This Tiny Detail In 'This Is Us' Has Fans SO Confused About That New Kate Twist

When This Is Us Season 4 ended, the focus was squarely on Randall and Kevin's fight. Over the extended break between seasons, most of the theories and gossip also centered on the two brothers. How and when would they make up? Could a rift this deep be mended, or would there always be a chasm between them? But in the background, both actor Chrissy Metz and showrunner Dan Fogelman reminded viewers not to forget about Kate, promising she had a big secret to spill in Season 5. Now that the season seemingly revealed Teenage Kate was pregnant in This Is Us (in a scene in which she appears to be holding an ovulation test — more on that later), fans are getting a sense of where Kate’s story is leading this season.

Warning: Spoilers for This Is Us Season 5, Episode 4 follow. The good news is, Kate's trip to see her potential baby's birth mother Ellie get an ultrasound went well. Not only is the baby healthy, but also, Ellie isn't having a change of heart about Kate and Toby as parents. Even after Kate surprised her with Chloe as a possible baby name, which Ellie disliked, she did not waver. Ellie was resolute that not only was she making the right choice in putting her unborn child up for adoption, but these were the right people to adopt her.

In telling Kate all this, Ellie admitted how she considered having an abortion before going the adoption route. She got as far as the clinic before realizing it wasn't the right choice for her. Ellie's gut said no, and she listened. That's why she said she trusts those same instincts now, with Kate and Toby.

Surprisingly, Kate seemed rattled by Ellie's almost-abortion story, though she insisted she wasn’t judging Ellie for her choice. It wasn't until Kate got home that day and sat down with Toby that she began to explain her reaction to what she learned. She admitted to Toby that there was something she’d never told anyone — not her mother, not her brothers, no one. As the scene flashed back to what seems to be just days after Kate and Marc's fateful trip to the cabin and Rebecca's ride to the rescue, Kate was seen turning down a trip to New York to visit Kevin and Sophie. She insisted she wanted to stay home and watch Dawson's Creek with her friend, but as Rebecca nodded and said goodbye, it was obvious this was a lie.

Instead, the scene jumped to Kate standing in her bathroom, holding what at first glance looked to be a pregnancy test. But fans aren’t totally sure this is the whole story, As fans noted on Twitter, Kate wasn’t actually holding a pregnancy test box. Instead, it was an ovulation test kit, designed to measure a woman’s menstrual cycle to determine when one is most likely to get pregnant. Some suspect this was a props department mistake, and that this scene really was meant to convey the start of Teenage Kate’s pregnancy storyline (which fans believe ended in an abortion). However, others think a slip-up this obvious is unlikely for a detail-oriented show like This Is Us, and that there’s more to the story here: Did Kate unwittingly buy the wrong kind of test? Or was she actually trying to get pregnant with Marc?

Regardless of how things play out, the scene with Ellie and the history of Kate's teenage years (which fans know does not include giving birth) is leading fans to infer that a young Kate got pregnant (by accident or on purpose) and had an abortion without any loved ones around to support her — and she never told a soul until now.

This Is Us resumes Tuesday, Jan. 5, at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Editor's Note: This post was updated to include details about the ovulation kit in Season 5, Episode 4.