This Is Us Season 5 Finale Recap

In the previous episode, Kevin overcame his doubts about Madison by heeding stepfather Miguel's advice that not every love story is an epic Hollywood tale. "Some love stories are written in the stars and other love stories are written together," he told the groom-to-be, comparing his marriage to Rebecca after the death of Jack to Kevin and Madison being brought together by her unexpected pregnancy. But Madison tells Kevin that she deserves to be marrying a man who is in love with her, and not just as the mother to his children. For those who no longer watch This Is Us, but are still interested in what's going on, here's how the season finale went down.

It was the ending that Jerry Maguire (referenced in last week's episode) should have had after Renee Zellwegger realized that Tom Cruise was in love with the idea of family, but not actually her. And Madison sniffed it out, and she called off the wedding. Kevin's panic over wedding logistics belies a man panicked about his future, while brief flashbacks economically flesh out the low self-worth that has defined Madison's life so far.

(And led her to that weight loss group way back in the show's pilot.) The scene where she finally calls off the wedding is brutal, but incredibly well-done. Though Kevin desperately fights to save his dream of a perfect nuclear family, he can't even bring himself to say he loves the woman he's about to marry. Deep down, they both know it's better to cut their losses rather than go through with something they'll regret.

It's bittersweet, rather than tragic.There's strength and hope in Madison's decision to call off the wedding rather than settle for an approximation of love. And that's the general tone this episode strikes across the board. This Is Us tends to save its most dramatic cliffhangers for its midseason finales, rather than its season-enders. And a lot of "The Adirondacks" is a fairly light, almost madcap comedy punctuated by moments of reconciliation.

Beth and Tess break through their communication issues and share a lovely mother/daughter bonding moment as Beth helps Tess modify her wedding attire to fit her newfound style. And Rebecca begins the process of making amends to Randall for hiding William from him and never giving him space to discuss his feelings about his birth parents. With the amount of dangling threads this finale opens up, I have no idea whatThis Is Us' final season is going to look like. We've now got three major flash-forward timelines to work towards, including a lot of teases in that five-year jump. In addition to Kate's wedding, we learn Kevin has fulfilled his dad's dream of launching Big Three Homes, Nicky has a wife, and Randall has been dubbed a "rising star" by a swanky New Yorker profile. I'm assuming next season will largely focus on those threads, and I'm wondering if it might be set across a longer period of time than the show's usual year-in-the-life mode.

The Rick and Morty Season 5 finale handles all this at a breakneck pace, often through montages, which makes genuine worldbuilding feel like cutaway gags and earnest characterization feel a bit confounding. There's obviously something interesting about the idea of Rick and Morty's relationship being cyclical and unavoidably predatory, but it never really amounts to much beyond an acknowledgment of that basic truth. As ever with Rick and Morty, anything that's confusing is deliberately so, and anything left half-finished or improperly explained probably didn't need to be as it'll promptly be forgotten about completely. We'll start with Kevin, who had a lot going on when we left him back in March. Had an enormous fight with Randall in which he told his adopted brother that the worst day of his life was the day his parents brought Randall home.

This blowup happened because Kevin and Randall deeply disagree on what is best for their mother, Rebecca, in light of the news that she's probably in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Randall wanted his mother to go to a clinical trial in St. Louis, she agreed, then changed her mind after she spent a day with Kevin and decided she wanted to stay near her family. She then switched her choice back to the clinical trial after Randall called and begged her to reconsider. When Kevin found out that Randall had gone behind his back and asked their mom to do the clinical trial, he was enraged. Kate and Toby are getting ready, she has the kids down for a nap. Although, he tells her that he is going to have to be in San Francisco three days a week when the office re-opens.

He tells her that they should really considerate, they are not going to survive much longer on her teaching assistant salary alone and he hasn't gotten a serious offer in a long time. He says he has to go back to work, he loves their children but. She says she's got it, she needs a second to digest it, but she is not thrilled. It's an effective twist because This Is Us has trained us to expect flash-forwards to either Rebecca's deathbed or Baby Jack's future in its finales. Plus "The Adirondacks" makes a point of selling the wholesome, supportive nature of Kate and Toby's marriage, as they briefly try to "Gift Of The Magi" each other over his new job in San Francisco. In fact, one of my big complaints about this episode was going to be that it resolved Kate and Toby's marital issues way too easily after a season of deep communication issues.

But, as is frequently the case, it turns out This Is Us has a longer, more unexpected endgame in mind. Sometime in the next few years, Kate and Toby's present day happiness gives way to a whole new relationship for her. Suddenly it makes a lot more sense why Toby seems so lonely in the Rebecca's deathbed timeline. Madison enters Kevin's room as he is preparing for the day. Madison inquires as to whether he is smitten with her.

Kevin claims that they are getting married and starting a family. She claims to be in love with him, despite the fact that she is well aware that this is a cliche. Her mother gave her these earrings before abandoning her to a father who offered her nothing. Kevin is amazing, but he may not be in love with her. She has always accepted whatever crumbs of affection anyone would offer her, and she has always accepted whatever scraps of affection anyone would give her. Kevin encourages her to relax and take a deep breath.

He says he admires what they have and are building, and that he believes they are amazing. He also says he enjoys watching her with their children and that he feels good when they are together. He admits that they didn't meet under regular conditions, but that what they have will blossom. Madison claims she can't marry someone she doesn't love. Kevin wishes to spend more time with her and their children.

I set out to examine these episodes to try to figure out why this very watchable show, which features a lot of very likable actors, has never worked for me for more than a few scenes at a time. Why, despite the obviously abundant talent involved, it wasn't actually good. I don't like Alex and Bradley, and if you don't like them, the stories about them are unsatisfying. That's not because you can't care about flawed characters; it's because their flaws are never really addressed. I mean, maybe they'll come back at the beginning of a theoretical season 3 and Bradley will be apologizing for breathing all over an ER full of people like a selfish goober.

Tuan has been a valuable addition to the season because he's simultaneously one of the most sympathetic and repellent characters the show has to offer. His family was wiped out by America's genocidal war in Southeast Asia, a crime we ignore to this day when tallying up our country's pros and cons, like a golfer taking a mulligan. Yet the trauma he experienced has made him ruthless and cold in a way that puts even Elizabeth, always the more zealous of the Jennings, to shame.

After the Pasha debacle is settled, Philip and Elizabeth assure Tuan they've given him a good report, and haven't ratted him out for maintaining contact with his previous adoptive family. Tuan responds by ostentatiously telling them he's reported them for jeopardizing the operation with "petit-bourgeois concerns," i.e. worrying they might have convinced a teenager to end his own life. Elizabeth wraps up the conversation in a way intended to help the kid, telling him that his hardcore approach will ensure his eventual death or capture in the line of duty. Make his people back in Vietnam send him a woman to be his partner in life and crime. Last week, it seemed as if This is Us was finally going to give us the story line that builds the most momentum in the show, that it was going to finally reveal how Jack Pearson died.

In the last episode, we saw Jack get into a car very drunk, still carrying a beer, and head out on a two-hour drive to the venue where Rebecca was playing her first show with her band. It's been a weird season of This Is Us, set during a weird year of … life. The season started late because of the pandemic, its episode order was cut short because of the pandemic, and it never really had much by way of a sense of urgency, whether that was pandemic related or not. I'm not going to say it was a filler season, but it was a filler season. Rebecca, meanwhile, ended last season with early-onset Alzheimers, and that storyline was mostly put aside this season, although we know that Kevin will build her the house that Jack promised her, where she will die in 14 years hence.

The Randall/Rebecca scenes, in particular, are really moving—even if it feels like we sort of have to write our own ideas about where her newfound openness comes from. "The Adirondacks" zeroes in on a lot of Pearson family defense mechanisms, like the way Kevin defuses tension with humor or Randall carefully steers difficult conversations towards small talk pleasantries. The first season of This is Us is now over, and we still don't know how Jack died. Instead, this episode dealt with a different kind of fallout. Similar to "Memphis," this episode centers on a single relationship instead of trying to patch the story lines of every single character together around a central theme. This week, front and center, is the love story between Jack and Rebecca, and the moment when the love that tied them together became the most threadbare.

Hospitals have a way of bringing the best and worst emotions out of people. As we soon learn this episode, This Is Us has a way of bringing time periods together with connected emotions – both good and bad. The finale to This Is Us builds up to a climactic resolution to the Randall/Kevin situation that's been brewing throughout the season and with it, some glimmers of hope for the future too. All of this revolves around baby Jack's 1st birthday and some promising signs for the future season when it drops later this year. After a longer-than-usual wait between seasons, fans will finally reunite with the Pearson clan when the fifth season of "This Is Us" premieres tonight on NBC. And because of that longer-than-usual wait, we're willing to bet that even the biggest Big Three lovers might not remember exactly where we left America's favorite family when the Season 4 finale aired back in March.

He's more at peace with himself, and in these last several episodes he's finally come to a peace with Kevin and now Rebecca. That last was a big one, because she was the reason he had to discover everything about his family on his own so late in life. She held so much back, and she had no real reason for doing so that she could justify.

But just her brutally sincere and vulnerable apology seems to have given him peace. When she asked him to tell her about his mother and he corrected her to "birth mother," that line was everything. She's not a perfect person, but in his heart, she is still his mother. The final season premiere of NBC's time-hopping family drama aired Tuesday, setting up fans of the show for one final emotional run with the Pearson family.

There were hints in the two-minute flash-forward that Kevin and Madison could be writing their love story together. In the episodes leading up to the finale, Kevin came to the realization that he changes aspects about himself in order to please the woman he is dating. That continues to be true at his wedding, when the actor runs himself ragged trying to give Madison the perfect day and edits movie references out of his vows, per her request. The final scene of Tuesday's season finale jumped four years ahead to show Kate — gasp!

Ever since the shocking time-jump finale of season three, a seed had been planted that Kate and Toby might split up in the future. That sad outcome for one of the couples at the heart of the show was confirmed in the final, time-jumping scene, as Kate is shown readying to marry a man that viewers barely know, her new boss Phillip . Kevin then asks if he can make a joke at his brother-in-law's expense, revealing that the formerly indifferent co-worker is Kate's future husband.

Meanwhile, Kevin also compliments Randall on an article that calls him a "rising star," vaguely hinting at success for the political Pearson. Needless to say, there's a lot of change on the horizon, but it would also seem that happiness is as well with the show's upcoming sixth and final season. In a past timeline, Rebecca is furious when Jack tapes over a big wedding finale episode of Dynasty. Their spat leads to uncertainty when the young Big 3 questions if the couple still loves each other. In order to prove their love, Rebecca and Jack show the kids their wedding video, but when Jack begins making comments about the show Dynasty and Rebecca making a big deal out of nothing, the kids are nervous as another fight ensues. In one last-ditch effort to reassure their children, Rebecca and Jack agree to get married again including the kids in the vows for a sweet living room ceremony.

On Madison and Kevin's wedding day, Kevin is trying to make sure it's perfect for his future wife…until she begins to realize she needs to stop accepting "scraps" in her life and hold out for someone truly in love with her. While Kevin has done everything he can to be that guy, it's obvious there's something holding him back. By the end of the episode, Madison decides she wants and deserves more, and she calls off the wedding. As sad as it is, it's a beautiful scene between Justin Hartley and Caitlin Thompson. The title ofThe Americans'fifth season finale is one that will likely resonate with fans, as we now face several long months awaitingthe conclusionof this nail-biting series. Fittingly, then, "Rickmurai Jack" builds on the crow stuff to explore more of Rick and Morty's relationship directly, as well as Rick's backstory and some of the show's long-held ideas about continuity and canon.

Those characters don't have to be happy about it – and Rick and Morty certainly aren't – but all the smart sci-fi premises in the world need some human drama at their core. This season of Rick and Morty has had its fair share of ups and downs, and sometimes it's difficult to know what to even make of the show, let alone where to stand on it. The whole thing's a mess of contradictions and mixed messages; making us wait a month for the two-part finale just seemed like further proof that the audience getting to enjoy the episodes is something of an afterthought. He also had a huge falling out with Randall after multiple arguments about whether or not their mom should move to St. Louis to participate in a clinical trial for her early onset dementia. Kevin was against it and at one point convinced Rebecca not to take part, but Randall went behind his back to change her mind. The Season 4 finale ended in a giant blowout between the brothers in which Kevin blamed Randall for their dad's death and said the day Randall was adopted was the worst day of his life.

Randall called Kevin selfish and told him that he'll never find love. After eight long months, This Is Us is finally returning for Season 5 on Tuesday night. But considering it feels more like 80 months since the Pearson family was last onscreen, you might need a This Is Us Season 4 recap before diving back in. Here's where we left everyone before the world imploded. Yup, it's time to talk about that unspeakable death. As much as I want to pretend it didn't happen, it did.

Game of Thrones first played a massive trick on us all, making us think that a Wildling had news to tell Jon about his uncle Benjen, who we haven't seen or heard about in many seasons. "My brother, my responsibility." Bellamy and Clarke may be my most favorite relationship, but Bellamy and Octavia have always had a spot in my heart, so believe me when I say that it pains me to see Bell constantly on the outs with his baby sister. But their altercations this season have been particularly hard to take in, especially when Bell couldn't even tell O that he loved her back before spending a bunch of years in cryosleep. A part of Bellamy may not want to forgive Octavia for the "sins" that she had committed, but he should, because he's no saint, either. (Remember when he became Pike's disciple?) Look, I'm not taking sides – of course I'm not taking sides, because I love them both and equally – I'm just saying that Bellamy shouldn't be so hard on Octavia, given that he had a "dark year" himself.

Despite their differences, Octavia still wanted to protect her brother from the enemy. She wanted him to survive, ultimately willing to sacrifice her own life for his safety. I just hope that Bellamy can eventually return the feeling. "The Soviet Division," as the finale is called, ends with Elizabeth insisting that they can't return to the Soviet Union as planned. Philip's intel about Kimmy's father, who's slated to take over the titular branch of the CIA, is too valuable for them to retire now.

Philip himself seemed to realize this when he brought it to Elizabeth in the first place, instead of simply discarding the recording that revealed it as was his original instinct. People will see this as an enormous anticlimax, and they may even be right—I certainly double-checked the time stamp on the episode just to make sure this really was the end of the season. But never believe this season of The Americans had nothing to say. It may have been more discursive and elliptical than previous efforts, likely a result of its first-ever guaranteed subsequent season. But what a menacing statement it makes about how much we rely on our family, and how willing we are to distort and destroy it to get what we need and want.

"We're trying to capture something we haven't done on the show, which is a lovely married couple maybe not making it all the way," he told Entertainment Weekly. "It was something we always knew we were going to attack it in our final season." The cancelation of Kevin's wedding spawned a feel-good family moment as he retreated outside with his mom Rebecca and siblings Kate and Randall (Sterling K. Brown). As she bonded with her kids, an aging Rebecca admitted that she didn't know how many good years she has left as she faced her Alzheimer's diagnosis.

She then instructed Kevin to build her "that" house on the family's cabin property. Previous episodes showed that when patriarch Jack Pearson was alive, he designed plans to build a house for him and his wife to grow old in together, but he died before his plan could come to fruition. "The show spans a lot of time and, especially where we're going deeper into our final season, you're going to see the completion of a lot of journeys," Fogelman told The Hollywood Reporter. He tells her to take a breath, he says he loves what they have, he loves what they are building, he thinks she is incredible and I love watching her with their children. The time he spends with her he feels good and full and happy. He says he knows they didn't come together under normal circumstances, she knows that.