‘This Is Us’ Season 1, Episode 17 Spoilers: “What Now” – Pearsons Gather at Randall’s Home; Rebecca’s Band Tour Strains Marriage with Jack

‘This Is Us’ season 1’s episode 17, titled “What Now,” will feature the Pearson family as they gather at Randall’s home for an unconventional party following William’s demise. Meanwhile, Rebecca’s band tour continues to strain her marriage with Jack.

The synopsis for episode 17 posted on TV Guide reads, “The entire Pearson family gather at Randall's (Sterling K. Brown) for an unusual party; Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Sophie's (Alexandra Breckenridge) relationship deepens on the night of his play's premiere;

Kate (Chrissy Metz) struggles to open up to Toby (Chriss Sullivan) about her father's death; and tensions are high between Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) as she leaves on tour with her band.”

The upcoming episode of NBC’s award-winning drama television series will pick up after the events of one of the show’s strongest episodes to date, titled “Memphis,” which saw Randall’s biological father William (Ron Cephas Jones) succumbing to cancer after struggling for so long.

Randall forged a strong bond with William in their short time together and it will be interesting to see how Randall will go through grief brought about by his father’s death. In the previous episode, the two went on a final road trip to William’s home town, where the audience also got a glimpse of William’s backstory. Randall was also given the chance to relax and free himself from the pressures of work and home while meeting new relatives.

It seems that the Pearson family will head to Randall’s home as he hosts an “unsual” party. The promo reveals that the party will be for celebrating William’s life and that it will be a happy event instead of a somber one. Although Randall is clearly grief-stricken, it seems that he will always take William’s lessons with him.

Meanwhile, Jack and Rebecca continue to face marital trouble after Rebecca decided to go on tour with her band despite Jack’s pleas for her to stay. In a previous episode, the two got into a huge argument after Jack found out that Rebecca was keeping secrets from him, specifically about an ex-boyfriend.

To make matter worse, Rebecca decided that she would still go on tour leaving him with the responsibility of taking care of the house and kids. In his anger and frustration, Jack stormed out of their home and went to a diner where he began drinking.

During an interview with Today, Ventimiglia teased that the last two episodes of season 1 will be “stressful” to watch. When asked if he knew details of his character’s death, he replied, "I do know how, when and why… I know everything." He added, “Jack will always be around… I think even now, we know in the present day his character is no more, but he will be around even when we reveal his death."

‘This Is Us’ season 1’s episode 17, titled “What Now,” is scheduled to air on March 7, 2017 on NBC. It will be followed by episode 18, titled “Moonshadow,” scheduled to be released on March 14.