To quote Phoebe Bridgers, “The end is near” for the Pearson family. Tonight marks the beginning of the sixth and final season of NBC’s This Is Us.
It’s hard to believe that this show has been in our lives since 2016. My dad deserves all the credit for my fandom as it was him who suggested that I would like the show after a few episodes into Season 1. The old man knows what I like so golf clap to him.
Speaking of family, we last saw the Pearsons sitting down in Adirondack chairs after Madison called off her wedding with Kevin. For one of the worst moments in someone’s life, Kevin handled it quite well and even smiled which leads me to believe it was for the best.
With Season 6 upon us, the journey to Kevin’s house begins tonight. Like the previous four seasons, I will be recapping every episode on Wednesdays. Before that, here’s a quick season preview with some predictions of what lies ahead on This Is Us.
*Optional: Listen to “I Know the End” while reading the preview and predictions. Be prepared to scream at the top of your lungs by the end of the article. Playing the air-sax is also optional.
Season 6 Preview
“Sometimes you’ve got to go back, to move forward.” – Matthew McConaughey
Let’s follow Matthew’s advice and briefly recap the Season 5 finale.
- Madison and Kevin agree to call off the wedding.
- Rebecca asks Kevin to build her the house she always wanted.
- Kate agrees to try a long-distance relationship after Toby receives a job offer in San Francisco.
- Rebecca aplogizes to Randall for witholding knowldge about William for upwards of 30 years.
Flash-forward from Season 5 finale:
- Kevin is at a wedding in the future. He’s practicing a speech in the mirror, but it’s not for him.
- Big Three Construction is a real thing.
- Kevin has a girlfriend (women’s clothes in his room), but who?
- Randall has a “Rising Star” profile in a magazine.
- Uncle Nicky is alive and married.
- Beth and Madison are still alive.
- Kevin is 45 so this flash-forward is about five years into the future.
- Madison and Kevin seem to be on good terms. I did not spot wedding rings on their fingers, but both seem to be cordial and happy.
- The location is Kate’s second wedding.
- Kate is marrying… PHILLIP FROM MUSIC SCHOOL.
- Kate and Toby are divorced.
The stage is set for Season 6. We’ve seen five years into the future when the Big Three are 45. We’ve seen 10 (?) or so years into the future at Kevin’s house. Now, it’s time for Season 6 to fill in all the details of how the characters reach those two checkpoints.
I encourage every fan to read Dan Fogelman’s interview with Entertainment Weekly about how Season 6 will be the show’s “most ambitious” season to date. Fogelman mentioned family, time, and memory as the show’s core themes. Using those themes, there are four major storylines to address before the series ends.
- Rebecca’s battle with Alzheimer’s
- The dissolution of Kate and Toby’s marriage as well as the journey to Kate’s remarriage to Phillip
- Kevin’s career and love life
- Randall’s political rise and how it affects his family
If there’s a fifth bullet point, it would revolve around Miguel and his relationship with Rebecca especially in the early days of their courtship.
Safe to say there’s a lot of ground to cover for Fogelman and the writers. It’s very ambitious to resolve all of these storylines that will leave fans satisfied so I’m expecting some discourse, especially around Kate and Phillip. I highly doubt infidelity will lead to the dissolution of their marriage. Imagine Kate stayed after class one day and Phillip went in for a kiss after they sang a Fleetwood Mac song. I’ll save that for the soap opera spinoff.
Hopefully, you’ve reached the third verse of “I Know the End” so it’s time to make predictions as the song speeds up. I’d like to think I have a good track record of predictions on This Is Us. I correctly predicted the brotherly feud would end around the birth of Kevin’s twins, and I’m very confident that Rebecca will die in the series finale. However, it might be time to take the L on my “Kate will die” theory.
Season 6 Predictions
Miguel Dies: Chrissy Metz teased that this season will mark the end for “two very important characters.” One of these characters has to be Rebecca. I’m predicting that the other character will be Miguel. It would be fitting for Miguel to finally get his episode in the spotlight, only for it to be revealed in a flash-forward that he died.
Kevin Meets His Eventual Wife During The Construction Of Rebecca’s House: Kevin is going to be the leading force behind “Big Three Construction.” He’s also going to find love. Rekindling with Sophie or Madison are the easy choices so I’m predicting that we haven’t met his wife just yet. Perhaps Kevin meets her while building the house and asks her to eventually move in.
Predictions I previously made that could come true:
Nicky Pretends To Be Married To Rebecca: This is my outrageous prediction. In the flash-forward, Nicky is wearing a wedding ring while sitting next to a dying Rebecca. There’s no chance in hell that Nicky marries Rebecca. However, since Rebecca’s memory is shot, Nicky pretends to be Jack on the surface since most of her memories are gone and she only remembers Jack. Nicky wears the wedding ring and acts like Jack even though he’s serving as Rebecca’s caretaker. It’s an odd prediction, but a spicy take.
Rebecca Will Die In The Series Finale: Rebecca will die in the bed surrounded by her loved ones in the series finale. Rebecca’s death will complete the circle of life.
Here’s to one last season with the Pearson family. To quote Bridgers for the last time, “Yeah, I guess the end is here.”
What are your predictions for the final season of This Is Us? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us, @unafraidshow.
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