That Heartbreaking Shock At The End Of 'This Is Us' Left Fans Speechless

Tuesday night's new episode of This Is Us was supposed to be all about Kevin, but it actually ended with a heartbreaking revelation about his sister, Kate. Spoiler alert: Don't read on until you've seen Season 2 Episode 8 of This Is Us. In an episode entirely devoted to Kevin's self-destruction over his worsening addiction issues, he is finally prepared to admit his struggles to Randall, but is stopped in his tracks when he finds out Kate lost her baby. The reveal of Kate's miscarriage on This Is Us obviously caused a huge stir among fans of the show, which will carry into next week's Kate-focused episode.

Although the new episode, entitled "Number One," was focused nearly entirely on Kevin's continued fall from grace due to his recent pill addiction, the emotional right hook at the end actually came from Kate's storyline. There were some clue throughout the episode that something big was coming up involving Kate — while Kevin was attending an alumni award ceremony at his old high school, he kept getting calls from Kate and Toby, but didn't answer them. Honestly, I was kind of assuming they were probably calling out of worry because Kevin had gone off the grid during a painkiller bender, but the end of the episode reveals that they were actually contacting him to let him know Kate had a miscarriage.

The timing of this news adds an extra layer of tragedy to the whole situation, because it comes right when Kevin is about to finally open up to Randall about his drug addiction and possibly get some help after all these weeks of hiding his destructive behavior. But of course, after he hears about Kate losing the baby, he decides against bringing up his own issues.

Randall Pearson actor Sterling K. Brown summarized the heartbreaking moment that Kevin and the rest of us found out about Kate's tragic news well on Twitter:

And that final moment will lead into next week's episode, which is called "Number Two" and will — you guessed it — be all about Kate and the news of her miscarriage. The promo for next week's episode shows Kate and Toby reeling after learning the news, and mourning together. The newly engaged couple had only just found out that Kate was pregnant a couple episodes ago, but now that whole predicted storyline of the Kate and Toby getting married and raising a child together looks like it's not going to be happening... at least not right now.

Of course, the tragic news caused fans of the show to absolutely lose it on Twitter. Check out some of the fan responses to Kate's heart-rending moment below:

But Kate's miscarriage didn't get every viewer to cry — the emotional twist actually received some backlash against the writers online, with some fans of the show arguing the miscarriage plot device may have been needlessly cruel to Kate. But then again, like... if you're watching This Is Us, then you should probably be expecting the most tragic, tear-inducing thing to happen at the end of every episode — that's kinda what this show is known for. Check out some of the backlash over the moment below:

But whether the emotional reveal of the miscarriage could have been handled better or not, we will get to learn much more about the tragic new development in next week's episode, which is all about Kate. And after that, we have a solely Randall-focused episode to look forward to as well to close out the mini-series all about the Big Three. If both of those episodes are as heart-breaking as Kevin's was, then start stocking up on tissues now.