When Associated Press journalist and Marine Corps veteran James LaPorta agreed to advise the NBC-TV show “This Is Us” about depicting the military authentically, he found more than he'd bargained for.

"Part of me was like, I know I'm wrong. I have to assume from all angles that anything can go wrong, and I'm going to assert and I'll be cool to a point, but if you step over that line, I'm going to protect this girl. And I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going to do something!" Mitchell Haddad/NBCWoven in between the extremely awkward dinner between Randall and Beth and Malik's parents --- which Randall had named "Destination: Splitsville Dejik!" Mitchell Haddad/NBC"Jack and Rebecca love Randall.

Meet Blake Stadnik, the newcomer playing Kate and Toby's grown-up son on This Is Us. The fourth season of NBC's family drama kicked off on Tuesday with three seemingly disparate storylines introducing several new faces. As revealed in the closing minutes of the season opener, the singer turns out to be none other than Kate and Toby's adult son, Jack (Stadnik), named after Kate's late father. Creator Dan Fogelman shared that it was always the plan to have Jack, whose premature birth was explored last season, be blind. Fogelman confirmed that Kate and Toby's son would be about 12 years old, or "in his teens or pre-teens," in that period with Rebecca and the "her" mystery.

While we wait for the mysteries of these new characters to unfold, you can watch the season four trailer below for clues. "Our first two episodes of this season are two of those and it's a big, bold, potentially polarizing -- but in the best possible way -- start to the season." "It's a really ambitious season," Fogelman said. I can't tell [you] much about the storyline, but I think the first episode... people will be talking about it. Added co-star Justin Hartley, "Some new characters being introduced, some new relationships are going to be evolving."

In celebration of the Big 3's birthday, NBC dropped the official trailer for season four of This Is Us -- and it's a doozy. Like, how are these new characters -- whose details are being kept close to the vest -- connected to the Pearson family? Which Pearson family members do they interact with? Creator Dan Fogelman hinted that the way the season opens could be "potentially polarizing." "Our first two episodes of this season are two of those and it's a big, bold, potentially polarizing -- but in the best possible way -- start to the season."