This Is Us Roundtable: Did ‘The Wedding’ Have Us Hearing Wedding Bells?

In a grand Season 2 finale filled with loving goodbyes and complicated hellos, the Pearsons and others found themselves in tight quarters with one-another as they celebrated Kate and Toby’s wedding. But while everyone else was learning to come together, Kate was learning to let go.

So, did this episode have us hearing wedding bells?

Tell-Tale TV writers Alicia Gilstorf, Lauren Busser, and Starry Constellation Magazine writer Jamie Steinberg discuss This Is Us Season 2 Episode 18, “The Wedding” below.

Alicia Gilstorf (@AliciaGilstorf)
Lauren Busser (@LaurenBusser)
Jamie Steinberg (@NotYerAvgChick)

The underlying theme of this season has been about how Jack’s life and its end has shaped his family into the people they are today. Do you think the finale was effective in establishing a sense of closure for that chapter of the Pearson’s lives?

Lauren: I don’t know that we can call this closure. I think that it’s closure for Kate who has blamed herself, and I think maybe they will all be a little “lighter” for the events of this episode, but I think that Jack is always going to be with them.

Plus, in that flash forward, we saw Kevin on a plane to Vietnam with a picture of Jack so there’s no denying there is going to be questions and emotions that come up.

Jamie: I don’t think we can call this closure. Jack is so deep-rooted in every single member of the family that just because we saw how he died doesn’t mean we won’t still dwell on the loss it left.

Kevin may be healthier, but I’m sure he’ll have continued issues with his alcoholism being genetic. Also, Randall is now a father of three. Won’t he look back on how his parents managed to raise three youngsters — with one being adopted?

Alicia: I think in a way we got to see some closure from the pain it has caused them, Kate especially. Kevin asking the rest of his family to let go of that breath they’ve been holding in doesn’t mean they are necessary closing off that tragic chapter of their life but learning to live a little more peacefully with it going forward.

We got a glimpse at what Jack’s life would have looked like had he not died that night of the house fire. Given everything that was going on in this episode, do you think these scenes were still important to the story?

Lauren: When the episode started with Jack and Rebecca’s wedding instead of Toby and Kate’s, I really wondered what was going on there. It was honestly nice to imagine, and I think it made sense for Kate’s storyline that this would be a dream of hers. I think that this is going to come up later because the context of the scenes did leave a pretty big portent to deal with.

Jamie: We didn’t really get a full glimpse at what his life would have been like had the fire not killed him. Sure, we heard what he did for work. We heard it was his 40th wedding anniversary.

However, we don’t see his interactions with the kids as they continued to grow. I’m not sure though how important a “what-if” look at those experiences are crucial to any part of the story as we look back at “this was us” and now deal with “this is us.”

Alicia: Seeing Jack alive in the promos was cause for some concern about how they were going to go about it, but I think these what-if scenes with Jack and Rebecca were a fun ode to the character and a reminder of how different this show would be if Jack hadn’t died.

It also opens the door for possibilities in the future of seeing scenes play out that aren’t actually happening and that is a terrifying prospect.

It looked like Déjà was finally beginning to settle into her new life with the Pearsons and then Toby’s mother made the remark about her looking like Randall. Do you think she got angry because she doesn’t want to feel like she’s replacing her real parents or because of something else?

Lauren: I think it is out of loyalty to her mother mostly, but we did jump ahead a bit I think, and I am hoping they’ll unpack the events that led to this shift a little more. We did get that Déjà centric episode where we saw how connected with her mother, so I think it makes sense that her reactions come from that.

Jamie: That one hurt. That one hurt to the point of a noticeable wince when it happened. We all knew that Deja was on edge being at the wedding and how much effort went into even getting her into a dress.

I think she got angry, though, because her mother never said goodbye to her and here was this woman just assuming Randall and Beth were her real parents. She probably feels resentful that every time someone sees them together now they’ll assume it is because they are a perfect family.

Alicia: I agree with Jamie, that one hurt a lot.

On one hand, I think Déjà is angry at her mother for leaving her after all those years she could have left for a more stable caretaker and chose not to. Now Déjà is directing that at Randall and Beth as being their fault because she doesn’t want to see it any other way.

On the other hand, the one that loves a good theory, maybe Randall is Déjà’s biological father and fate brought them together. But that seems like a stretch.

We got to see people interact in this finale that we don’t always get to see together so extensively. Was there a relationship you would like to see explored even more moving forward?

Lauren: I really want to see Beth and Zoey’s relationship. Beth is an awesome woman and I love how she handles the Pearsons, so it would be nice to see her family connection grow a bit. It does look like Zoey will be around for a while so I am hopeful.

Jamie: Hmm. I did like Beth and her cousin’s interactions because they connected like sisters since they grew up a bit. When Beth needs someone to vent to, it would be nice to see her reaching out to Zoey to bounce her frustrations off of and get some perspective.

Alicia: I found myself really enjoying Rebecca and Miguel’s dynamic this episode (yes I actually said enjoyed). We haven’t seen a lot of them as a couple yet because this season focused on Jack so much, but in the future, it would be nice to see how a couple built from the foundation of grief lives.

Also, it looked like Miguel got to spend some time dancing with Kate at the wedding, so I thought that was an unlikely but sweet interaction.

Do you think Kate’s grief for her father was healthy or was it necessary for her to let go of Jack to let Toby in?

Lauren: Questions like this are why I want to see more episode like This Is Us Season 2 Episode 15, “The Car,” because I want to see single-mom Rebecca and what the kids do in the years that follow. I think Kate was carrying a lot and I think her dad eclipsed a lot, but I think Jack was always there and she needed to let him go so she could start to cultivate a life with Toby.

Jamie: I think it was time for Kate to let her idealism for her father go just a bit in order to give Toby the room to be an imperfect That was such a sweet scene to watch as Kate talked to the urn and let her dad know it was time for her to give his ghost peace so she could give Toby her full love.

Alicia: When Kate realized that Toby was not in her future with Jack that seemed like the turning point for her and the consuming promise she made not to forgive herself for her father’s death. She idolized her father so much that it was difficult to picture another man in her life. Letting go of her father just a little was necessary for her grieving process and for the sake of her marriage moving forward.

We were introduced to Beth’s sister/cousin during the wedding. It was also revealed that she is dating Kevin in the future. Are you excited for this new addition to the show?

Lauren: Yes. Zoey seems like an interesting character, and as I said before, I really want to see more of Beth’s family come out.

Jamie: I think Zoey might do Kevin some good. I’m hoping this means that Kevin has been sober for some time so he can have a healthy relationship with her. But it’s time for Kevin to move on and I think Zoey might be grounded and strong enough to handle him.

Alicia: I loved Zoey’s backstory and how complicated it seemed to be when she spoke to Déjà. So far we have only really seen Beth as Beth and Randall, so it’s nice to bring some of her family into the story moving forward. Also maybe Zoey will finally be the girl to smarten Kevin Pearson up.

In true This Is Us fashion, we were greeted at the end of the episode with flash-forwards. Do you have a theory or speculation as to what could be wrong with Toby and/or who Randall and Tess are talking about going to see?

Lauren: After hearing Toby’s parents talk about what happened when his ex left him, I want to say he’s depressed. It’s kind of hard to tell from the bit we saw, but that is what it sounded like.

As for Randall and Tess, I wanted to assume it’s Déjà. It feels like the obvious answer in both cases, but the question will really be how they get there in both cases. There must be some trigger or turning point, and that’s what I am excited to find out about next season.

Jamie: Toby’s parents mentioned he fell into a deep depression after his ex left him so maybe this is just a manifestation of it returning. Maybe he lost his job. Maybe Audio ran away. I wish NEITHER of these things on him. But depression can lay dormant and raise its ugly head at any time for the smallest of reasons. Either way, it hurts to see him so down and out.

I’m worried though that when it comes to Tess and Randall they are talking about Deja being in jail or worse…her grave.

Alicia: For Toby, I believe he has depression. Him lying there like that reminded me of others I’ve seen suffer. The scenes also bared a similar resemblance to Penelope when she stopped taking her medication on One Day at a Time.

As for Randall and Tess, I hope they don’t mean visiting someone’s grave. If anything, I’m expecting Déjà to be in prison and Beth to be divorced from Randall. But what I love about this show is how these scenes are never what you think them to be.

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What did you think of this episode of This Is Us? Respond to our roundtable questions with your own answers in the comments below! You can also check out our review of This Is Us Season 2 Episode 18, “The Wedding” right here.

This Is Us  returns next fall to NBC.

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