I was right there with you. This is Us, big season finale, the biggest question that loomed almost the entire season would be answered. But it wasn’t. This is Us pulled off the Big Season Finale that Wasn’t.
Or was it?
RUN AND AVERT YOUR GAZE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW HOW THE THIS IS US SEASON FINALE – OR ANY OTHER EPISODE – WENT! THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!
The Big Lead-In
We know from several episodes this season that the family patriarch of the Pearson clan does not have a neatly tied up, happy ending on the horizon. We got the hint of it when Rebecca turned up at a family event with Miguel, Jack’s best friend. There were other glimpses – a quick flashback to Papa Pearson’s funeral, with The Big Three seemingly in their late teens; an urn that watches the ballgame with Kate; Randall and his dad visiting that place where the family scattered Jack’s ashes; and Kate’s declaration that she is the cause of Papa Pearson’s untimely demise.
With all this big lead-in, I think we felt entitled to our answer. We wanted to see the car crash and burn from Jack’s alcoholic road trip. My mind quickly raced to Ben beating Jack, his rival for Rebecca’s affections, into a bloody, unrecognizable pulp. He would end up in the hospital, and we would have to wait until next season to see that he didn’t survive. Kate implied she was to blame for his death, so part of me thought he would come into the house after running away from Rebecca, and maybe Kate would accidentally shoot the unexpected intruder that turned out to be her dad. Oh, I hashed this bitch out. There was not a way this season was going to end that I hadn’t already figured out.
Boom, There it Is
But then, where I least expected it, was the Big Season Finale. We were so hell bent on this season finale answering the question about how Jack dies that we didn’t see it coming. The cliffhanger. The set up for next season – maybe for the unfortunate passing of Jack Pearson.
Where do they go from here?
That’s the cliffhanger. We weren’t watching and they slipped it right in on us. Every eye was on Jack’s every moment, waiting for his last breath to finally be revealed, and like David Copperfield’s most skillfully executed illusion, boom, there was the cliffhanger.
What happens next for Jack and Rebecca?
People, she KICKED HIM OUT!! Is it over for them? Does he move in with Miguel, leaving the door open for Miguel to move in on the Pearson clan? There have been hints that the triplets don’t have the warm fuzzies for Miguel – is this why? Does Jack continue to drink?
And then, when those of us that weren’t stunned by the lack of Jack’s death collected our thoughts and turned them back to the living, breathing Papa Pearson, he gives the speech of the season. He professes his love for Rebecca and his wish that their children be told the truth about the state of the marriage. He professes his love and his devotion to this marriage, Rebecca says nothing, and then it’s done. And we’re left with this cliffhanger – is it over?
But Wait, There’s More
And if that wasn’t enough of a cliffhanger for you, there were mini baby cliffhangers. Does Kevin leave his newly rekindled relationship to audition for Ron Howard, or does he stop short of getting on the plane, realizing this is what killed that relationship the first time around. Will Randall’s wife agree to adopting a baby? And why does Randall want to adopt? Is it to honor his father(s), to fill a gap left by his bio dad’s passing, or is it because he was entangled in establishing his career when his daughters were born, and now is his chance to nurture a new baby? And what about Kate, who is seemingly ready to pick up the mic her mom dropped? What does her decision to try a career in singing mean to her relationship with Toby? Or her mom?
No Who Shot JR
I think we were looking for – maybe hoping for – a Who Shot JR? moment. Television has so conditioned us to see Negan with the barbed wire bat, listen for it to hit someone in the head, and then spend six months in a mix of stunned silence and angry anticipation. But this is a skillfully written, brilliantly acted, thoroughly engaging story. Our love for this show comes from the real life shit it deals with. The fight between Jack and Rebecca last night was the most authentic I have ever seen on television. There was no his line, her line, his line, her line back and forth. It was knock down, talk over, drowned out the other person real life argument. Why would we watch something so artfully realistic presented, then expect Jack’s car to blow up as he drove away?
It was brilliant, the story fantastic, the authenticity unquestionable. This is why we keep coming back to This is Us.