'This Is Us' spoilers: expect more of Dr. K and his story when the NBC show returns in January
By the midseason finale of "This Is Us," the show treated fans to a reunion with Dr. K (Gerald McRaney) — the kind-looking, fatherly figure who helped Rebecca (Mandy Moore) deliver the twins and then helped Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) when he felt so lost about being a dad for the first time. As it turns out, this will not be the last of him being seen in the show as the good doctor is due to appear in another episode or two on the NBC hit series.
When Deadline spoke with show creator Dan Fogelman, he revealed that in some of the next couple of installments after the mandatory break, "This Is Us" will be exploring more of Dr. K's story, to the point that fans would even have a glimpse of his life even before the Jack and a very pregnant Rebecca came into his life.
"Gerald is so wonderful in the pilot, we always want to bring him back whenever we, organically, can. It's hard though, because he's their doctor and you don't exactly go to the doctor every day (nor do you want Dr. K peeking over the fence every episode after he moves in next door)," the TV exec said. "But this episode lent to it ... we also have a LOT of Dr. K in the next two episodes after we return from the break. One episode I am particularly excited about delves (partially) into what Dr. K was doing in the 24 hours before he got the call to fill in and deliver the triplets for Jack and Rebecca," he went on to say.
The last time fans have seen the veteran doctor was a couple of years after he delivered Kate and Kevin on a particular Christmas Eve. The family trotted to the emergency room when Kate suddenly suffers an appendicitis while Dr. K was dealing with some health issues himself as well. By the end of the episode, he got out of the table alive with Jack and Rebecca seeing him opening his eyes. Although it was quite difficult to say whether he is already out of danger or not. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that his family was noticeably absent during his trying times. In the debut installment of the show, he tells the story of him losing his wife to cancer a year before Rebecca gave birth and was the sole reason for him still working so as to keep his mind off of the tragedy.
With a bit of backstory for him coming "This Is Us" way, fans may have a better understanding of how his relationships with the Pearsons flourished through the years. And just maybe, some sort of connection between him and the family has not been revealed as of yet.
"This Is Us" returns for the latter half of its debut season on Jan. 10, 2017 on NBC.