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'I always thought that the boldest and most confident ending for the show would be pulling out one final magic trick at the end.' Creator Dan Fogelman answers all the burning questions about the series finale of ThisIsUs.
worked when Fogelman dusted it off, there was no plan B. “I didn’t have a big full-fledged backup plan, which is what made it all a little bit terrifying,” he said. “And it’s literally why I had to watch the first cut of the past footage with my wife [who plays Madison], which I’ve never done before, because I was too scared to watch it alone.
” Luckily, every previously shot scene was used, save for some footage of Jack and Randall making breakfast for their respective families, which Fogelman said may be released online.’s Kevin has reconciled with Sophie and is devoting himself to the nonprofit he began in his father’s memory.’s Kate has found new love after divorcing Toby and is opening up music schools for the visually impaired. It is Randall’s fate that remains coyly open-ended. In addition to becoming a grandfather to Deja and Malik’s son , Senator Randall has his sights set on a trip to…at the request of the DNC, we might add. “People don’t like their presidents all weepy and stuff,” Kevin jokes at one point. But viewers never learn if Randall does, in fact, become POTUS. “We all felt that if we had hypothetically flashed forward to Randall sitting in the White House, that wasn’t what the show is, and it would’ve broken a little bit,” Fogelman toldStill, the creator admitted to having fun with the possibility, comparing Randall’s teased political journey to. “In my mind, I know what happens to Randall and his family, but it’s meant to not be answered and to just leave a hint of promise,” Fogelman said. “I think it’s up to the audience to decide what they think happens next with Randall. Did we watch an origin story without realizing we were watching one of a future leader of the free world?” Throughout writing the show’s six seasons on NBC, Fogelman has copped to borrowing from his own life. “I should say that my dad, who’s a big Jewish guy from Brooklyn, is convinced that Jack is him,” Fogelman said of the belovedThe parallels are even more obvious when it comes to Fogelman’s late mother. In the finale, Randall—a man born to wax poetic—struggles with how to capture Rebecca’s life in one last speech, one that the audience never hears. “I stayed up all night like a lunatic—and, frankly, like a martyr—trying to write my mother, who I adored, the perfect eulogy,” Fogelman remembered. “And my experience of the day—and, frankly, the week or two after—was as I described it in the script. I just kind of floated through space and time and didn’t hear anything. I worked so hard on that eulogy and I don’t remember a single word I said, and I didn’t remember saying it.”This Is Us. “I always thought that the final actual scripted, spoken dialogue in the episode would be Jack or Rebecca just simply saying ‘I love you’ to one another,” Fogelman said. He felt similarly certain about the show’s final frame, in which a young Randall looks to his father as Jack gazes upon the rest of his family. “I just wanted the simplicity of a shot of the child taking in the parent at a moment when the parent is taking in something bigger,” he explained, “and knowing that that child will carry it forward in their own life.” Naturally, the conclusion of a show that takes place across multiple time frames invites spin-off conversation. But Fogelman was quick to squash any speculation. “I think I’m pretty set on this being it,” he said. “I feel, outside of some understandable questions about Audio the Dog, for the most part, we’ve really answered the questions of the show.” Still, he left the door toslightly ajar, should his mind change: “Who knows what change of heart my ensuing midlife crisis brings, but I really feel we’ve put these stories to bed now and certainly for quite a bit of time.” After 106 episodes full of interlocking story lines and elaborate reveals, Fogelman—like Rebecca Pearson—has earned a rest. “My wife and I are gonna find a beach somewhere and hit it for a little bit. I’m gonna hang out with my kid. And I’m not really thinking about any kind of storytelling at the moment,” he said. But like his heart-on-their-sleeve-wearing characters, Fogelman couldn’t resist one last reflection on the show that was. “Even though there aren’t a lot of bells and whistles on the final episode,” he admitted, “it’s probably as proud as I’ve ever been of an episode of the show.”
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