face, but it’s probably Sophie. The next episode is the second installment in the latest This Is Us “trilogy.” In the past, after Jack has finally gotten Randall to sleep, he goes back downstairs. Soon after he sits down, toddler Kevin shows up because he can’t sleep. This confirms that next week’s episode is going to be all about Kevin.