Season one, episode twelve steps entirely away from the present-day timeline to revisit the day of the Pearson triplets' birth — September 9, 1980 — through three parallel storylines unfolding in real time. Jack and Rebecca spend the day out of sync: she forgets his birthday, he goes golfing, they reconcile just as her water breaks. Obstetrician Dr. Katowski, fourteen months into grief after losing his wife of 53 years, spends the day at her grave admitting he is not sure he wants to continue — and is then paged in to handle the delivery. Firefighter Joe, who asked that morning for a miracle to save his failing marriage, finds baby Randall at the fire station door and brings him to the hospital where the Pearsons have just lost their third triplet.

The episode reframes the pilot's origin story by showing every event that made it possible as ...