What will happen to the beloved Pearson family from NBC’s “This Is Us” this week?
After six seasons and 106 episodes, the series finale airs Tuesday, May 24, at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
“If the past six seasons have been any indication, we also strongly encourage grabbing a fresh box of tissues,” NBC Insider wrote. “Because something tells us this very last episode of ‘This Is Us’ will be a tear-jerker.”
Viewers were introduced to the unconventional family group in 2016 with a series pilot that seamlessly introduced each character, stitching up how each character is connected to the other.
About the pilot episode, Vulture wrote, “the characters already feel lived-in and multidimensional.”
The next section contains spoilers about the series and last week’s episode.
What is ‘This Is Us’ about?
The story follows a family. It starts with Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore), who are expecting triplets. But when the babies are being delivered, the third triplet doesn’t make it. Jack explains to the doctor how they have three cribs waiting for three babies at home.
From left: Milo Ventimiglia as Jack and Mandy Moore as Rebecca in “This Is Us” Season 2.
Maarten de Boer/NBC
By the end of the episode, the couple agrees to take home a baby that was left at a fire station, so the couple leaves with three babies as a family.
The rest of the series follows the lives of those triplets: Kate, Kevin and Randall, as well as their spouses. It also flashes back to see more of Jack and Rebecca’s story, and it flashes forward to what happens with each person in the future.
In the final season, the show hinges on matriarch Rebecca’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease and follows her battle with that experience.
The second to last episode centers on Rebecca’s life and follows her walking through a luxurious train in her mind while she hears goodbyes as she starts to pass on. The episode ends with Rebecca and Jack being reunited.
“I was happy to end the show with Mandy in a scene together because that’s how we started it,” Milo Ventimiglia told Deadline. “It felt good, it felt accomplished. It felt like we’d been given this opportunity to close things out respectfully, wholeheartedly for the characters.”
Why is ‘This Is Us’ ending now?
Series creator Dan Fogelman told Deadline he started planning the finale four years ago.
“It’s been a complicated battle to step back from it and create a little distance to not get swept up in all the emotions,” Fogelman told Deadline.
What is the finale of ‘This Is Us’ about?
According to Entertainment Weekly, much of the final episode will center around Rebecca’s funeral.
Susan Kelechi Watson plays Beth, who is Randall’s wife and one of the main characters in the show. Watson told Entertainment Weekly that viewers will see scenes that Fogelman shot three to four years ago to end the series.
“This has been three years in the making, and I think in his mind, he knew the last episode when he knew the first episode,” Watson said. “So this landing has been stuck for a while. We just now get to share it with everybody.”
The series finale airs Tuesday, May 24, at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. Fans can also catch the finale Wednesday morning on Hulu.