Entertainment

Kevin & Cassidy Might Have Just Made A Huge Mistake On 'This Is Us'

by Lia Beck
Justin Hartley as Kevin and Jennifer Morrison as Cassidy on 'This Is Us'
Ron Batzdorff/NBC

Spoilers ahead for This Is Us Season 4. For weeks now, This Is Us has left fans wondering if something romantic would develop between Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Cassidy (Jennifer Morrison), or whether the show would just let them be friends, which would have been refreshing to watch. Alas, the tension finally broke and on the Oct. 29 episode, Kevin and Cassidy had sex on This Is Us, taking their relationship in a whole new direction.

First, let's sum up what happens between the actor and the military vet on the episode "The Club": Kevin is still in Nicky's small Pennsylvania town waiting for Nicky's court date. So, Kevin and Cassidy are still running into each other, including at the gym, where she explains she still hasn't spoken to her husband, and he reveals he broke up with his ex, Zoe, because she didn't want to have kids. There's a lot of emotional bonding and pull-up assisting going on. Not being afraid to grab the Manny by the abs is some clear foreshadowing.

Kevin then goes on a date with a gym employee, but when they get back to his place (his brand new mobile home right next to Nicky's), Cassidy is there. Gym lady promptly gets the boot, Cassidy explains that she saw her husband but they got into a fight again, and then she kisses Kevin. (As one does when they're stressed out and happen to have befriended a hunky actor who suddenly appeared in their town.) The end of the episode shows Cassidy wrapped in Kevin's bedsheets and both of them looking like they may have made a mistake.

And, from what we've seen so far, it seems like they probably have. They are both in very precarious situations in their lives. Cassidy is learning to cope with her PTSD and is probably going to divorce her husband. Kevin is still heartbroken over Zoe and is at a crossroads when it comes to his career and where — and how — he wants to live. Both have issues with drinking. In the episode, Kevin even points out to Cassidy (in reference the gym employee) that AA suggests not getting into a relationship during the first year of sobriety.

Ron Batzdorff/NBC

But yet, they do hook up in Kevin's trailer, leaving both the characters and viewers confused about where they'll go next. On the one hand, it seems like neither Kevin nor Cassidy should be jumping into a relationship. On the other, they have been a support system for one another and understand each other in ways their previous partners haven't been able to.

Basically, at this point it's totally unclear if Kevin and Cassidy will end up together, and it's also pretty hard to root for that to happen. Still, knowing that Kevin has a child in the future, it's impossible not to wonder if Cassidy is the mother. Especially, since Kevin and Cassidy talked about the fact that he wants to have kids in this episode. In the Season 3 finale that showed 12 years into the future, it looks like Kevin's son is somewhere around 10 years old. Do Cassidy and Kevin welcome a kid within next two years?

It's possible, and Morrison understands that people are curious. "They’re speculating about any woman who could possibly have logistically had his child," the actor told Entertainment Weekly in October. "So I feel like I’m in good company with all the people being speculated about... They can speculate. There’s nothing more I can say."

Ron Batzdorff/NBC

Furthermore (if you love speculation, which you do if you're a fan of this show), series creator Dan Fogelman told EW in September that Cassidy is "going to be somebody who adjusts a part of the course of Kevin's life." Mothering his child would definitely fit that description.

Twelve years is a long time, though, so even if Cassidy and Kevin have a kid, that doesn't mean that they'll still be together. Or that they actually get into a relationship at all. Heck, she could have gotten pregnant from their one night stand. The future could be nearer than fans assume it is.

Hopefully, everyone will get some answers about 12-years-later Kevin before this season is over, and Hartley thinks that could be the case, too. "No one's told me specifically like what day, or what year, what season, or even if," Hartley told TVLine, speaking about Season 4 in April. "But you've seen his son, we've been in his house. We see that his mom is in a bed there, on what looks like her deathbed, and so you assume that he's taking care of her. He's not Santa Claus — we’ll see him — but I would imagine it will be this year."

And along with old-age makeup Kevin, we might see old-age makeup Cassidy. Or Sophie. Or Zoe. Or someone else entirely. Or no one. This show will keep us guessing until the very moment it happens. Whatever it is.