The Pearsons are gearing up for a big farewell, possibly in more ways than one.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, This Is Us will end after its upcoming sixth season. This has been a theory for several years now, as creator Dan Fogelman has always been adamant that he knew where and how the story would conclude. In 2018, he revealed that scenes from the series finale had already been shot, and he has previously referred to the season three finale as the series' "midpoint."
When the show was renewed for three seasons at once in 2019, it was generally thought that those three seasons would be the show's last. Now that that theory seems to be correct, it's time to talk about how things might wrap up over the final season.
After we learned how Jack died in season two, the show began looking forward instead of backwards. Bits and pieces of flash forward scenes revealed a family gathering in the early 2030s, all centered around a very old and sick Rebecca (Mandy Moore).
Each time we've gotten a glimpse of this future, we've learned a new detail about the lives of this family at that point—a wedding ring on Nicky's (Griffin Dunne) finger, confusion in Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby's (Chris Sullivan) relationship and kids for Kevin (Justin Hartley).
Our instinct tells us that the family has come together because Rebecca is dying, and her death feels like a perfectly poetic way to end the series.
When Fogelman revealed that parts of the series finale have already been filmed, Milo Ventimiglia said he knew how it all ended while Sullivan did not. We're already bracing ourselves for a sort of afterlife reunion for Jack and Rebecca.
For now, here's everything the show has told us about the future so far.
We knew about Kevin's middle-school-aged son since we saw him as the family gathered for Rebecca, and as of season five, we know his name: Nicholas!
Kevin's daughter was a surprise from the season four finale, since Madison revealed she was pregnant with twins. Her name is Frances.
We saw Kevin rediscover a sketch his dad had made of the house he wanted to build, and now we know he had that house built on the hill next to the family cabin.
By the time this family gathering takes place 12 years after the birthday party at the cabin, Kevin and Randall have apparently mended their rift. We saw them work through their issues in season five, so it's nice to see that they can still be in the same room together.
Despite some questions about whether Randall and Beth's marriage might make it, they're still happily together in the future, which is good to know.
He says when he arrives at Kevin's house that he talked to Jack, and "they're on their way." We assume that "they" includes Kate, but we don't know, since there's no mention of her. Kate is one of the few who has not yet appeared in this future story yet (along with Miguel).
Nicky plays a significant role in the family by the time they all gather in Kevin's house in the future. He's sitting by Rebecca's bedside, and Randall asked about him when he arrived at the house. He is also wearing a wedding ring.
By 12 years in the future, Rebecca's health seems to have deteriorated. Randall has to reintroduce himself when he visits her.
This is what Kevin looks like in the future. That's all.
Kate and Toby's son Jack grows up to be a successful singer. In the latest flashforward, he and his wife Lucy have just had a new baby named Hope.
The season four finale revealed that Kate and Toby were adopting a daughter, revealed to be played in the future by Adelaide Kane. Her name is Hailey, she works at an art gallery, and she dropped everything to be there to visit her brother's new baby in the hospital.
The season five episode "The Ride" finally introduced adult Deja (La Trice Harper) and adult Annie (Iyana Hailey) and brought all of Randall and Beth's daughters together for the first time in the future. We learned that at the time of this gathering around Rebecca's bedside, Deja is studying to be a doctor and is secretly pregnant, and she and Annie are close enough for Annie to be one of the few who knows. Annie also seems to know a lot about babies!
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
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