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So, how did the Pearsons’ story end?
Silly! If you’ve been watching This Is Us for the past six seasons, you already know the answer: The Pearsons’ story will never end! After all, as Kevin told us in Season 1, “I think that’s maybe the point of the whole thing. There’s no dying. There’s no you, or me, or them… it’s just us. And this sloppy, wild, colorful, magical thing that has no beginning, no end, that’s right here? I think it’s us.”
The NBC drama’s series finale serves as a quiet epilogue to its gorgeous penultimate episode, “The Train,” which witnessed the death of Pearson matriarch Rebecca. Together, the two installments serve as a very fitting send-off for a show that stayed true to itself throughout its six-season run.
And without further ado, let’s review what happens in “Us.” (And make sure to check out our post mortem chat with series creator Dan Fogelman, as well as a breakdown of the show’s final flash-forward.)
HYMN FOR THE WEEKEND | In a flashback, Rebecca is sleeping on a Saturday morning, and Jack is watching her. He notices a scar under her eyebrow that he’s never seen before; she says she’s had it since she was a child, and it tends to become more prominent when she’s had some sun. She sleepily tells him about how, when she was little, her father used to take her to a playground and push her on the swings. One day, his watch accidentally made contact with her face as she turned her head, leaving the cut that would become the scar. She muses that being pushed in that swing by her dad “was my favorite thing in the entire world,” but that she often found it hard to be present, because she’d get preoccupied about when they’d have to stop and go home. “I really wish that I had spent more time appreciating it when it was all happening rather than worrying about when it would end,” she says softly.
When she’s done reminiscing, they realize that they have a very rare, completely commitment-free Saturday ahead of them. “What should we do?” she wonders. “Nothing,” Jack says. “Nothing sounds so nice!,” she replies happily.
Then, we get a montage of Jack and Rebecca pushing the elementary-school-age Big Three on swings, followed by Randall and Beth with Tess and Annie on swings, and Kate and Toby with little Jack on swings, and Rockstar Jack (aka Jack Damon, all grown up) and Lucy pushing their daughter, Hope, on a swing. Though we don’t know it at the time, this is the flash-forward-happy series’ final peek into the future.
SLOWING IT ALL DOWN | At breakfast, however, Jack and Rebecca’s joy at a free day is met with apathy from Kevin and Randall. Kate comes up with the idea of playing Foursquare and drawing on the driveway with chalk, which they do for a while, but then rain interferes with the outdoor plans. Before the Pearsons move inside to watch old family movies, Jack notices Kate sitting on the front porch, wistfully staring out into the storm. She says she wishes she could just slow life down, and he agrees.
Inside, Kev barely lasts five minutes before he’s stomping out of the room in a huff; Randall, too, doesn’t seem super into watching footage of The Big Three as toddlers. Rebecca follows Kevin upstairs and susses out that he’s really upset because he couldn’t do a pull-up in the President’s Physical Fitness Test. (Side note: Full transparency here — those four words still strike horror in my sedentary-as-a-kid heart.) Rebecca bucks him up by telling him that it’s OK if not everything in life comes easily, and that the big victories will be more special “when you have to work a little harder for them.” Then Kevin, in a rare moment of not being a pain in the tush, tells his mother she’s good at this kind of pep talk. It pleases her.
Meanwhile, Jack checks in on Randall, who quickly confesses that his extracurricular event didn’t get cancelled — the whole reason the Pearsons wound up with a free day — but that he lied to get out of it because he got suspended for retaliating when his fellow Mathletes were calling him “Fuzz,” making fun of the nearly nonexistent hair on his upper lip. Jack realizes that Randall is punishing himself worse than he or Rebecca ever could, so instead he takes a different tack and asks his son if he wants to learn how to shave.
Eventually, Kevin joins in. As the boys lather up and gingerly scrape their baby faces, Jack starts talking about how the first half of your life, you want to be older. But when you’re older, all you want to do is slow things down. Randall and Kevin tell him he’s being weird. “One day you’ll get it,” Jack says. When they come downstairs, showing off their new, manly mugs, they join Kate in playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey. And then, in the LAST FLASHBACK EVER, we go back to the moment when the kids were babies, and Rebecca and Jack saw the game on the shelf in the toy store. Rebecca is struck by the racial diversity of the kids on the cover (“Maybe there’s another family out there like ours”), and she demands that they buy it, because “When the world puts something this obvious in front of you, you don’t just walk away from it.” He relents, but sighs that they’re not going to use it much. (Heh.)
EULOGIES AND DEEP-FRIED OREOS | In the present, on the morning of Rebecca’s funeral, Randall hasn’t been able to prepare much in the way of remarks aside from “Mom was magic. Mom was…” Still, he maintains to Beth, he’ll be fine. She doesn’t believe him. “I think we need to bang out a Worst-Case Scenario,” she says, ribbing him about a future in which he feels the need to buy an RV and/or travel to Puerto Rico to go swimming “with Miguel’s great-grandmama’s ghost.”
Randall chuckles and reassures her that he’s appropriately sad, but he’s looking forward to their “quiet next chapter.” Then she asks him a seemingly odd question about deep-fried Oreos, but we’ll get back to that in a moment.
Outside Kevin’s house, the young cousins play Foursquare as Kate watches. Toby finds her, asks permission to cross ex-husband lines (does he do this every time they talk?), then says that Rebecca was/he is “extraordinarily proud of you.” Then he adds that he loves her, and that even though their marriage didn’t go the distance, he’d do it all over again. Later, at the church, we watch Nicky — in very Nicky fashion — tell Kevin that the moment he showed up at his trailer was the moment he started caring about living again. “You really effed up my life, kid,” he jokes.
Rebecca’s funeral takes place, and all three of her children speak, though the way the episode is edited means that we don’t hear what they say. Afterward, back at Kevin’s compound, Randall’s daughters find him sitting on the cabin’s front steps, and they wonder if he’s OK. He was up all night writing his eulogy, he says, a little dazed, “and I can’t remember a single thing I said.” What’s more, he’s realizing that he worried about losing Rebecca his entire life, “and now she’s gone.” All in all, he adds, it just feels pointless.
A BRIGHT SPOT | Annie and Tess decide to give Déja some alone time with their father; of COURSE, she says exactly the right thing. “It’s not pointless, Dad. Hey, you’ll be a grandfather, remember?” But that just makes him reminisce about the morning he and William left for their trip to Memphis in Season 1. We watch as William says goodbye to Tess and Annie (they are BABIES here!), then reflects in the hallway outside the girls’ room about how being a grandparent is ironic: You have “unconditional, easy, pure love” for someone whose life you probably won’t share for long. He wonders how much Randall’s girls will remember about him after he’s gone. “A lot,” Randall says. (Side note: Nope, that’s not CGI at work in this footage; the scene was shot years ago, was never used, and was trotted out for the finale.) Also: Of all the tender moments in this episode, William’s speech and Randall’s reply was the one that hit me hardest.
On the porch steps, Déja happily announces that her baby is a boy. “You’re going to have a grandson,” she says, asking if it’s OK if she and Malik name the kid William. “Your grandson is going to be named after a man I never met, but I know him, because I know you,” she says. So wise, that one! Randall, who has been leaking tears steadily throughout the episode, now bursts out in happy ones and leaps to his feet to celebrate the imminent arrival of another male in his very female-filled life. God, Sterling K. Brown is a GIFT.
WHAT’S NEXT? | “You have a creepy glow about you,” Kevin tells his brother when he and Kate join him on the cabin’s steps later. It’s true, too, but Randall doesn’t give up Déja’s big news. They ramble about what they’re going to do now; Kate says they’ll go on doing what Rebecca wanted them to do, living big lives full of purpose. For instance, she’s going to open up a lot of music schools for visually impaired kids. Kev is going to focus on his nonprofit and “be home more. I like my home. It took me a long time to get it.”
And Randall? The Democratic National Committee wants him to make an appearance at the Iowa State Fair (hence the deep fried Oreos thing earlier), a common precursor to a formally announced run for president of the United States. If Beth is on board, “yeah, for Mom, I might go,” he says. They do a very glurgey reenactment of their Big Three chant — in the whole episode, it was the only thing that felt unrealistic to me — and then the guys reassure Kate that they’re not going to drift apart, something that brings tears to Randall’s eyes once more. “People don’t like their presidents all weepy and stuff,” Kev teases him, but it’s good-natured.
Then they recall how Rebecca gripped Randall’s hand right before she died, and they wonder what that was all about…
‘YOU DON’T JUST WALK AWAY’ | Which brings us back to Rebecca’s midnight train to the afterlife. She and Jack are in bed in the caboose, and he remarks that he “missed that little scar” on her brow. She whispers that she’s scared, and he reassures her that she doesn’t need to be. “Hey babe, we did good,” he says. “You did so good.” She laments that there was so much more she wanted to do with their kids. “You will,” he promises.
As scenes from the post-funeral gathering show The Big Three interacting lovingly with each other and their kids, Jack promises Rebecca that she’ll be around for everything that matters. “I mean, it’s not like I want to be there for anything weird,” she quickly amends. “I don’t want to watch them shower or anything.” (Ha!) He smiles and says that won’t happen, “but you’ll be there.”
Here’s how it ends:
REBECCA | Quite a thing, isn’t it? Us finding each other in the bar that night.
JACK | Yeah, well, I mean… when the world puts something that obvious in front of you, you don’t just walk away. You ready?
REBECCA | I don’t want to leave them.
JACK | You don’t. You’ll see. I love you.
REBECCA | I love you.
Then they clasp hands — just like she grabbed Randall’s — and that’s that.
Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the series finale? Grade it — and the season as a whole — via the polls below, then hit the comments with allllll of your reactions!
I liked it! The Randall focus, as always, surprised me (I’ll never quite understand it, but it’s not unwelcome). I didn’t weep, but I peacefully felt all the emotions in a way that was nice. I was surprised there wasn’t a twist turn, but overall it was a very sweet goodbye.
I was hoping for one less scene with Randall, replaced with one with Kevin.
Same. Was hoping the last two would have a little more Kevin and Sophie.
Randall is a lot sometimes.
Agree. Of all the kids, I feel Kevin got the least attention. The few episodes that have featured him showed stellar talent. It also changed my mind about the character. Didn’t think much of Kevin until that scene on the lawn when he lost his pendant, his connection to his father. What acting! And poor Kevin! He became my second favorite character (after Jack), and, IMO, showed the most growth of all the kids.
Quotes at the end of the recap are backwards.
I loved the whole episode. The the parallels were amazing. My favorite scene is the cut scene From MEMPHIS . Deja naming the baby William got to me.
I hope a spinoff happens in the future with Randall and his family.
SAME! I got “misty” over the William & Randall scene, then actually choked up over Deja naming the baby William!
I would watch Jack Damon and his wife and kids. His sister and the twins…I think we would still see The Big Three once in awhile…they’d be old but whatever.
I totally agree! I would like for a series to be built around Jack Damon. Take us through his childhood struggles with being blind. Of the way music gave him meaning and purpose in his life. Take us along on his journey of emerging as a superstar with a beautiful wife and child. Show us their daily interactions; can’t we feel that Jack Damon will be the ultimate father just as his grandfather and name-sake was?
Super happy Randall is getting another boy in his family. Great reaction. But Deja naming him William. She admits she never met William and she feels knows him because she knows Randall?? Randal was not raised by William. They had 7 months together. He was raised by Jack and Rebecca. If she knows Randall is is not William she is knowing. My two cents. Otherwise very sweet.
Yes, thank you! It felt extremely forced. Didn’t make sense at all. If it was Tess who was naming a kid after William, I would still understand. Sloppy moment in an otherwise kind of sweet finale.
DITTO!!!
The finale was good but I don’t understand why Randall got so much focus. It should have been more even. And no mention of Kyle?
Kyle was mentioned in last week’s episode by Dr. K during the train ride. This week was about the Big Three in their preteens and their 50s. Kyle was never part of their lives, so why would he be mentioned?
What a fantastic ending. Gave us closure and an open ending. It had just enough nostalgia and just enough of the present. Excellent series finale. I am happy.
Perfect ending. Love this show. Thank you.
This was not my cup of tea. Would have tacked the last five minutes on to last week’s great episode and ended it there. This episode was nice, but incredibly slow and just felt like a nothing burger. I also hate that they didn’t include Kyle in some way on the train – real missed opportunity for a powerful moment.
All in all a good show that meandered and faltered at time. I enjoyed it, but glad it ended now rather than dragging on for 15 seasons when interesting stories are long gone.
Exactly!
Would of liked to see what happed to Keven’s daughter and Kate’s daughter. Little bit too much of Randall in this episode for me. But I got the message of Life goes on.
Maybe they will come up with a new show staring the Big 3.
I legit kind of already don’t remember a thing from this episode.
I’m all for “stick to what made the show great” and I love a low-key finale, but that almost felt like…filler?
I agree. Felt like just another episode and a slow one at that. Felt like just another episode. Nothing all that substantive happened in the present funeral scenes – I would tacked the last five-ish minutes of this on to last week’s great episode and ended it there. With Jack talking Rebecca through how its all going to be alright, set to scenes from their life together and scenes of her funeral / life after she’s gone. They probably could have even worked in a couple of the nice moments from this week (i.e. Toby/Kate, Nicky/Kevin, and Beth’s hilarious take on Randall’s grief) to last week if they gave them an extra 5-10 minutes.
I agree. It felt like a filler. Like they had shot those scenes for the finale and didn’t want to let it go to waste. They should have just super-sized last week’s episode with parts of this episode and just make it a 90 minute series finale. They could have still kept the flash forward and funeral scenes.
Agreed. This episode would have worked better if it was part of a back to back two hour send off. Really, it was just a scheduling issue.
I agree.
Agreed.
Totally agree.
Agree
I agree.
Life goes on, so no big send off.
It was just okay! I get what they were going for, but it just wasn’t the epic conclusion that I was expecting. I wish we could’ve continued time jumping and focused on the timeline with Older Jack (as a musician). Then again, no finale could ever match up to a person’s imagination, so take what I said with a grain of salt.
However, I’m pleased with the series as a whole. I feel like everything is resolved and settled. I’m looking forward to future rewatches of this incredible series.
I thought it was excellent. It was simple and circled back to what the show was ultimately all about. And after the horrific events of today, the message couldn’t have been any more timelier and needed. We’ll always have the opportunity to stream the series. But I am gonna miss having new episodes and seasons.
Way too much Randall. It’s the big 3 but so very little of Kevin and Kate as adults. It’s not the Randall show
Yeah it’s always been heavy on the Randall side. It got a bit annoying sometimes.
It was about the last day of Rebecca and Randell always had the strongest connection to her. It should have focused on him the most. If it was Jack I think it would have been Kate, and she and Kevin had a huge arc this season. It started with Randell connecting with William and he did lose the most in the whole show, so it is no surprise he took center stage.
A little disappointed. Especially because of all of the hype. Too much Randall. Should have split the time equally between the three of them. Overall an excellent show, excellent writing and acting
I honestly don’t know if there is ever a “perfect” way to give a show a final good-bye/sendoff but with that being said I felt like the finale was very fitting for this show….excuse me now as I continue my crying and mourning of one the best shows ever on tv…goodbye dear friend
I do believe there have been series that did nail their final episode. I can think of three right off the bat: MASH, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Barney Miller.
I was somewhat disappointed in this one.
Great choices. Six Feet Under was also extremely well done.
Agreed! I’d add Newhart to the list.
Newhart probably had the best finale of all time.
Yes! I forgot about Newhart – excellent ending! And that ending was such a surprise! Great job!
After 6 AMAZING years, I don’t know what I was expecting from the finale….but it wasn’t that.
“The Train” is my finale. Add this to the list of series finales I won’t be watching again
This last episode felt like an epilogue, not terribly important and people can skip it without diminishing the impact of the series.
But I did love the conversation between almost dead Rebecca and Jack. I’ve lost a lot of people in my life, so gave me a bit of hope they are still around somehow.
Thought it was just ok. As other’s have said, it could have been better split with all three getting more equal time. The only scene that really got me for some reason was the “swing montage,” maybe because as a little girl I loved playing on the swings more than anything.
I liked it. It was a very simple quiet goodbye to a loving family. Loved the flashback to Jack teaching his boys how to shave. Jack was right. It’s the little moments that we always try to remember and hold on to, in our lives.
The series finale minus all the funeral stuff should have been the season three finale. Last weeks episode should have really been the finale. I found the episode to be really slow with scenes that went on way too long. I would’ve loved to have heard the eulogies. I would’ve also love to have spent more time in the future than in the past. I still have a lot of unanswered questions. Not all shows can have brilliant endings like Six Feet Under. It wasn’t as bad as How I Met Your mother but it was kind of Meh. That’s just my opinion.
I agree with you completely.
You want the last 3 seasons not to have existed?
No, she’s saying that all the flashback scenes, and they were a lot, made sense at the end of season 3.
The series is all about flashbacks, from Rebecca and Jack as kids onward. The flashbacks served to inform the present-day scenes. So, put them all at the end of season 3? Doesn’t make sense.
Lot of Jan Brady wannabes in the comments with the “Randall, Randall,Randall” posts. Lol.
Hi Peter 😂
The best looking Brady. I’ll take it!
Seriously. Although I did find the episode a bit boring. I thought the last 15 minutes was great, but the rest was just kinda blah. And the flashback with the kids was unnecessary. Seems like they could have made last week’s episode and extra half hour long and made it the finale.
I know huh? However, I agree it would have been more fitting to have featured all 3 more equally. Ironically, Randall is probably my favorite character and I usually love his centric episodes but this one fell kind of flat to me. Last week’s was so great. However, it may have been good as a part 2 of a finale and that would have adjusted people’s expectations
Meh. Not gonna lie, wished this was last week’s episode and the Train ended it all. That episode is beyond compare. But oh well. LOVED this show.
I thought this was really lovely. A mixture of remember the small moments, and life goes on. I think it was Mandy Moore who said the episode was kind of like an epilogue. That’s a great way to describe it.
Not what I was hoping for. I get it, the simplicity of being together and it all going by so fast. Was hoping to be moved emotionally a little more. I really thought they’d wrap it all up with Kevins picture and show the families more. End it with them all together some how. It can’t be perfect, but definitely was hoping for more. Sad to see it go none the less.
I’m disappointed in the series finale. Definitely expected something completely different. The TRAIN is the finale for me. I cried more watching it then the actual finale
This final episode sounds like Supernatural series finale which should of ended the episode before.
Wish last week’s episode was the finale, it was so incredible. Didn’t even shed a tear tonight. Some cute moments and William’s speech was lovely, but overall just underwhelmed. I will miss it, and I will really miss all the spirited debates and comments you all posted here during the series entire run.
Agree with everything you said.
I wish the series ended the way you described it fading to black after Jack and Rebecca clasped hands. That would have been a great ending! But instead we got Jack and Randall staring at each other. SMH
Ya I don’t agree with all the previous posts, I thought it was pretty well balanced episode. But I agree with you. Why end on an image of Jack and Randall. The whole family or just Jack and Rebecca. Fade to black.
It ended with Jack staring at his family, taking in the little moments. Not a bad way to go at all.