‘This Is Us’ Showrunners Dish on Randall’s Fate This Season

This Is Us fans are already in an emotional free-fall over the imminent death of Jack (Milo Ventimiglia,) and now showrunner Dan Fogelman has had to reassure them that they weren’t teasing another huge tragedy during the last episode.

The tense moment was between Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Kevin (Justin Hartley). In the melancholy scene, Randall notes that their dad “has already been gone longer than we had him.” He goes on to say that he can’t picture himself growing into an old man, either.

Kevin reassures his brother, saying, “[Y]ou’re not going anywhere anytime soon, right?… You got your health, you got a beautiful family… You got a tough-as-nails, kick-ass wife who literally will not let you die on her. You’re not going anywhere.”

Fans have already been pushed to the brink of emotional hysteria by this show, and their keenly-tuned sense of foreshadowing kicked in. Twitter filled with fans wondering if this was a sign that Randall would be making his exit soon as well. One fan even noted that Sterling K. Brown was particularly emotional at the SAG Awards, and wondered if this might be why.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Dan Fogelman tried to put fans at ease without spoiling anything big.

“Listen, I can’t reassure anybody of anything,” Fogelman said. “I can assure everybody that we’re not killing Randall this season, so everybody can relax. I think they would burn my house down.”

He went on to explain what the scene meant to him, outside of fan interpretations.

“I’ve experienced with a lot of friends, when you’ve lost a parent, particularly for whatever reason a parent of the same sex —a guy losing his father or a girl losing her mother early — there can be a slight mortality clock that kicks in a bit earlier than it does on other people, especially since it was formative. And I think that’s something Randall and Kevin feel,” he said.

Fogelman put the emphasis on Kevin even more than Randall, pointing out the person more confident that they would survive isn’t necessarily safer.

“Watching that scene between Randall and Kevin, the hairs on my arms go up more for Kevin, how assuredly he talks to Randall about how you’re never going to die but doesn’t say anything about himself. We’re not [hinting at] anybody’s death, but it’s always interesting the way that people view their own mortality,” Fogelman added.