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'This Is Us' Stars & Showrunner Open Up About What Happened To [SPOILER] in Next To Last Episode

'This Is Us' Stars & Showrunner Open Up About What Happened To [SPOILER] in Next To Last Episode

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!

The next to last episode of This Is Us just aired and fans were brought to tears over what happened!

If you watched the show, you’re aware of exactly which character passes away in the episode.

Click inside to read more about what the actor and showrunner shared about the moment…

During the episode, most of the Pearson family gathered to say their goodbyes to Rebecca (Mandy Moore), as she is very near her last moments Earth-side.

As the family each said their goodbyes, in her dreams, Rebecca was reunited with many familiar faces – including Randall’s biological father, William (Ron Cephas Jones), Dr. K (Gerald McRaney) and at the very end of the train, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia).

Speaking with Variety, Dan Fogelman opened up about the decision to have Rebecca pass away in this episode and not the series finale.

“To me, the show has been about many things and a lot of people can lock on to different elements of the show. They have favorite characters, they have favorite issues we explore, the dynamics we explore,” he shared. “When I zoom out, I’ve always thought that the show was a lot about the loss of a parent and eventually losing parents. And so that isn’t just about the moment of loss, it’s about which comes after.”

Dan added that the series finale will be more than just about loss for the Pearsons.

“So much attention that was put on ‘How does Jack die?’ early on. How Jack dies and the big episode where, in fact, he does die. But so much of our series is about what happens after. And I always wanted and always had planned for the final episode of the series to revolve around the epilogue of the continuing story of the family rather than the moment,” he says. “It felt important to me to go out making the show about how the human condition and the human spirit kind of endures and moves forward, rather than just a moment that would have everybody hysterically crying because somebody passes at the end.”

Mandy also spoke of portraying the character who was the matriarch of the family.

“This poor woman who lost a child, who lost a spouse, then finds herself at this juncture of her life in cognitive decline, with a degenerative brain disease. It’s just very, very sad,” she shared. “But I also feel buoyed by the fact that we’re able to represent this situation that millions of people find themselves and their families in and for people to feel a sense of community and not feel like an anomaly and hopefully feel a little less alone.”

Mandy added, “The way that we were able to model this family caregiving situation, it’s an important conversation and I don’t think that it’s one that’s had enough. In that sense, I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s another legacy that hopefully our show will be remembered for.’”

The series finale of This Is Us airs next week, May 24, on NBC.

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Photos: NBC
Posted to: Television, This is Us