(Hushed whispers gave way teary applause.)
(His hand tremors were just a side effect of his blood-pressure medication, he assured Randall.)
To accompany the sentimental and the sad in this episode, though, was some silly.
Kevin (Justin Hartley) is mired in mystery involving Arielle (Katie Lowes), Cassidy (Jennifer Morrison), and Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge).Ron Batzdorff/NBC (4)
), their snap judgments turned on a dime.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:This Is Ushas been down this wedding aisle with Kate before, so to speak.
How did the writers go about brainstorming and plotting this episode?
Madison (Caitlin Thompson) and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) follow the clues and the mimosas.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
There’s a sadness to it coming to an end.
I was really happy for that, so we’re not just stuck in the sad space.
Fans aren’t going to really know what necessarily happened with all these characters over those five years.
Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Miguel (Jon Huertas) uncork some heavy issues in this episode.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
The previous episode is pretty much dedicated to Kate and Phillip’s story.
So we get a little bit of that.
And like you said, we’ve already done the Kate wedding.
It is everyone’s ‘Only Hope’ that Rebecca (Mandy Moore) hits all the right notes at Kate’s wedding.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
So we didn’t want to live in the ceremony too much.
Been there, done that.
But it’s all this swirling interesting stuff that’s happening around that especially with that five-year jump.
What’s happening with everyone?
Where have we dumped them by jumping forward in this time period?
What’s the fun stuff we can have with that as well as progressing Rebecca’s illness?
There’s a natural built-in arc that we’re going on with Rebecca and her illness.
All that is sad, but it’s organic to life and to the show.
Executive producerElizabeth Berger said last weekthat there is still a final chapter to be told between Kevin and Sophie.
That scene didn’t show her ring finger.
When Sophie was reintroduced in last week’s episode, viewers were told that she was married.
Is that to Grant?
That is the same guy she’s married to.
Do viewers get the “long story” in this next episode?
I’ll say this.
Just a small coincidence or a thing that might make viewers go, “hmmm…”?
Well, to be honest, it might be a little bit of both.
So whether they stay in your life or not, they still help mold who you are.
What can you say about Cassidy’s mental healthafter her crisis?
She is in a great frame of mind.
She’s mentally healthy, physically healthy just in a great state in her life.
And when we find her in this five-year jump, she is certainly in that best-self space.
Kevin has had a lot of interesting love interests throughout the show’s life.
Sophie is certainly one of them, Cassidy is certainly one of them.
What I can say is they are all potential suitors.
I would say: WithThis Is Us, always expect the unexpected.
So, don’t count out the wedding singer?
Don’t count out anybody.
But that’s not to say that thatiswhat we’re going to do.
But it could be.
Will he finally figure it out no more corporate spokespeople?
But again, there’s still five episodes left.
So expect the unexpected.
I mean, we certainly did in the writers' room, so absolutely feel free.
Like all great television, it’s a little bit of both.
I’m not going to lie: Hell yes!
[Laughs] They were so good together.
I had so much fun writing their scenes.
Everyone in the room had so much fun envisioning their scenes.
But frankly, I could have written a whole episode with just the two of them.
And shoot, that could be the spinoff, you know?
I would watch a series of the two of them being romantic detectives.
It was that fun.
The last time Kate got married, she dreamed that Jack was alive and still married to Rebecca.
This time, Jack returns in the mind of Rebecca, who’s battling Alzheimer’s.
It was maybe the saddest one.
On the surface, we just thought it was a cool emotional way to depict that.
We’re that lost in terms of the logic of the disease.
But the doctor made it sound like this happens.
It’s sad, but it’s real.
Let’s not be scared of presenting it the way it is.
It’s all the family members around them who are aware and have to adjust.
That’s what we wanted to show in this episode.
Milo has talked about how he always wishes that he could have more scenes with the present-day Pearsons.
Was he excited to get another shot?
And he’s such a professional.
You could tell that he had studied Justin Hartley, so that he could embody him in that scene.
It felt like a different version of Jack, which is so cool and nuanced to nail that.
I was very happy with that scene.
I can’t speak for everyone, but that’s one of the saddest collateral of all of it.
It feels like Miguel is cast aside at times, like the second fiddle.
But it’s not necessarily true.
People can have multiple soulmates.
And there’s an argument that that’s the case here.
It’s this weird swirl.
I’m sure that Miguel knows that by talking to Rebecca’s doctors.
He’s a smart person who is able to accept that and embrace it.
But also, it is exhausting.
And that’s part of his story arc in this episode.
And I think that’s what he is touching on in this episode a little bit.
Are you possibly setting up the explanation for his absence at Rebecca’s deathbed?
I’ll say that we’re not really setting up some kind of major disease.
I would probably take his word for it in the episode.
He says that the trembling is just a natural reaction to that stuff.
It shouldn’t be worrisome.
It’s just, you know, people getting old.
In this episode, he’s fine.
He’s just aging, and with age comes deterioration.
It’s an emotional performance and all of the Pearsons are tearing up while watching Rebecca perform beautifully.
Or was it just, you know, good acting?
Probably a little bit of both.
I think that most of the cast and crew hadn’t heard any of the song before.
So I want to say that a lot of those reactions were at least partially genuine.It went dead silent.
So I think a lot of that was genuine.
Do you remember where that idea came from?
Is that something the writers have joked about over the years?
We’ve joked about it a little bit over the years.
So I always remembered that.
And then it came up naturally for this episode in the room; I forget who pitched it.
So that was kind of fun and cool.
It all just kind of fell into place.
So we have to dissect everything.
And then after we do all of that, we’re like, “Yes, he could!
Let’s do it!”
Next week returns viewers to the wedding as well as the night before.
What’s a final hint that you’re free to drop?
I’ll say this:Some people will be happy and some people might not be happy.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
