This Is Us has a lot of explaining to do during its final season! The hit drama revealed in a flash-forward during the May 2021 season 5 finale that Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby (Chris Sullivan) divorced and she planned to marry her coworker Phillip (Chris Geere).
The bombshell took many by surprise since Kate and Toby reassured each other of their commitment to their marriage earlier in the episode. Toby landed a job in San Francisco that would keep him from his wife and kids three days per week, and Kate chose not to quit her position at the music school after Phillip refused to accept her resignation. Kate and Toby vowed to make long-distance work, but the scenes set a mere four or five years in the future proved their relationship broke down somewhere along the way.
Series creator Dan Fogelman told reporters in May 2021 that having Kate remarry was “part of our plan all along, from go.”
“We hinted at, many times in the deeper future, that something was not normal between [Kate] and [Toby],” the executive producer explained. “And here we are.”
Fogelman also confirmed that Geere will become a series regular for season 6, which premiered in January 2022. “Obviously, Chris is going to be a big part of the show next year,” he teased.
Metz, for her part, speculated to Entertainment Weekly that Kate and Toby’s divorce stemmed from “a lot that hasn’t been said” between them, pertaining to his hesitance to adopt and stay home with their children while out of a job as well as her decision to keep her past abortion with ex-boyfriend Marc (Austin Abrams) a secret from her husband. She added that she was told Kate did not cheat on Toby with Phillip and assured fans that coparenting is “definitely going to happen” after their split.
“I hope [viewers] understand the love that Kate and Toby have for each other and that it’s not some willy-nilly thing that happens, right? We can see the sort of unraveling this season,” the actress noted. “I’m hoping that they’ll see through that and not just be so upset that one of their most favorite couples is no longer … fetch.”
Fogelman, meanwhile, promised that the final season will address all the unanswered questions brought forth by the flash-forwards. “Because our audience has been so devoted, and because hopefully, we’ve smartly set up the contained areas where these future timelines live, I think you’re going to have a real sense of resolution and completion for this family,” he said. “It’s where the mixed-up VHS tapes of this family’s existence will all coalesce and speak to one another in completion. And so we have been working tirelessly to set up this rewarding final season to make all the pieces fit together.”
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Scroll through the gallery below to see everything we’ve gleaned so far from Kate’s future:
