NBC’s This Is Us wrapped its penultimate finale on Tuesday night the only way it knows how: with emotion. After it was announced that the dramatic series would conclude with Season Six next year, the end of this current season has been highly anticipated. If you haven’t watched it yet, what are you waiting for?

The Plot

The fifth season finale opens with Kevin (Justin Hartley) reciting his vows and landing on the decision to make it a comedy bit instead of something romantic. However, he makes it clear to the wedding planner that he wants the ceremony to be the most romantic it can be for Madison (Caitlin Thompson).

On the other side of wedding jitters, Kevin’s wife-to-be is feeling the pressure of marriage with memories of her own parents’ relationship quickly falling apart during her childhood. Midway through the episode, we see they’re realizing that having twins together is not a substitute for love.

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Justin Hartley as Kevin and Caitlin Thompson as Madison in This Is Us

Several other storylines include “The Big Three” as toddlers witnessing Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) embroiled in a minor argument. This leads to an immediate and impromptu living room wedding. Adult Randall (Sterling K. Brown) avoids sharing everything about his visit to his birth mother’s home in New Orleans with the mother that raised him out of fear of upsetting her. Meanwhile, Toby (Chris Sullivan) and Kate (Chrissy Metz) come to a tough conclusion about how they navigate their career paths while raising two children.

Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) helps Tess (Eris Baker) feel more comfortable in her skin by not wearing a dress at the wedding. Malik (Asante Blackk) gets accepted into five different colleges that now threaten the distance of his and Deja’s (Lyric Ross) relationship. Lastly, Uncle Nicky (Griffin Dunne) finally unveils his wedding gift of engraved Adirondack chairs.

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The Teardrop Moments

It wouldn’t be a classic This Is Us episode without a few waterworks. The first “teardrop moment” happens when Randall and Rebecca finally have a real conversation about his birth mother. Then, there’s Madison’s confession about her fear of affection and doing the thing that Kevin can’t admit — they’re not in love with each other.

In an effort to keep Kevin busy while he recovers from the wedding that didn’t happen, Rebecca asks him to build her the house that Jack was going to build her before he died. The major plot twist of the season finale is that Kate and Toby won’t go the distance. We end with the wedding we started on and find that Kevin isn’t reciting his own vows, he’s giving a speech at Kate’s second wedding to her British boss.

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Sterling K. Brown as Randall and Mandy Moore as Rebecca in This Is Us

Where this leaves the entire Pearson family and their in-laws is unclear. For now, it’s safe to say that fans can cling to Rebecca’s words: “Everything’s gonna be alright.” As Sterling K. Brown promises in a quick teaser for the next and final season, the tears will definitely be real. This Is Us is expected to return for its sixth and final season on NBC this fall.

What did you think about the This Is Us Season Five finale? Let us know in the comments below!

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Dara Gholston
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