Co-producer Laura Kenar, who wrote ‘Taboo,’ explains what Rebecca’s speech means for everyone.
Stranded in a motel with just cold hot dogs, cheese, and saltines?
The biological mother of your adopted daughter shows up to reclaim her daughter?
Justin Hartley as Kevin, Chrissy Metz as Kate, Sterling K. Brown as Randall, Mandy Moore as Rebecca, Jon Huertas as Miguel.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
Find out that your mother has been hiding critical information about your biological father from you?
It’s all part of the tradition of revelation!
You’re my favorite person."
would be the one in charge of all decisions.
How bad did things get?
Kevin told Toby to remove the Pilgrim Rick hat.
What was the biggest challenge in bringing this episode to life?
I imagine that Rebecca’s commanding cabin speech required a lot of discussion.
LAURA KENAR:That’s such an important moment.
My first script for the show was in season 1.
So, yeah, it was definitely a lot to talk through.
But I remember Dan saying, “This is herBraveheartmoment.”
[Laughs] It was one of those big speeches.
It was the first scene that we shot that day and she justkilledit from the beginning.
Everyone was in tears.
I just feel very proud to have helped show the evolution of Rebecca, the mother.
[It] was very moving for me.
We talked about that a lot.
I think that’s definitely a huge part of it, just thinking about how to keep the peace.
Their relationship has evolved so much.
A couple episodes before, we see Rebecca slap Kate in the teenage years.
So it’s a combination, but I think Rebecca is very wise with her choice.
Randall was a logical, if not leading, candidate to oversee Rebecca’s care.
The camera lingers on his reaction after she chooses Kate, and the audience is likely just as surprised.
Off of this episode, we’re going into these big trilogy episodes for Kate, Kevin and Randall.
In Randall’s trilogy episode, it’s a really beautiful Rebecca-Randall story.
I think you’ll get some answers in that area.
Can you hint at how he’ll react to this decision?
Randall, first and foremost, is just disappointed.
It’s more just trying to figure out why she made that decision.
Rebecca makes her kids promise that they will not make their lives smaller because of her condition.
It’s a lovely sentiment.
How realistic is it, given the impact that Alzheimer’s has on the surrounding family members?
And, of course, it’s going to affect the Big Three in their lives with her.
So we have to see.
Is that a fair assumption?
Also, can we rule out the theory that Kate isn’t alive in the future?
Because that would be awfully grim.
I would say there’s a couple people we haven’t seen yet, including Kate.
Can we rule out the theory that Kate isn’t alive in the future?
Kate has come a long way.
She’s confused at first by Rebecca’s decision to pick her as executor.
Kate really seems to be losing her connection with Toby, and the long-distance is taking its toll.
How close to the big fracture are we now?
Once you are ordered to take off the Pilgrim Rick hat, it’s not looking good.
No, that is, like, deep Pearson fighting when the hat gets involved.
They get into some deep realizations about their marriage and how they feel about each other.
So this is kind of the start of definitely seeing those cracks.
Food is such a complicated subject for both of them, in both of their lives.
You’re just in this cycle of having the same argument.
So yeah, we’re getting closer to some even more intense relationship episodes for them, for sure.
Dan wanted to verify this was a popular enough movie.
And we all said, “Yes, it was definitely a part of our childhood.”
And it took a lot of the joy out of Thanksgiving.
Like he says, they both dealt with weight, so Jack has that in his genes.
And we just wanted to represent both of their sides equally.
So if Kevin’s around, which he will be, the tension is building between Toby and Kevin.
In this episode, Kevin has again underestimated all the invisible work that Miguel does for this family.
And he’ll have even more responsibility running her care moving forward.
What can you hint about the next chapter in the Redemption of Miguel?
Let’s go behind the scenes of their porch scene.
How did you go about calibrating that scene?
Were versions where they said a little more or a little less?
That, actually, is exactly what happened.
I know the fans have been waiting a really long time to see them come together.
Young Kevin weaponized the guilt that Miguel was wrestling with.
The connection was felt during and at the end of the Taboo scene, and throughout the entire night.
Like, it’s coming out, in front of the family.
Miguels says that Y2K is real and he’s putting all his money in a mattress.
That’s my crazy theory.
You know, that’s pretty good.
It’s not a fakeout, is it?
Like the secret ingredient is just… love?
I wanted to keep it as like thePulp Fictionsuitcase, like a secret.
[Laughs]
Take that one to the grave….
The biggest surprise of the episode may have been how well Jack and Dave got along.
What was in Dave’s Tom Collins?
That was the nicest he’s ever been to Jack.
[Laughs] There was a very men-versus-women [dynamic] in that time period.
Rebecca hugs her mom and says she can’t wait to discuss the details for the wedding.
But we know that their wedding will take place at City Hall, without them.
So do old wounds resurface?
Will we get that story this season?
I don’t know if we’ll get that story.
We haven’t gotten all the scripts in.
Yeah, pretty mad.
[Laughs] That episode might be coming up shortly as well.
On the heels of this final Thanksgiving episode, will viewers get a final Christmas episode?
What is your tease for next week’s episode, which is the Kevin-focused episode of the trilogy?
And what words spring to mind when describing those three episodes as a piece?
And it’s different things for all three of them.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
