The Big Three and everyone else n the cast involved in NBC’s hit drama, This Is Us took to the podium at tonight’s 25th Annual SAG Awards when the series and its actors were named Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

This is the second consecutive year, This Is Us had taken home the trophy in this category.

Speaking on behalf of the cast were Mandy Moore and Justin Hartley (Ex-Adam, Y&R) after the show bested the other nominees in the category which included: The Americans, Better Call Saul, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Ozark.

When Hartley spoke at the podium he said of the win: “Thank you so much for embracing a show that is about life and it’s unpredictable loss and its sweet, sweet victories and inclusivity, all of that amazing stuff.” He then added, “Thank you to all of our parents up here for feeling randy because otherwise we wouldn’t be here!”

When Mandy Moore spoke she started off by stating: “It’s going to be a minute, there’s quite a few of us!”  On-stage with her were cast members: Milo Ventimiglia, Chrissy Metz, Niles Fitch, Mackenzie Hancsicsak, Faithe Herman, Jon Huertas, Melanie Liburd, Lyric Moss, Chris Sullivan, Susan Kelechi Watson and Hannah Zeile.

Earlier in the night, Sterling K. Brown lost his bid at the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series when Jason Bateman pulled out a win for his performance in Ozark.

Now below, watch Hugh Grant name This Is Us as Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series and their acceptance speech. Then let us know, if you are excited that This Is Us was named the winner in their category!

.@nbcthisisus receives the Actor® for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series! #sagawards 🎭 pic.twitter.com/6vUEcAe5Ru

— SAG Awards® (@SAGawards) January 28, 2019

If you caught Tuesday night’s episode of This Is Us, you saw television drama at its best, and one of the best installments of this heart-tugging series, doing what it does best – intertwining past and present day storytelling, and revealing a shocking truth that will have a ripple effect for the Big Three and Rebecca.

The episode was a beautifully scripted hour of TV called, “Songbird Road Part 1”.  The title refers to the address of where the very much alive Nick (brother of Jack) is living 166 miles outside of Pittsburgh.

In the past, we see Jack receiving postcards from his brother under the alias “Clark Kent” or “C. K.” and reaching out to him over an extended period of time, trying to reconnect.  Jack hides all of the postcards.  When one of them shows up at his home mailbox, and it reads “Last one”, Jack decides to take a Saturday trip to see his brother, and lies to Rebecca as to where he is headed.

In the present day, the Big Three set out on a road trip to find their Uncle Nick, now that Kevin’s journey to Vietnam and back has revealed that Jack lied to everyone – telling them that his younger brother died, when he is actually alive.  Seeking the truth and to locate him, Randall, Kevin and at first a reluctant Kate, set out to the address on the postcard Kevin has.  Rebecca does not want to go, obviously, struggling with the fact that Jack never let on during their marriage that his brother was alive.

Courtesy/NBC

As the parallel trips unfold (in the past and the present), the Big Three arrive at Nick’s trailer and are stunned.  When they knock, there is no one there, but shortly after that a now older Nick (played by Griffin Dunne) arrives with booze in his hand,  The Pearsons tell them they are Jack’s children, but they also let them know that Jack is dead.

Now inside the trailer, Kevin broaches the subject of Jack and the war, asking Nick why Jack told his family that he was dead.  Nick gets upset and tells them to leave, but Kate refuses to do so, and demands to know what happened.

We go back in time to Vietnam, and to Nick sleeping on the beach and befriending a young Vietnamese boy, who turns out to be the son of the woman that Jack cared about while in the war.  Nick recounts what we have already seen; that there was an explosion on the lake and Jack dives into the water.  But, there was more to the story.   What actually happened was the young boy and Nick go fishing and Nick’s method of getting the fish to catch is to throw a grenade into the water and wait for the fish to float to the surface.

Courtesy/NBC

Things go horribly awry when Nick hoists a second grenade.  It’s at that point the boy tries to grab it and Nick tries to get it from him. B ut, in the scuffle, the grenade ends up on the floor of the boat,  Nick screams for the boy to get off the boat, but he sadly doesn’t understand English. Nick quickly dives into the water, but the boy is killed.

In the present, Nick tells the Big Three that he never got the chance to tell Jack that it was an accident.  Jack must have believed that based on Nick’s anti-Vietnamese attitude that he set out to kill the boy.  After the story is told, Nick asks how Jack died, and Randall tells him that he saved all of them from a fire and died from smoke inhalation shortly thereafter.  Nick is overcome and tells them all to leave.

In the past, when Jack shows up to tell Nicky (Michael Angarano) to stop writing to him, he refuses to let Nicky talk about what happened in Vietnam.  It is a very emotional moment for the two of them as Nicky wanted to tell Jack what happened.  Jack makes the decision to leave his Vietnam past and brother behind, compartmentalize it, and take one direction in his life to not look back.  We see Jack at a crossroads.  He can turn right to Pittsburgh to be with his family, or turn left to Bradford to help his brother.  He chooses Pittsburgh.

Courtesy/NBC

Now in the heartbreaking ending, after their visit to Nick, the Big Three stop at the same convenience store that Jack did all those years ago, (before he left his brother behind for good) to get some snacks.  It’s in that moment that Kevin decides to turn the car around and go back to Nick, refusing to leave him alone like his father did.  When they return, Nick is mumbling with a gun by his side, contemplating suicide, saying he never go to tell Jack that the explosion was an accident.  Randall takes the gun.  Kevin puts his hand on Nick’s shoulder.  We fade to black,

Kudos to the performances of Griffin Dunne, Michael Angarano, Justin Hartley and Milo Ventimigilia who made this episode soar.

So, what did you think of the episode? Will Nick be integrated into the Pearsons present day life?  Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

Now this seems like perfect casting! This Is Us revealed that they have brought on none other than Phylicia Rashad to play the mother of Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson).

Rashad will appear in the second half of the NBC popular drama’s third season, and more specifically in the much-talked about episode that focuses on Beth’s backstory.  Beth’s mother’s name is Carol.

TV  viewers know Rashad best as Claire Huxtable from The Cosby Show.  Phylicia is also currently being seen in a recurring role on Fox’s sudsy Empire as Diana Dubois. She was also back on the big screen in 2018 in Creed II, reprising her role as Mary Ann Creed.

This Is Us returns for the back-half of its third season beginning next week with the  Tuesday, January 15th episode. (9PMET/PT)

EW.com broke this casting news.

So, what do you think about the choice of Rashad as Beth’s Mom? Comment below.