WARNING: The following contains spoilers for This Is Us Season 5, Episode 14, "The Music and the Mirror," which aired Tuesday on NBC.
After a multiple-week hiatus, This is Us returns with Season 5, Episode 14, 'The Music and the Mirror.' The episode starts with a focus on the rise and fall of Beth's dance studio. The studio starts off strong, but eventually the pandemic takes its toll and she is forced to close her business. This sequence is intercut with the end of her dance career as a teenager; her failures in her youth mirroring her failures in the present.
Randall is worried about Beth as he heads out to work, even though he's still holding out hope for an art grant to save her business. He asks Deja to look after as Beth prepares for an informational session with an urban planning firm. She is considering a return to the corporate world after closing her studio. Even though Deja is stressed out about the fact that Jennifer, the mother of her boyfriend Malik's baby, is back in the picture, Deja agrees to keep an eye out for Beth.
Madison is nervous about going wedding dress shopping with Rebecca and Kate because she is worried Rebecca won't think she's enough for Kevin. While the girls are shopping, Kevin is going to a screening of his movie with the director and bringing Uncle Nicky with him. While across town, Kate and Toby have a leak in their house and Toby says he will fix the leaky pipe even though Kate says they should call a plumber. Kate is going to teach choir after dress shopping and Toby is not engaged in her enthusiasm for teaching, which leads to a flashback where Kate is not excited to be getting ready for a job interview at Rebecca's office.
While Madison is trying on dresses, Rebecca says she wishes she helped Kate buy her wedding dress too. She asks Kate about her new job, who is so happy about it that she apologizes for being so enthusiastic and admits that she feels guilty talking about it to Toby. Rebecca is so happy to see Kate this passionate about something.
Toby and Kate's neighbor, Gregory, watches Jack while Toby struggles with the leaky pipe. He considers calling Miguel, but he doesn't want to talk about his feelings, which he thinks will happen if Miguel shows up. So Toby calls his dad, Allan, instead, who suggests he calls a plumber. He confides in Allan that he lost his job, so Allan agrees to come over to help with the repair.
Kevin watches his latest movie with Foster, the director, who thanks Kevin for his performance in the film, and says the film is his very best. While Kevin tells Foster that the film is a work of art, he leaves and immediately calls his agent to tell him that the film is actually quite terrible and is going to ruin his career. His plan is to have an emergency meeting and get a new project as soon as possible. During the screening, Nicky went souvenir shopping, but skips his studio tour to go with Kevin on a mission to save his career. While he's on his mission, Beth's job informational session gets cancelled.
Madison comes out of the dressing room in a dress crying and Rebecca hugs her. She's upset because her dad texted to say he wasn't going to come for the wedding. Rebecca gives Madison a pep talk, and helps cheer her up as Kate watches, touched by the scene. Madison's shopping trip is going better than she expected, but Kevin's day is just getting worse. He learns from his agents that he has a reputation for being flaky after he walked off his television show, "The Manny," and his off-Broadway play in Season 1. Nicky takes home a stack of potential scripts to read though.
Kate and Rebecca talk on the couch at the bridal shop and Kate says Rebecca is a really good mom. Kate says she wasn't an easy daughter and thanks her for loving her despite Kate pushing her away for such a long time. Rebecca reminisces about raising them -- just how quickly it all went by -- and says she sees every version of Kate all at once. Then she says that every version of Kate has been easy to love, which makes Kate cry. Madison picks her dress and explains that her mom walked out when she was eight, so she's felt alone this whole time, and she thanks the Pearsons for letting her into their family.
Randall rushes home, worried about Beth. Deja is upset that Jennifer is more in Malik's life, but Malik's not pushing Deja to talk about it and Randall says that's wise advice but he won't follow it and is going after Beth. Deja says his best quality is just being there and that's what he has to do for Beth now. As Randall goes after Beth, Toby's dad arrives to help with the plumbing back in California.
While leaving his agent's office, Kevin sees Zoe on a video call, and since she's just waiting for a meeting, they catch up. Kevin fills Zoe in on his relationship with Madison and she says he seems really happy. She notes that Kevin always fully commits and points out that Kevin tends to adapt his desires to what will make someone else happier. Kevin isn't sure how to interpret what she's saying and he ponders her words.
In a college flashback, Randall takes Beth out for their six-month anniversary. The surprise is a night at the ballet and Beth doesn't want to go and won't even get out of the cab, so they just go back to her dorm room instead. The two don't talk on the way back. This cuts to Beth in the present at the studio cleaning out her belongings so she can return the key to the space. She has a moment with her things, reminiscing on her time as a dancer.
Toby and Allan fix the leak and Toby says he needed the win. Allan asks him if he's okay, and Toby admits he's not happy with his situation, but he insists he's fine. His Dad then opens up about losing his job when Toby was eight and he admits that the Pearson's sharing their feelings is something he wished he did more, but neither of them expand on their emotions.
In a flashback, Rebecca waits for Kate at home and is annoyed because Kate didn't go to the interview and instead spent the day at a diner. Kate says she got a job at the diner because she couldn't see herself being happy in an office. Kate thinks Rebecca is disappointed, and says that Rebecca should just focus on being proud of Kevin and Randall and not get her hopes up about ever being proud about Kate. Later it's revealed that Kate is attached to the diner because of the memories she shared with Jack there.
This leads into the present when Kate takes Rebecca to her job for choir practice so she can share her success with her mom. After the choir performs, Rebecca tells Kate the job is perfect for her, and it is clear that she is very proud of her daughter. Kate thanks her for always being proud of her even though it took her so long to find a career she was passionate about. Kate doesn't share this with Toby later that night, and he also doesn't share that Allan helped him, as the two aren't being totally honest with each other right now.
Kevin gets home to Madison and the babies. Madison shares that her dad isn't coming to the wedding and tells Kevin that Rebecca got her through it. Kevin says that his movie is terrible and suggests that they watch Bridgerton, but Madison wants to watch the Great British Baking Show instead. Kevin says they'll watch the show Madison wants, but while they are cuddled on the couch and Madison seems to be asleep, he almost changes the channel, but doesn't, and smiles at his babies and Madison instead.
Back at Beth's dorm, in the college flashback, Randall offers to take Beth to a movie instead. Beth apologizes for the evening and shares that she used to love going to the ballet then asks him why there are so many mirrors in a ballet studio. She explains the mirrors measure mistakes, especially the small ones, because it is impartial and ruthless. She feels lost because she is a dancer who doesn't dance. So Randall turns on some music and asks her to dance.
At the studio in the present, Randall finds Beth and Beth says she doesn't want to talk about his plans to fix things and save her studio. Randall doesn't say anything, just turns on the same song he played in college and dances with her. He just holds her, and they dance while she cries to end the episode.
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.