NBC dropped the trailer for “This Is Us” Season 5 on Friday, revealing some intense moments for Randall (Sterling K. Brown), Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) and their girls, as they sit and watch coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
“What we’re dealing with as a people, it’s just so tragic, Beth” Randall says to his wife in a later scene, referring to the events unfolding in the real world, which series creator Dan Fogelman has chosen to include in this season’s plot.
The full trailer, which you can view above, gives us a look at what is going on in the present-day lives of the Big Three — Randall, Kevin (Justin Hartley), and Kate (Chrissy Metz) — ahead of their 40th birthday, following that explosive fight between Randall and Kevin at the end of Season 4.
In the clip, you’ll see Kevin refer to his baby mama Madison as his “fiancee,” and Kate be pretty judgmental about the way he’s throwing around that word. Meanwhile, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) is in high spirits despite her recent discovery that she is likely in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.
The video includes Randall and others wearing masks, as Fogelman has also decided not to shy away from COVID-19 in Season 5’s storylines.
The end of “This Is Us” Season 4 took place in the spring of 2020, right before the pandemic hit, and included a far-off time jump to decades into the future — but also one to Aug. 31, 2020, where a small group of the Pearson family was all alone together in a cabin — which could easily be worked into a storyline about how the Pearsons are living through COVID-19 just like the rest of us were at that point in time.
“This Is Us” Season 5 kicks off with a two-hour premiere on Oct. 27 at 9/8c on NBC.