This Is Us’ Tuesday, November 19, fall finale — titled “So Long, Marianne” — delivered more than its fair share of twists and turns as the Pearsons gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving at Randall’s home.
Randall (Sterling K. Brown) agreed to keep Rebecca’s (Mandy Moore) memory loss a secret, but after a solo outing, she admitted that she needed to see a doctor. In a flash forward, Rebecca went out to find a cake for the Big Three’s 40th birthday, but she got lost, misplaced her phone, saw a man she thought was William (Jermel Nakia) and ended up needing the police to find her way home.
The authorities brought her to the family cabin, where Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Kate (Chrissy Metz) were celebrating. Kevin noted that his fiancée, whose identity was not revealed, had morning sickness — after he earlier vowed to have a wife and a kid by his birthday. Rebecca then asked if Randall would be joining them, to which Kevin replied that they were not speaking.
In the present, Kate confessed to Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) that she hated Crossfit Toby (Chris Sullivan) because he lost weight without her. Beth encouraged her to share her feelings with Toby, but Kate couldn’t do it. She later saw a text message from Toby’s workout buddies that read, “Don’t let her bring you down.”
Beth, meanwhile, was jealous of how well Deja’s (Lyric Ross) mom, Shauna (Joy Brunson), was doing. Deja was not thrilled about it either because she wished her mother could have been that together when she was raising her. However, Beth comforted Deja, proving her importance in Deja’s life despite the fact that she already had a mother.
Nicky (Griffin Dunne) also joined the group for the holiday. He even introduced a tradition he had with Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and learned that Jack still shared his memories of Nicky with his kids, even if he didn’t mention him by name. In the future, Toby and Kate’s son, Jack (Blake Stadnik), carried on the family’s Thanksgiving customs.
Elsewhere in the episode, Kevin helped Tess (Eris Baker) come out to her classmates via Instagram, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
This Is Us returns to NBC in January.
