'This Is Us' Fans, There's Apparently a Lot You Don't Know About Jack
Season 2 of This Is Us finally answered a lot of burning questions for anxious fans. We learned exactly how Jack died, watched Toby and Kate walk down the aisle, and realized the truth behind those scenes with Jack as an old man. But after the season 2 finale, we are left in a dark place and wondering even more: Did something happen to Beth? Why are Kevin and Zoe are going to Vietnam? Why is Toby stuck in bed?
If you're like us, you're already counting down the days until the newest season airs. Here's everything we know so far to hold you over until then.
When Will This Is Us Season 3 Premiere?
Mark your calendars! NBC announced the official premiere date for the third season on its This Is Us Facebook page. The short video clip shows the month of August, with two dates highlighted in red: Jack's birthday and the "Big 3's" birthday. Then, the calendar flips to the next month and zooms in on September 25: "This Is Us premiere 9/8 c".
The caption of the video reads, "You're invited..." Like the last two seasons, season 3 will remain in its Tuesday night time slot. Grab extra tissues for this premiere, because at a panel discussion with Deadline, creator Dan Fogelman proudly called the episode "one of our best." We can only assume that means there will be plenty of tears.
Who Will Be In the This Is Us Season 3 Cast?
Even after his death, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) will still play a strong role in the upcoming season. Just because we know how the Pearson patriarch died doesn't mean we know everything about him, and showrunner Elizabeth Berger told E! News that we still have a lot to learn about Jack's character.
"I think season 2 was so much about Jack's death obviously, and I think season 3, in a really cool way, is going to be more about his life and sort of focusing on these chapters that we haven't yet seen," she explained.
Get ready for a lot more facial hair and crooked smiles!
At an SXSW panel, Fogelman hinted that fans should pay attention to Kevin's relationship "with a character who's basically a little sister to Beth." That statement points a big finger to the flash-forward we saw at the end of the season finale, when Beth's cousin Zoe was snuggled up next to Kevin on a plane to Vietnam-so it looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of her.
Along with this trip to Vietnam and the continued exploration of Jack's past inevitably comes the exploration of new characters. We'll finally get to meet Nicky, Jack's younger brother who allegedly died in Vietnam. Deadline reports his character will be played by Michael Angarano and recur throughout the season. We have only ever seen a child version of Nicky through flashbacks, and this will be the first time he is introduced as an adult.
Season 2 left fans worried about the fate of Beth after a cryptic conversation shown between Randall and Tess during a flash-forward. Of course, the internet immediately began to theorize that they were talking about their mother and wife-and that something bad had happened to her. Thankfully, the actress who plays Beth, Susan Kelechi Watson, has relieved us of our worst fears. She confirmed to TV Guide that her character will definitely be alive in season 3.
Fans were also left wondering about Toby's physical and mental state after the season 2 finale gave a devastating glimpse into Kate and Toby's future, with a scene of him lying in bed, seemingly trapped in a deep depression.
"Kate and Toby will be thrust into some stressful situations as we move forward, and that will definitely have an impact on Toby’s state of mind," Berger told EW.
Actress Chrissy Metz recently hinted at what those stressful situations might entail-and all signs point to the couple's struggles with having a baby." Maybe there’s something going on physically with Toby too," Metz said regarding Toby and Kate's efforts to conceive. "Those things might not have been talked about or addressed because we keep our secrets and we’re ashamed of them.”
This Is Us Season 3 Spoilers
At a recent panel in Los Angeles, Fogelman shared some fascinating insight into his plan for the series. According to Entertainment Weekly, a moderator at the panel asked how far out the writers have mapped the show, and his response was reassuring for anyone concerned that it will drag on too long. "We’re pretty far along," he explained. "We’ve always had a plan. I don’t think this show will ever-despite any success it may or may not have-will ever overstay its welcome, and we have a story to tell. And we want to do this the right way. "
Sterling K. Brown, the actor who plays Randall, echoed this sentiment in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment. "We know how our show is going to end," he said, much like Fogelman. "Not exactly sure when it will be, but I don’t think it’ll be beyond seven years." Since each season of the show seems to span roughly a year, this would mean we have five more seasons with the Pearson clan.
Some spoilers have already been released, such as Kevin's exploration into Jack's past and time spent in Vietnam. According to actor Justin Hartley, his character will take a deeper look into his relationship with his father in season 3.
"Kevin now has questions about his dad, but his dad’s not there. He can’t answer it," Hartley told GoodHousekeeping.com. "So, to see him go back to Vietnam is kind of cool, because I’m, like, ‘Oh, he’s going to go maybe on a little discovery about his dad and try to get some clues so that he can answer some of these questions that he has.'" Hartley and other members of the cast are actually traveling to Vietnam to film, so it's almost guaranteed that this will be a major plot point.
It's also likely that we'll learn more about another father figure. The season 2 finale introduced the idea that Deja will be joining the Pearson family in a more permanent way-whether or not she's happy about that. As we learn more about her history, it's likely that we learn more about her parents as well.
"Obviously, Deja has had almost no relationship with [her father], but she may know more about him than we previously let on," Berger told EW. "So, we’ll get to know a little bit more about what that relationship is moving forward."
While other characters have faced their share of struggles, Randall and Beth have always seemed to remain solid together, despite any hardships they encounter. This will be a tough pill to swallow for fans of the picture-perfect couple-but we should've seen it coming after Sterling K. Brown said season 3 would "slay hearts all over the globe."
"There will be a bit of an exploration of marriage with regards to Randall and Beth going through times that aren’t all sunshine and rainbows," Brown revealed to People. "And that’s not to say that they are in danger of parting ways, but marriage is real and takes work."
Beyond current conflicts, it sounds like the show will also dive into Pearson family secrets that we may not have known about-and they all lead back to Jack's past.
"With Milo’s character Jack, it’s always been clear that there’s something underneath this guy that we haven’t learned about-what happened to him, what happened in his backstory," Fogelman told Deadline. "So a big part of our season, particularly for Jack, is learning that story."
This Is Us Season 3 Flash-Forwards
Several members of the cast have hinted that season 2 was just the beginning of those gut-wrenching flash-forwards, and Milo Ventimiglia explained that Fogelman always intended to jump into the future.
"That was something we all knew going in and when we saw that jump into grown-up Tess, adult Tess and older Randall, that was where he always wanted to go," he told Entertainment Tonight. "I don't know that the show always lives there, but I think understanding that we do exist in the past, it makes sense that we'd exist in the future as well."
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