WARNING: The following contains spoilers for This Is Us Season 6, Episode 2, "One Giant Leap," which aired Tuesday January 11th on NBC.
The Pearson's hit the road for This Is Us Season 6, Episode 2, "One Giant Leap." The episode starts with Deja packing for a trip to visit her boyfriend Malik in Boston, her first visit since he started going to school at Harvard. At the same time, Rebecca, Miguel and Nicky are packing for a trip as well. They're off to reunite Nicky with his long lost love Sally, who he was supposed to travel to California with about 50 years ago. He's loved her ever since.
Deja arrives in Boston and is picked up from the station by Malik and his daughter, Janelle. They go to Malik's apartment and meet Jennifer, Janelle's mother, who is there to pick up Janelle. While there is some awkwardness, Jennifer and Deja are polite to each other. However, there is tension between Jennifer and Malik. Their arrangement has been hard on Malik and Deja notes how tired he seems. Malik admits that Harvard is really hard and he's struggling with balancing school, being a father and having to work. She tells him to get some work done even though she's there to visit so he leaves to work and she stays alone in his apartment.
When Malik returns from getting work done, he is stunned by how beautiful Deja looks for their date night. They're really sweet together as they head out to a party. It's not long after they get to the party that Deja explains that she is ready to take their relationship to the next level. So they leave the party and return to Malik's apartment. They spend the night together. The next morning Deja heads back home on the bus, happy and changed.
On the other road trip, Nicky is practicing his opening line for Sally, but he's struggling. He asks to make a stop to pick something up for Sally along the way. Rebecca reminisces about Jack and believes that he may have had a hand in bringing them all together for this trip. She turns on the radio and the three of them sing along to "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede which causes Rebecca to think back to a road trip she was on with Jack when they were younger. This makes her feel old, as she compares herself to who she was then.
The group then stops at an antique store so that Nicky can pick up an old camera to gift to Sally. Nicky is so thrown off by the price of the gift that it knocks his confidence in the whole trip. He starts to believe the whole plan is silly and wants to go home. Rebecca manages to get the camera and Nicky admits he never reached out to Sally so she doesn't know they're coming. He's not entirely sure this woman he found online is even his Sally, but Rebecca pushes him and agrees to walk him to her door so he'll stick to his plan to reunite with her.
Nicky rings the doorbell and Sally opens the door and while Nicky botches his initial introduction, Rebecca steps in to explain the context of their arrival. Sally accepts the camera and remembers Nicky. She invites them in and Nicky looks around Sally's place as she brings out a tray of drinks. She admits she left photography as a hobby and got a job in pharmaceuticals. Sally reminisces about Woodstock and then she introduces everyone to her husband, Eric. As soon as Eric comes in, Nicky tries to make a run for it and while they try to leave, Sally and Eric insist they stay for dinner.
Sally asks about Jack and Rebecca explains she is Jack's widow and Nicky jumps in with Miguel being Jack's best friend, a detail Nicky has always had trouble accepting. Sally doesn't remember how she and Nicky met at all, but Nicky remembers everything, every detail. She makes a crack about Alzheimer's, making the already awkward dinner party all the more awkward, as it clearly hits a sore spot with Rebecca and prompts her to remember that road trip with Jack again.
The memory leads Rebecca to admit that she has Alzheimer's and she voices her concern about what her last memory will be. She explains that the big things don't stop the little things from nagging her. Rebecca's honesty opens up the whole table to be more honest. Eric shares his little anxieties also, which prompts Miguel to share his as well. This leads to Nicky admitting how long he's been in love with Sally, though unlike the others who regret the time they spent agonizing over the little things, he doesn't regret those lost years he spent pining because he realizes that it gave him hope and a reason to continue on when life was hard. To him, that wasn't a waste of time at all. This leads Sally to admitting that she and Eric have some big problems in their relationship before she flees the table upset.
Rebecca goes to find Sally having an emotional moment looking at her old photographs. Sally explains that she and Eric used to be inseparable, but over the years things changed. Rebecca admits she struck gold twice with Jack and Miguel. Sally explains that she stopped taking self portraits, which makes her wonder why it is that people get to a point where they want to stop seeing themselves. Rebecca talks about how she and Miguel took salsa lessons before their wedding and continued to salsa dance for fun until a young woman teased Rebecca for dancing, so she never did it again. Now she covers her liver spots and wears a scarf to cover her neck. The two women bond over growing older.
Sally and Rebecca are still chatting and bonding when Nicky comes in to say it's time to leave. Sally sends Rebecca home with a polaroid of the pair of them. Nicky sneaks one away as well. Then he looks at Sally's photo board and sees a picture of him there from their night together all those years ago, which really makes him happy.
Outside, Rebecca and Miguel give Nicky and Sally a moment to say goodbye. Nicky is just so overwhelmed to have made her photo wall. Then they look up at the full moon and share a kiss goodbye. He promises to see her again in 50 years. Meanwhile, in the car, Rebecca tells Miguel he didn't get the best version of her and she apologizes for what she is going to put him through as she suffers from her disease. Miguel reminds her that he promised in sickness and in health when they got married and he means that. Miguel gives her a gift he picked up at the antique store, saying that they have a journey ahead of them, but he's up to the task and promises to be amazing for her every step of the way. Rebecca asks Miguel to start going salsa dancing together again.
Nicky gets in the car and announces that he's going to return east. He's going to help Kevin oversee the construction of the new cabin they are building over there. When they get back home, Nicky packs up and says goodbye to Miguel and Rebecca. He says that Jack would've been really happy that Miguel and Rebecca ended up together before he leaves.
The episode ends with the flashforward that has been teased in previous seasons. Randall welcomes a woman named Edie. She is revealed to be Nicky's future wife whose existence was hinted to during the Season 5 finale. Nicky meets her on the airplane he takes heading back East as Miguel and Rebecca return to their salsa dancing.
Created by Dan Fogelman, This Is Us stars Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, Sterling K. Brown, Chris Sullivan and Susan Kelechi Watson. New episodes air Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT on NBC.