‘This Is Us’ Ends an Emotional Second Season With Wedding Bells

Alci Rengifo

Few dramas on television right now can tug at the heartstrings like NBC’s “This Is Us.” The hugely popular series ends its second season continuing to move backward and forward in the timeline of its character’s lives, sometimes with pain, and always with hope. What has defined the second season, even more than the first, is the theme of a family sharing a history, sometimes full of pain, but also full of joy. Adoptions signaled new paths for some, while the brutal episode “Super Bowl Sunday” explored the most painful event in the lives of the Pearsons. In closing the season, the finale doesn’t go for any major shocks. Instead it focuses on the lingering shadow of memories and regrets. It is an episode about what could have been as Kate (Chrissy Metz) prepares to get married and the wedding brings together not only her siblings, but emotions and feelings that always come out in a nostalgic gathering.

The episode opens within a dream as Kate imagines what could have been had her father Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) lived to renew his wedding vows with mom Rebecca (Mandy Moore). The dream takes on a particularly powerful significance as Kate has now reached her own wedding day with fiancé Toby (Chris Sullivan). Her siblings, Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Kevin (Justin Hartley) are trying hard to make everything work, but when a slight mistake happens involving a t-shirt belonging to Jack that Kate wants to bring with her down the aisle, she disappears. Randall and Kevin drive off to find her while Toby has to deal with his own parents confessing they have misgivings about Kate’s stability. Randall also has to deal with the increasingly hostile attitude of Déjà (Lyric Ross), who his family has taken into their home but is dealing with her own mother willingly giving up any responsibility for her.

“This Is Us” has managed to keep a consistent, engaging style for its first two seasons by never straying from its central themes and concept. It is a family portrait used to capture all of our apprehensions, emotional scars and desires for bittersweet endings. The finale uses everything that makes the show hard to turn off. By flowing from the past into the present, and sometimes into the future, the show touches on that very human obsession with fate and what the results will be of the roads we choose in life. In this episode the mood is especially overpowering because of how it connects to the “Super Bowl Sunday” episode from last month, which delivered one of the great primetime blows to an audience’s collective heartstring by portraying the tragic death of Jack. Few moments on television this year featured the emotional power of when a doctor informs Rebecca about Jack’s fate, and she spirals into a moment of crushing denial. In the finale the characters are dealing with life’s lingering scars even as they come together for a joyous event. We have seen Kevin deal with staying sober even while attempting to get into the movies. Kate has dealt with lingering insecurities, both physical and emotional, much of this mirrored by the parallel storyline of their parents. Now with the finale it all comes together simply but with much meaning.

This episode in particular is carried by Kate, who is looking forward to finding happiness with Toby but can’t let go of the sad realization that her father won’t be there. We care about her trials because regret is one of the key emotions we can all relate to. One of the episode’s great, subtle moments is when she describes her dream to her mom over the phone. The way Mandy Moore’s Rebecca reacts is so quietly bittersweet that it is no wonder the Kleenex industry is making a killing off this show. Maybe it’s a benefit that this is a network series where it has to depend entirely on emotional pull. No doubt on a cable channel much of the human touch would be put aside for storylines involving drugs, reckless sex, etc. Not to say those elements don’t work well on HBO, but because “This Is Us” is all about the down to earth experiences of its characters, where a missing t-shirt can mean little to outsiders but the world to the person with a deep connection to it. Previously in the season other moments such as Jack taking Kate to get ice cream while attempting to encourage her to exercise, were also charged with the emotional force of moments in our lives that are private and bonding.

The other storylines are nicely rounded out in the finale. Kevin is forced to put narcissism aside and deliver a wedding toast full of a much-needed confession/outpouring. Déjà’s relationship with Randall and his wife Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) is written with a refreshing refusal to do the obvious. There is no easy closure or changing of her attitude, by the end credits she carries out an action that sets up difficult times ahead. During the season what started off as a hopeful addition to the family takes a darker turn, because now Déjà truly feels abandoned by her biological mother. During the season we have seen her bond with Beth and Randall, but more like a lost teen with a nice shelter for escape. Now as the season closes, she is made painfully aware that this family might just be all she has left. It’s searing drama because of how the writing conveys the frustration of being abandoned so young. That too is part of the charm of “This Is Us,” it is hopeful but not naïve. During the wedding reception the episode moves forward ever so slightly in time, revealing a surprising romance between two characters but also another moment demonstrating how good weddings don’t always mean fairy tale marriages.

“This Is Us” has delivered two seasons full of warmth, sorrow and happiness. It has captured a lasting attention because its title is not fibbing, it truly is about how we are. We keep watching because the developments in the storyline could very well be developments in our lives, even if it doesn’t always feel as illuminating or cheesy. The season finale gives us wedding bells and new relationships, now we’ll have to wait for season three to see what the morning after brings.

“This Is Us” Season 2 finale aired March 13 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.