‘This Is Us’ Season 2 Finale Ending Explained

The This Is Us season 2 finale left fans with a ton of question about its ending.

The bulk of the episode revolved around the build up to Kate Pearson (Chrissy Metz) and partner Toby Damon’s (Chris Sullivan) wedding.

However, the final block of the episode centers around the wedding reception. Through two big speeches, we get a glimpse of what is to come for the Pearson family.

Scroll through to see our breakdown of the This Is Us season 2 finale’s ending.

Kevin’s Speech

The first speech is from Kate’s twin brother Kevin, and it is all about moving on from the past. 

He recounts some advice Kate gave hima s he was struggling to grieve their father Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) death.

“She said, ‘Kevin, if you don’t allow yourself to grieve dad’s death, it will be like taking a giant breath in and just holding it there for the rest of your life,” Kevin recalled.

He confesses he did not want to follow that advice, but he was since learned to. He then encourages Kate, their adopted brother Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and their mother Rebecca (Mandy Moore) to let go along with him.

“I think we’ve all been holding our breaths for a long time,” Kevin says. “Before we toast Toby and Kate, before we clink our glasses, I think that the four of us should release that breath together. It think it’s important that we do that. That we let go to those things we’re holding on to.”

The four breath out together, signifying that they will finally try to put Jack’s death behind them.

Randall’s Speech

Randall follows Kevin all about “not being able to control the future” and how choosing the people close to you is “the closest we come to choosing our destiny.”

He says he think Kate made the right decision in choosing Toby and vice versa.

As this speech happens, glimpses of the Pearson family’s future are shown.

Kevin’s Future

Kevin is shown on a plane headed to Vietnam. He is holding a photo of his late father Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) taken during his time in the Vietnam War.

This photo was first shown in an earlier season 2 flashback in during the “Brothers” episode. It shows Jack with his fellow troops, including his brother Nicky. Nicky remains one of the show’s biggest mysteries, as the family never speaks about him. It is presumed he died in Vietnam.

Kevin could be looking to visit the place his father served and possibly unravel the mystery of his uncle.

Kevin’s Future (Continued)

With Kevin on the plane is a surprising face: his sister-in-law Beth’s cousin, Zoe.

Zoe was introduced earlier in the finale as the wedding’s photographer. The two are seen cuddling up on the plane and are clearly romantically involved.

While Kevin’s tease was lighter and set up a future romance, the others set up trouble for the Pearson family.

Kate and Toby’s Future

The tease of Kate and Toby’s future comes during a flash forward that is implied to be around one year in the future.

Kate walks into bedroom to an incapacitated Toby. She informs him that the doctor wants him to come into the office to change up his medicines. Toby lays motionless on his side and gives a glazed look ahead.

He is blinking and breathing, so he is not dead. However, this appears to tease a health scare or worse for Toby. He could possibly be dealing with more heart problems, as he suffered a heart attack back in season 1.

Randall and Tess’ Future

The show then revisits a future time period that was previously teased earlier in season 2 with older versions of Randall and his daughter Tess. However, the occasion is much less joyous than the first glimpse.

The father and daughter are having a serious conversation about an unnamed woman.

“It’s time to go see her, Tess,” Randall says.

Tess replies, “I’m not ready.”

“Me neither,” Randall responds.

As the glimpses transition back into the present day, the next shots are of Beth.

 

Randall and Tess’ Future (Continued)

The obvious conclusion to draw is that Beth has died or is dying at this moment in the timeline. Maybe Randall wants Tess to make peace with Beth’s passing/ill health.

However, there are still some possible outs that spare Beth’s life.

Alternatively, maybe there is a rift between the core Pearson family and Tess is simply estranged from Beth.

Furthermore, the way that This Is Us‘ writers angled the dialogue, Beth could not even be the person the duo is talking about. It could be Tess’ grandmother Rebecca, her sister Annie, her adopted sister Déjà or any other female character from her family that has or has not already been shown.

However, the implication writers wanted fans to take away was the death of Beth, so maybe there is not a deeper twist ahead.

Déjà Acting Out

While the reception attendees are tied up with speeches, Randall and Beth’s adopted daughter Déjà was wreaking havoc.

Déjà, who has been dealing with her mother’s abandonment, is enraged after Toby’s mother tells her she looks like her “father” Randall.

She grabs the family’s old baseball, goes to Randall’s car and beats its windshield as it shatters. This is symbolic, being as Randall always encouraged Déjà to work hard in order to by a fancy car like that one.

Last Shots

The last shots connect with Kevin’s glimpse of the future.

At the reception, Zoe walks up to Kevin and begins to have a conversation with him.

“I’ve always been a sucker for a good toast,” she says.

Kevin thanks her and cracks a smile.

This shows that Kevin’s future is not far from coming true, as this is presumably how the romance begins.

This Is Us is now off-season, but past episodes can be found on Hulu.