The First Scene In 'This Is Us' Season 2 Already Has Fans Emotional

This Is Us is back, and the show opened with a very moving intro over the reality of announcing your separation to your kids and a montage of our Big Three in present day on yet another birthday. The This Is Us Season 2 intro featured William writing a letter to his son, and boy was it a tear jerker.

Let's set the scene for tonight's opening. It's the-the Big Three's 37th birthday. Kevin is in LA, asking a tennis ball to marry him, while Ron Howard makes approving noises about how the tennis ball is moved. Kate is getting herself hyped for her first big vocal audition out in LA, with Toby as her Number 1 cheerleader. And Randall is having baby fever hardcore, to the point that the neighbors are having to politely remove their baby from his obsessive embrace.

Meanwhile, in the past, it's 1996, and Jack and Rebecca have just told the Big Three that they are "taking a few days" and that Jack is moving in with Miguel. It goes over just about as well as you might expect, with Kate immediately wanting to go with dad, and Randall left to sit uncomfortably after Kevin chases her down when she flees the diner.

Meanwhile, William wonders how Randall feels about all this. Does he miss his father? Twitter couldn't take it.

OK, well that one wasn't one, it was Justin Hartley thanking us for watching. But that should just prep you for the tears to come. After all, he knows what we're about to sit through.

Ron Cephas Jones has a voice a bit like a warm blanket. You can just wrap yourself up in it and feel safe. And if I were Randall, I'd be missing the hell out of him right about then. Both in the past and in the present. After all, while Randall is all about a baby, Beth is really not feeling this whole adoption thing. At all.

But it only gets better, because once the opening is over, Randall learns Rebecca originally said no to adopting him. (Well, he may have sort of suspected that -- Jack was always the one who wanted children more than Rebecca did.) But that only strengthened Randalls resolve to push a baby on Beth. Oh, William, what would you have said to your son?

Yes, that's exactly what we're doing. Get with the program. here, have the tissues. (Passes tissue box.) (Sniffles.)

Personally, if the show decided to just go to William-as-narrator the entire season, I would not complain.

All the crying emojis y'all.

Considering all the Kardashian talk that followed in the next scene, this seems almost prescient.

(I couldn't agree more. it's very unflattering. Almost as bad as the jealous look that passes over Toby's face when Kevin shows up and takes over Kate's vocal prep.)

YES! Half of what makes the opening work isn't just Willaim's voice over. It's the voiceover, plus the music, plus the other aural cues as the kids head into the diner and sit down, knowing that whatever news they're about to receive, it's not good.

Well, yes actually they can. Frankly, Jack punched out Ben and is lucky not to be facing assault and battery charges, not to mention the driving drunk. Yes, be emotional, but also put yourself in Rebecca's shoes. She's making the right choice.

We are proud of your resolve, but sometimes it's alright to cry.

See, others aren't holding back. Let the tears flow. (Passes another tissue box down the Twitter line.)

And now that you're done, let's have a laugh, okay?

You're welcome, America.