This Is Our Spoiler and Speculation Topic

[sasha206]

Am I the only one that found the work mate (Zack?) Chasing after adopted adult daughter creepy AF?  Is the next storyline she gets murdered by her obsessive coworker?

[ShortyMac]

3 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

Another possibility is that Madison has crap insurance and she and Kevin will marry so he can put her on his insurance to cover her medical costs.  

If her income is low enough, she could get help, being single. They've never indicated that, though.

[gonzosgirrl]

3 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I don’t think Madison will die. Her bulimia and amenorrhea (spelling?? absence of periods), caused her not to ovulate regularly, making pregnancy less likely. But so long as she treats herself for her ED, eats nutritious food she will be fine. 

Considering dying in childbirth is one of the few sad topics they haven't covered yet, would you really be surprised if Madison doesn't survive it?

[Scarlett45]

1 minute ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Considering dying in childbirth is one of the few sad topics they haven't covered yet, would you really be surprised if Madison doesn't survive it?

That would be sad. 

[chocolatine]

4 hours ago, ShortyMac said:

If her income is low enough, she could get help, being single. They've never indicated that, though.

Madison told Kevin that she doesn't need him to be involved financially. At that time she already knew she was having twins, so it sounds like she has the means to support them (and herself). There have also been subtle hints in the past that she's doing well financially. She's so well-connected that when Kate said she wanted to teach music, Madison immediately lined up an interview with a high school principal. And when Kate was getting married, Madison seemed to know the owners of a really upscale bridal boutique and took Kate there the same day without an appointment (and IIRC, offered to pay for Kate's dress).

[Scarlett45]

14 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Madison told Kevin that she doesn't need him to be involved financially. At that time she already knew she was having twins, so it sounds like she has the means to support them (and herself). There have also been subtle hints in the past that she's doing well financially. She's so well-connected that when Kate said she wanted to teach music, Madison immediately lined up an interview with a high school principal. And when Kate was getting married, Madison seemed to know the owners of a really upscale bridal boutique and took Kate there the same day without an appointment (and IIRC, offered to pay for Kate's dress).

Yeah I agree with you. I’m sure Madison is just fine financially and capable of supporting herself and her children. The notion that all single mothers are poor or struggling financially is played out especially when they are in their mid 30s! With a teen or college age woman I could understand it more but Madison has been grown a long time, I’m sure she has a plan for raising these kids. 

[Crs97]

I am just speculating (maybe more wish fulfillment than anything), but I think it could be interesting if Rebecca starts the trial, but it is shut down early based on unforeseen side effects.  She’s at the cabin, and the siblings blame Randall so aren’t speaking to him.  Randall spirals after hearing the news.  Next season he focuses on therapy.  Kevin gets involved in some sort of project that highlights adoption and the feelings of the adopted child.  He starts to understand Randall more.  Maybe Kate finally has a come to Jesus meeting with both of them.  They slowly come back together as a family.

I am seeing a lot of comments about how it shouldn’t be easy for Kate and Toby to adopt.  I assume these next two seasons we will see their difficulty in doing so.

[PRgal]

So now we can guess that the “they” Toby mentioned includes Jack as well as Hailey.  But since they’d still be kids, there has to be an adult there too.  By process of elimination, we can guess it could be the following:  Kate, Madison, Annie or Déjà.  And maybe Malik (if Deja is still involved with him). 

[Ohiopirate02]

9 minutes ago, PRgal said:

So now we can guess that the “they” Toby mentioned includes Jack as well as Hailey.  But since they’d still be kids, there has to be an adult there too.  By process of elimination, we can guess it could be the following:  Kate, Madison, Annie or Déjà.  And maybe Malik (if Deja is still involved with him). 

Jack and Hailey could be with their cousins, but my money is on Kate and Madison.  

[ShadowFacts]

I'm guessing that Cassidy is going to come back in the story next season since she popped up in Nicky's new trailer.  I wonder if Kevin starts construction on the house he builds after being inspired by the time capsule drawing.  This would bring him back to Pennsylvania more.  I hope to see more of Nicky for sure and I wouldn't mind Cassidy figuring in somehow.  I honestly don't need any more Kevin/Randall, it's going to be tough watching Rebecca's decline, I am not invested in Kate and Toby adopting.  There has been plenty of adoption in the show, it was already hard to swallow Kate's IVF, and now they apparently successfully adopt.  Kevin navigating impending fatherhood could be okay but I'm not really into it.  They could use an infusion of new plot or at least interesting returns to threads they've already woven. 

[GreekGeek]

On 3/26/2020 at 1:02 PM, Crs97 said:

I am just speculating (maybe more wish fulfillment than anything), but I think it could be interesting if Rebecca starts the trial, but it is shut down early based on unforeseen side effects.  She’s at the cabin, and the siblings blame Randall so aren’t speaking to him.  

I haven't re-watched the episode, but something about the two timelines in "So Long, Marianne" seems off. Here is what I gather happened in that episode;

November 2019: Rebecca leaves the house after arguing with Randall, goes to see "The Irishman," buys a pie and goes home, apparently without help. She tells Randall that during the previews she forgot what she was there to see and realizes something's wrong.

August 2020: Rebecca sets out to get a cake for the Big Three's Big Four Oh, meets NotWilliam in the park, who directs her to a nearby supermarket. She forgets about the cake, buys flowers instead, goes for lunch at a Chinese restaurant, realizes she doesn't have her phone, and has a meltdown. The police drive her back to the cabin.

I know we were supposed to think the two were the same trip right until the end, but it seems fake that there are no indicators these are happening in different seasons. Rebecca is wearing a coat, and NotWilliam is wearing a heavy fall sweater. The only way the later scenes make sense is if the birthday party did not take place on the actual day in August, but a month or so later, when the fall clothing would make sense. My guess is that Rebecca did go to St. Louis, but the family postponed the party until the treatment was finished. It did not work, at least not right away, so everybody is still mad at Randall for pushing it.

[debraran]

From a vague interview with Chrissy:

https://www.tvshowsace.com/2020/05/28/this-is-us-star-chrissy-metz-hints-at-season-5-surprises/?fbclid=IwAR3zJ5tFeas48f2bZU8JxSK80cRgCCV6NJfvqwoWztNYub9zeyb1D4RzZNw

My thoughts are she has something horrible happen they haven't showed yet, abortion or attempted suicide (but that would be hard to hide for 4 seasons) I know Marc isn't out of the picture and I didn't feel Kate would have birth control in the cabin and Marc wearing a condom, don't see it. But time will tell, whenever it is back. It does seem they are adding things outside of original outline they made, maybe some things depended on whether Chrissy lost weight. Everything was just Jack as her spiral went on back then and now they are adding more. The actress that plays Chrissy in late teens doesn't seem like she could gain that much weight in a few years unless something happened. A coworker told me a story of a girl who played track with her in high school and gained over 100 pounds after a rumored rape at college.  We will see how they play it but for Dan to check with her, I was intrigued. (also a lot more time to think about it until work starts next week!)

[gonzosgirrl]

From that article I would bet on abortion being the big secret. I can't see rape, since Kate and Rebecca's first recollection of him (at the piano bench) seemed more sad (opposed to angry) than what I would expect if he'd raped her. If it is abortion,  I'm betting Kate didn't confide in anyone,  including her mother, and that's the "guilt" that lead to her weight gain. 

[balmz]

2 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

From that article I would bet on abortion being the big secret. I can't see rape, since Kate and Rebecca's first recollection of him (at the piano bench) seemed more sad (opposed to angry) than what I would expect if he'd raped her. If it is abortion,  I'm betting Kate didn't confide in anyone,  including her mother, and that's the "guilt" that lead to her weight gain. 

unless marc was actually mentally unstable (remember he said his father was a jerk) and killed himself in front of kate which caused guilt for kate

[gonzosgirrl]

2 hours ago, balmz said:

unless marc was actually mentally unstable (remember he said his father was a jerk) and killed himself in front of kate which caused guilt for kate

That's a possibility,  though I'm not sure that would warrant needing to get the okay, so to speak, from Chrissy that perhaps writing an abortion into her character's storyline would. Unfortunately,  suicide would more likely provoke sympathy from fans, where an abortion can incite some people to nastiness. 

[balmz]

2 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

That's a possibility,  though I'm not sure that would warrant needing to get the okay, so to speak, from Chrissy that perhaps writing an abortion into her character's storyline would. Unfortunately,  suicide would more likely provoke sympathy from fans, where an abortion can incite some people to nastiness. 

well mark was fairly nasty to begin with, so fans might instead be delighted in his death disturbingly

[chocolatine]

39 minutes ago, balmz said:

well mark was fairly nasty to begin with, so fans might instead be delighted in his death disturbingly

I'm worried that the writers' intent is to make Mark a more sympathetic character who treated Kate badly because he was troubled, and not because he was "just" a jerk. That would also explain Kate's and Rebecca's present-day reactions to his pictures being wistful rather than disgusted (as I think they should have been).

[balmz]

3 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

I'm worried that the writers' intent is to make Mark a more sympathetic character who treated Kate badly because he was troubled, and not because he was "just" a jerk. That would also explain Kate's and Rebecca's present-day reactions to his pictures being wistful rather than disgusted (as I think they should have been).

unless they are planning do like his father is shown and is a complete sociopath who makes jacks dad look like a saint and you wonder how mark didn't end up exactly like him and kate and rebecca witness this, then mark does has some empathy and realizes what he did was wrong and is guilt ridden, apologizes to kate and kills himself out of guilt and shame

[chocolatine]

4 minutes ago, balmz said:

unless they are planning do like his father is shown and is a complete sociopath who makes jacks dad look like a saint and you wonder how mark didn't end up exactly like him and kate and rebecca witness this, then mark does has some empathy and realizes what he did was wrong and is guilt ridden, apologizes to kate and kills himself out of guilt and shame

Oh, I completely agree that the show will go that route. I just wish they didn't.

[PRgal]

If Toby and Kate aren't going to be together for long, does anyone think it's possible that Kate adopts Hailey on her own?

[debraran]

I don't see Mark being too nice since he hasn't shown any true warmth and empathy. When he's nice, it's to control and he'll give her a zinger to balance it out. The control issues, dropping over her home and his controlling nature makes me feel it would be impossible.

The adoption will be interesting, they aren't the "perfect couple" for adoption but things have changed since my friends were turned down because of a physical limitation on the husband. They get what seems like a beautiful healthy girl but time will tell what the beginning was like. They have a blind son they are still adjusting too and their marriage isn't solid. This is Us usually isn't too unrealistic (except with triplets) but it will be interesting. It doesn't seem she is that much younger than Jack Jr.  Doing  a quick search being considered "morbidly obese" with non-private adoptions isn't as strict as it was in like 2007 but I still see posts from parents angry it was part of screening for health reasons.

We know they get her, but was it foster to adoption (thinking this now) or private?

Edited May 31, 2020 by debraran

[Crs97]

If a family with newborn twins grieving for their lost triplet can take an abandoned newborn baby home with them, then I have no doubt the adoption agency has plenty of babies ready for Toby and Kate!

[chocolatine]

2 hours ago, Crs97 said:

If a family with newborn twins grieving for their lost triplet can take an abandoned newborn baby home with them, then I have no doubt the adoption agency has plenty of babies ready for Toby and Kate!

All it takes for a Pearson to get what they want is to make an impassioned speech.

[debraran]

2 hours ago, chocolatine said:

All it takes for a Pearson to get what they want is to make an impassioned speech.

Oh please I still would want to FF through the car dealer one!

[chocolatine]

Looks like the show won't be able to continue the CrossFit Toby story arc after all the backlash to their CEO abominable behavior. They'll either need a different fitness craze for Toby to obsess with, or drop that thread altogether.

[PRgal]

On 5/31/2020 at 6:48 AM, debraran said:

 

We know they get her, but was it foster to adoption (thinking this now) or private?

We see them look at pictures of toddler to school aged kids in the finale, so it looks like they're hinting foster to adopt.   

[gonzosgirrl]

Another pre-premiere interview with Dan Fogelman. He talks about the season theme being birth/rebirth, and again talks about the big reveal coming concerning Kate's past. I'm going with abortion (after being raped by Mark in the cabin) as my main spec, with an outside chance of having had a baby (either by Mark or later on in her teens/twenties) and given it up for adoption.

[Dreamboat Annie]

Sorry if this has been mentioned already, but I've been away from this forum for so long and have read many pages, but certainly not all of them!  I think Miguel is not well, it was very subtle, but it was there.  He gave a "look" at one point when everyone was discussing Rebecca's situation that seemed to me might have meant something.  No way is he going to burden Rebecca and her family with what they are already going through.  Like I said, it was very subtle and maybe I read something into it that wasn't there. 

[debraran]

I think they will find a convenient way to get rid of Miguel (and I don't like that) but they still have to do their background and meeting and I don't like how they made him so minimal. Why have him at all marry Rebecca if she is acting like a school girl with her kids hiding from her parents with a new boyfriend. The way she shifted when Kevin came in early on and they were watching TV. A grown man can't see his mom cuddle? I'm glad Kevin told her to not do that but they must have given them some grief earlier. She loves Miguel in her own way and wanted to marry him and they sleep together. I don't like how Jack has to dominate even after death. Rebecca can stand on her own 2 feet.  It's unseemly for a woman her age to act like that and I hope we see her stand up for him in the flashbacks.

I do feel Kate's boyfriend did a lot more to her, no doubt what so ever, that she was lying about a girlfriend when she wouldn't go to Kevin's play or something last season. Sadly we never really see Kate with girlfriends and I don't know why. The popular, skinny and usually rich girls don't make up her whole school.  Having her isolated just makes the abuse worse. Why this segment was never mentioned in flashbacks earlier made me wonder if it was a "maybe" depending on other factors as the timeline went on. I know an outline was made from beginning to end, but they had to have some fluidity in case ideas changed or Kate lost weight or someone got pregnant.

1 minute ago, debraran said:

 

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by debraran

[Veronica]

I’ve been on the bio-mom didn’t die train but thought that would be too soapy. As soon as Randall told his therapist that he wanted to find a black therapist, I thought his bio mom did not really die, recovered, got her shit together, and became a therapist.

And then the episode ended with us finding out his mom isn’t really dead, so I might be on to something. Laurel recovered and went on to become a therapist

 

[debraran]

1 minute ago, Veronica said:

I’ve been on the bio-mom didn’t die train but thought that would be too soapy. As soon as Randall told his therapist that he wanted to find a black therapist, I thought his bio mom did not really die, recovered, got her shit together, and became a therapist.

And then the episode ended with us finding out his mom isn’t really dead, so I might be on to something. Laurel recovered and went on to become a therapist

 

I agree with the "soapy" part, I was surprised they did that. You saw it coming, the medic wanting to stop too soon, just a black junkie, the other guy keeping on with CPR, William leaving.  I didn't like the ending at all but wish he found out another way his mom was alive. Many holes with that story, why didn't Randall look for his mom or where she was buried, why didn't William? Why didn't Randall know when he was born? William surely knew that!

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, Veronica said:

I’ve been on the bio-mom didn’t die train but thought that would be too soapy. As soon as Randall told his therapist that he wanted to find a black therapist, I thought his bio mom did not really die, recovered, got her shit together, and became a therapist.

And then the episode ended with us finding out his mom isn’t really dead, so I might be on to something. Laurel recovered and went on to become a therapist

 

I could see Randall’s half sibling being the therapist. If Laurel is still alive she’s likely the same age as Rebecca, and even if she’s healthy she could be retired. I think a half sibling is more likely, even if Laurel has survived these last 40yrs. 

[LeighLeigh]

I believe that Dr. K treated Laurel at the hospital after the paramedics brought her there. I believe he gave her the speech about the sourest lemons which she repeated to her children, from whom Randall will hear it in future episodes (perhaps by his new therapist) and start to ask questions that piece it all together. I believe that Laurel had not told William her real last name as she was hiding from her past that perhaps had to do with her brother dying. I believe that not knowing her real last name made it difficult to track her down, either burial information or current address, etc. I believe that William either knew that Randall was a day older than Kate and Kevin, but didn’t want to disrupt the Big-3 triplet celebrations each year, or was too out of it back then to even know what day it was. I believe that Laurel got clean, eventually came back to the apartment, but William was in jail by then and the neighbours told her that there was no baby, or little boy living there. I also believe that Laurel is currently deceased, and that her story will play out in flashbacks. What do you believe?

[LeighLeigh]

On the other hand, I think that Laurel came back to the apartment after being in a rehab program.  She confronted William. It didn’t go well and sent William further down his negative spiral. 
Maybe William knew the entire time that Laurel survived, but was too ashamed to tell Randall the truth. 

[LeighLeigh]

Or... what if Laurel came back to the apartment and rather than admit that he gave up the baby, William lies and says that Baby Randall died. Maybe that’s why Laurel didn’t look for him.

[bybrandy]

18 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I could see Randall’s half sibling being the therapist. If Laurel is still alive she’s likely the same age as Rebecca, and even if she’s healthy she could be retired. I think a half sibling is more likely, even if Laurel has survived these last 40yrs. 

If Laurel was 20 when Randall was born she'd be 60.  If she was 25 when Randall was born and I doubt she was older than that she'd be 65.  There is absolutely no reason to assume at all that Laurel would be retired.  She'd be just at the age of retirement.   She'd be more likely to be a psychologist than psychiatrist but only 18 percent of psychiatrists retire by 65.  Psychologists do tend to retire a bit earlier than psychiatrists but in their 60s which Randall's mother likely is... and Randall's mother is likely to have come to that career later in life, meaning she would likely be less likely to retire early.   

Now, I don't think that Randall's mom is going to be his therapist but I really don't see her age being in any way disqualifying.   

[debraran]

I think his mom would be another "jump the shark moment" and the show can't tank like that. A relative or friend of the mom's is more likely who knew the story from Laurel. Then he'd be out of a therapist again and he needs one. Or the therapist as someone said, gets him to search but why since he thinks she dead? So the knowing her is the only thing that fits. Maybe even someone who helped his mom years ago.

Edited October 29, 2020 by debraran

[Scarlett45]

8 hours ago, LeighLeigh said:

Or... what if Laurel came back to the apartment and rather than admit that he gave up the baby, William lies and says that Baby Randall died. Maybe that’s why Laurel didn’t look for him.

That’s very likely. 

[Crs97]

2 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

10 hours ago, LeighLeigh said:

Or... what if Laurel came back to the apartment and rather than admit that he gave up the baby, William lies and says that Baby Randall died. Maybe that’s why Laurel didn’t look for him.

That’s very likely. 

In which case, Randall and all the characters and audience will bend over backwards defending William while they still castigate Rebecca for not saying anything.

[Blakeston]

Writers seem to enjoy the trope where a character grows up believing that one of their parents is dead, and then they find out that their "dead" parent is actually alive, and the other parent has been lying to them all along. The parent's justification for lying is usually, "I thought it would be better for you to believe they were dead, than to know that they abandoned you!"

I could totally see a plotline where William lies to Randall about his mother to try to protect him from the truth that she skipped town, or something to that effect. 

[Good Queen Jane]

Laurel could have given birth to Randall just after midnight on the day the Rebecca had the triplets, thereby giving the Big 3 the same birth date. If we want to get real soap opery, the overdose and lack of oxygen could have given Laurel amnesia and she forgot William and Randall and  just drifted into a new life. Or, even, better, Laurel was in the Witness Protection Program. When she was taken to the hospital, the US Marshalls swooped in, told the hospital to put out the story that she died, and set her up with a new identity elsewhere. Laurel never tried to find William and Randall so that they would not be in danger from the Mafia Guy she testified against. 

[LeighLeigh]

What if Laurel’s mother is still alive? Maybe she would be age 85-90? You never know...

[gonzosgirrl]

12 hours ago, LeighLeigh said:

What if Laurel’s mother is still alive? Maybe she would be age 85-90? You never know...

Naw, they were mid-twenties, thirty at the outside, so she's max 70. My guess would be more like 62-65.

[chocolatine]

3 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Naw, they were mid-twenties, thirty at the outside, so she's max 70. My guess would be more like 62-65.

That's Laurel's age; the OP was talking about Laurel's mother (i.e. Randall's grandmother).

[Ohiopirate02]

I'm curious as to how the showrunners are going to handle Mandy Moore's pregnancy.  Will we get a lot of 1980 Rebecca flashbacks?  A Rebecca in either early 2000s flashbacks or 2020 timeline with unexpected weight gain?  Or will they just ignore her changing body and charge ahead of the stories already written.  And what will they do when she goes out on leave?

[LeighLeigh]

I’m hoping that the writers are more creative than making Laurel the new therapist. I won’t be surprised if there is a connection, such as the new therapist being a relative, or acquaintance, of Laurel. 

[LeighLeigh]

Another thought to ponder: what if they make Laurel in a nursing home, or hospital, dying of Covid?

[debraran]

8 hours ago, LeighLeigh said:

Another thought to ponder: what if they make Laurel in a nursing home, or hospital, dying of Covid?

I fleetingly thought of that or another disease but losing 2 parents you found later in life to disease is too much even for TIU.  Like Nicky,  I hope he gets to ride it out until the show ends with her.

[Crs97]

I wouldn’t mind if Laurel had other kids and then died.  Randall doesn’t meet her, but finds out he has a half-brother or sister he gets a chance to know.

[PRgal]

23 hours ago, DarkHorse said:

So does anyone else think that Randall's new therapist will end up being his long lost mother?

Seems to be heading that way. He will find a black female therapist and start off with how he was abandoned, talk about his father etc. It will start ringing bells for the woman...

A 70 year old therapist for Randall?  I know there are fewer black therapists, but still.  Randall would have researched and I’m not sure he would consider someone older?