This week, “This Is Us” viewers finally received an episode from Miguel’s prequel, which they had been listening to for years, was in the works.
And not only does the hour chronicle Miguel’s past, he also witnesses his passing: John Huertas’ character dies at the end of the hour.
Read about the highlights of Miguel.
LABOR PROGRESS In retrospect from Miguel’s childhood, we learn that his family moved to Pennsylvania to live with a cousin after Miguel’s father could not find work in their native Puerto Rico. He ends up with landscaping, and while working on the house of a wealthy white family, young Miguel enters the house to use the bathroom, but is distracted by a baseball game on television. The man from the house invited Miguel to watch the game of Roberto Clemente and the Pirates, then asked if the boy had already been to a match. Miguel said no, but he would be happy to sit anywhere in the park watching Clemente do his thing. The homeowner corrects him: “Son, it’s important where you sit.”
MIGEL DOES IT | Then we get excerpts from Miguel’s life as a young adult. He got a job at a construction company where he and Jack eventually worked, but was only interviewed when he submitted his resume as Mike Rivers – because of the many attempts he made to apply under his real name, Miguel Rivas, “Never I got a call back, “he told the boss, Mr. Lundi.
Miguel’s professional success irritates his parents, and what begins as a happy Christmas visit ends badly. His parents don’t like their son straightening his curls because “I’m not trying to look like I just flew in from San Juan, Mommy.” Miguel can’t understand why his father is particularly angry about the new car he just bought, or his offer to help pay for the constant care of his aunt, who suffered a stroke in her 20s. “Why is it so hard for you to watch me do something of myself in this place, this place you brought us to?” Miguel asks, hurt, and his father doesn’t have a good answer. Miguel leaves in anger.
BALLAD OF MIGEL AND REBECA There are glimpses of Miguel’s life with Jack, Rebecca and Shelley. We watch Jack set up a bar, so Miguel and Rebecca, who didn’t like each other at first, are forced to get to know each other better. Then Miguel meets Shelley, they get engaged, they bring their first child, Andy, home from the hospital. Things get less happy. Mr. and Mrs. Rivas argue while Andy and his younger sister Amber watch from the stairs.
The story jumps forward. As we know, Miguel says goodbye to Rebecca through tears just when they realize that they are more than friends. His relationship with his children suffered more after he moved to Houston. In 2008, his mother received a call that his father had died. After the funeral, his mother assures him that his father “died proud of you. He would like you to know that. “And when Miguel marvels at how his elderly mother still provides much of the physical care for her sister, she says,” Love is giving your heart without expectation. ” that he is lost, and she assures him that she will find her way – and someone to love.
One night, after seeing Beth’s Facebook post about baby Tessa (and Rebecca’s tag inside), he sent her a direct message. Their relationship is built up on long, frequent phone calls and then dinner while he’s in Pennsylvania on business. Although the interaction is a little awkward at first, Miguel quickly (VERY fast, right ?!) moves on to what he is waiting to say. “I have never felt at home anywhere. And to be honest, the first time I felt nostalgic in my life was when I left you on that porch. Rebecca smiles, gets up, sits down next to him and kisses him. “I’m very pleased to see you again,” she said.
He retired and returned to Pennsylvania. They move together, but their plan to make it easier for children to learn this new Thanksgiving is thwarted when Randall, Beth, Kevin and Kate walk in with their mother and Miguel, who are kissing in the cabin kitchen. Although everyone was scared at first, Randall and Kate eventually agreed. Kevin, as we know from the first season of the show, is not – especially when Miguel announces that he is in love with Rebecca.
RISK OF FALLING Today’s part of the episode takes place with Miguel and Rebecca, living in the house that Kevin built for them. Based on this and Rebecca’s general condition, I guess we’re in the era not long after Kate and Philip’s wedding. Miguel wakes up at 5:30 every morning, arranges his and her medications, and is ready and waiting for Rebecca when she wakes up around 6:45. We see parts of Miguel’s doctor’s visits: his thigh has been replaced, he has high blood pressure and is short of breath during training. However, he told the doctor that there was no time for a stress test. It is clear that he is Rebecca’s main caregiver.
Which is not to say that there is no helper to come to the house to help with physiotherapy, housework, etc. But Miguel doesn’t allow her to do much and often fires her in the middle of the afternoon; Rebecca is often excited and confused by a change in routine or a new face in the house, and he later explains that doing everything yourself just makes life easier …
… until it happens. One night he wakes up and discovers that Rebecca is missing from their bed. She is outside, giggling and spinning in the falling snow. And as he tries to persuade her to go back inside, he slips and falls, seriously injuring himself. Still, when Kev, Randall, and Kate attend Thanksgiving in the big house, Miguel downplays his injuries. And the moment he left the room to take a painkiller for his back, Rebecca became very upset and would not calm down until Miguel rushed back and took her in his arms.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END After inadvertently catching a glimpse of the giant bruise on Miguel’s back, Kevin and his siblings are in the corner of the housekeeper’s corner and ask her what’s going on. She tells them about the fall (Miguel insisted he just slept on his back incorrectly), and the Big Three sit with their stepfather to talk.
In short: It’s time to get full-time help for Rebecca. Miguel refrained: “She is my wife! I made a vow. ” – and insists that he failed all the others he loved, so he will not leave Rebecca. Randall does what he does so well, using a soothing voice and being very candid with the older man: “We are not doing this to you. We do this for you, “he said. And realizing that they are right, Miguel quietly backs away.
The installation that follows finds that the home health caregiver takes care of both Miguel and Rebecca. But when Billy Joel’s “So So Goes” hits the soundtrack, you just KNOW that things will get sad quickly. Miguel’s heart is not in great shape. He starts using a cane. Kevin is around more to help both his mother and Miggs. Eventually, Kevin visits Andy and tells him that “your father may not have much time left,” adding that his doctors are worried about heart failure. Andy doesn’t know how to react to this information, but Kevin leaves it at that: “Take it from me, man. You don’t want to leave things unfinished. “
Fortunately, Andy and his children are there watching the family reunion. And then less fortunate, everyone is dressed in black, Rebecca is in a wheelchair and Miguel is gone.
His ashes are scattered in two places: the base of an apple tree in front of the new (ish) house and a playground in Puerto Rico where he played baseball as a child.
Now it’s your turn. Did Miguel’s death hit you hard? Sound in the comments!
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