"This Is Us" Came To An End After Six Seasons, So Here's How The Brilliant Series Finale Came To A Close

BuzzFeed
·8 min read

🚨 There are MASSIVE — and I mean MASSIVE — spoilers ahead for the This Is Us final season and series finale! 🚨

After six seasons and 106 heartbreaking and heartwarming episodes, the Pearson family said goodbye this week when This Is Us aired its series finale.

NBC
NBC

Over the course of six years, the show revitalized the network TV drama and gifted us with some amazing TV moments we won't be forgetting anytime soon. The series also scored countless award nominations, notably earned Sterling K. Brown, Gerald McRaney, and Ron Cephas Jones Emmy Awards, and the cast took home the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 2018 SAG Awards.

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

The This Is Us series finale really began in the penultimate episode, when the Pearson family gathered together to say goodbye to Rebecca before she died. It was a tear-jerker of an episode that gave us an award-worthy performance by Mandy Moore.

One character saying this is sad, and another saying if it's sad because it's ending, then it must have been wonderful while it was happening
NBC

So, the final episode picked up after Rebecca's death, as Kate, Randall, Kevin, and the rest of the Pearson family attended Rebecca's funeral and began to process this monumental loss.

Various characters giving eulogies and sitting in pews during the funeral
NBC

Despite the present-day setting being Rebecca's funeral, the This Is Us series finale really felt like a big hug and included some happy moments, like Deja telling Randall that she's expecting a baby boy.

NBC
NBC

Meanwhile, the flashback for this episode was simply a rainy Saturday in the Pearson house, as Kate wanted to hold onto her childhood, while Jack taught Kevin and Randall how to shave.

NBC
NBC

I was 100% weeping when Kate explained how she always pins the tale perfectly on the donkey. It's fine.

Kate saying she pays attention to where her family is, and "as long as I know where you are, I always know where I'm going"
NBC

The flashbacks made up a large portion of the This Is Us series finale, and those scenes were actually filmed at the beginning of Season 4, since the original little Big Three — Lonnie Chavis, Mackenzie Hancsicsak, and Parker Bates — are now much older.

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Speaking about filming a large portion of the finale years ago, creator Dan Fogelman told the Hollywood Reporter, "We shot [the flashbacks] years ago, primarily to capture them in a moment in time when it would feel nostalgic to us and to the audience. It's like watching an old home movie. [The flashback tells] a really simple story to make people think of their own families and the stuff that we forget to sit inside of and be present for."

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Alongside the Saturday afternoon scenes, the This Is Us team also filmed a sweet moment between Randall and William way back in Season 1, and it was incorporated into a moment of present-day Randall reflecting on becoming a grandfather.

William saying grandparents loving their grandchildren unconditionally, even when they know they won't be a big part of their story
NBC

This Is Us ultimately came to a close perfectly by focusing on the Big Three, Jack, and Rebecca. In the present day, the Big Three did their chant and talked about sticking together, while in the past, Jack took in his family, with the final shot being a look at Randall.

NBC
NBC

For a show that has been known for its twists, This Is Us ending on simple moments with the Pearsons was ultimately perfect. Talking about the final scenes of the show, Dan Fogelman told Deadline, "I always felt that that was the ending of the show and that, amid all the talk of twists and turns and death and house fires and appliances that cause house fires, where the show really lived was just with the family and with stuff that the family was exploring."

NBC
NBC

"I always thought that the boldest and most confident step and ending for the show would be pulling out one final magic trick at the end. And then one big, emotional, sad ending and allowing the final episode to be a simple reflection on family and time."

The parallel of Jack looking at Randall and older Randall looking at Deja was flawless.

The parallel of Jack looking at Randall and older Randall looking at Deja was flawless.

NBC

During and after the final two episodes of This Is Us, fans and cast members quickly shared their favorite moments from the episodes and reflected on how this was a perfect series finale:

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What did you think of the This Is Us series finale (and the final season overall)? Tell us everything in the comments below!