Why do Kate and Toby break up on This Is Us?
“Four Fathers” is bookended by scenes of an adult-age Jack Damon and his wife Lucy (Auden Thornton) in the future, as Jack grills a carnivorous feast on the Big Green Egg smoker by their pool. As Jack barbecues, he comments that the smell “takes [him] right back to that day,” which he later says is his first memory. In a hazy flashback from when Jack was very young, we hear Toby’s voice, along with a woman—who sounds like Kate’s mother Rebecca (Mandy Moore), although we can’t be sure—exclaiming in alarm following some sort of unseen accident. Back in the present, we get a glimpse into Toby and Kate’s long-distance relationship as he commutes to and from San Francisco, acting as husband and father mostly over FaceTime. Of course, this puts a lot of pressure on the 36 hours when he can physically be with his family, but while he and Kate plan to maximize their time together, things quickly go downhill. Thanks to Toby disregarding the nap schedule that Kate stressed to him was of the utmost importance, the kids are a mess by the time the sitter shows up that evening, leading Toby to volunteer to stay home with the kids while Kate goes to attend her students’ recital. An obviously peeved Kate leaves, but is understandably still irritated by the time the recital ends, confessing to her co-worker (slash-future husband?) Phillip (Chris Geere) that she is upset because she and Toby had a stupid fight.
How does Kate end up with Philip on This Is Us?
Phillip then confesses to Kate that he used to regularly have stupid fights with his wife, until one day he realized that the constant bickering was indicative of a deeper problem. Considering that Phillip is no longer married, the implication is clear: If you’re keeping track at home, this is the same man who talked Kate out of moving to San Francisco for Toby’s new job, then casually broke up with his girlfriend in front of her after asking her to come into work on her day off. We’re not saying Phillip definitely is trying to break up Kate’s marriage, but we can’t say for sure that’s not what’s happening here, either. Later that night, Kate arrives home with fro-yo to find Toby resolved to fix their problems by… buying a smoker! He shows her a photo of the Big Green Egg smoker that we saw grown-up Jack using in the opening scene, and even though he says he wants the smoker so the Damon family can make some fun family memories together that aren’t about being apart, it feels like a harbinger of exactly the opposite. Sure enough, returning to the flash-forward scene by the pool, Lucy tells Jack he doesn’t have to keep using the smoker, considering it is “the literal symbol of the day [his] mom and dad’s marriage blew up.” She also pushes back his hair to reveal a scar along his hairline, presumably a souvenir from the same incident. Clearly, Toby’s wish to make happy family memories together via a Big Green Egg is not going to go the way he planned. Will the Pearson family experience another fire-related trauma involving someone named Jack? And how does a barbecue break up Kate and Toby’s marriage? Perhaps Toby once again goes against Kate’s advice for the kids, leading to some sort of smoker-related accident, and that prompts the fight that paves the way for their divorce? We’ll have to wait to find out, but it’s already evident that Toby and Kate’s new beginning will actually start them down the path to the end.
Who does Kevin end up with on This Is Us?
Kevin has now moved out of Madison’s (Caitlin Thompson) garage and onto Kate’s couch, and the exes’ shared custody arrangement is clearly wearing on them both. After missing Frannie’s first taste of carrots, and later her first steps, Kevin vents to Madison that his decision to remain in L.A. to shoot The Manny reboot had been so that he could be a present dad for his kids. He feels like even though he’s in the same city, he’s only getting to experience their lives through his phone, while Madison is getting all the firsts. However, having built up an immunity to Kevin’s impassioned dramatic speeches, Madison rightly points out that they’re not together anymore, which means sometimes they’re each going to miss stuff. And after giving Kevin a reality check about just how difficult it is for her to parent their children by herself all day, she mentions that her friend Elijah (Adam Korson) is coming over soon, which clearly upsets Kevin, even though he doesn’t say anything. Back at Kate’s house, Kevin talks to Toby about how nothing he’d pictured about being a father is turning out the way he planned, lamenting that he’d always envisioned family dinners with his kids and their mother. Toby responds, “I think kids would rather have parents that are happy than parents who are together,” which feels like it may be more about foreshadowing Toby and Kate’s doomed relationship than Kevin and Madison. (It may be wishful thinking to hope that Kevin and Madison will eventually find their way back to each other, but we can dream!)
Does Kevin end up with Cassidy on This Is Us?
However, Kevin tells Toby he’s not happy, either. That night, scrolling through photos of his kids, Kevin picks up his phone and texts… Cassidy (Jennifer Morrison)! We haven’t seen her since the middle of Season 5, so her voice on the other end of the phone was a welcome surprise, especially after seeing Kevin’s 25-year-old co-star (who plays his daughter on The Manny) hit on him. He admits to Cassidy that he was indeed considering a booty call, but decided that calling someone born before Y2K who lives on the other side of the country was far wiser. Good call, Kevin! Of course, we’re still on the hunt for Kevin’s mystery wife, since we know he’s married in the flash-forwards. Reaching out to Cassidy out of the blue seems like a solid indication that her hat is still in the ring, but we also can’t ignore the way Kevin looks like his puppy just died every time Madison brings up Elijah or the fact that they’re not together. Will all this time apart make Kevin realize that he actually does love Madison, and not just his dream image of their life together? And then of course there’s always Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge), Kevin’s childhood sweetheart and ex-wife, who he’s carried a torch for ever since. Being that we’re in the home stretch of the show, we’re going to go out on a limb and say that these three are probably the strongest contenders to eventually tie the knot with Kevin, but of course on This Is Us, we never rule anything out.
Do Déjà and Malik stay together on This Is Us?
Back from her secret trip to Boston the week before, Déjà is receiving driving lessons from Randall when her phone announces an incoming text from Malik (Asante Blackk). Although Déjà tries to grab the phone, Randall insists that she keep her hands on the wheel, which means they both wind up listening as her phone reads aloud Malik’s messages about the prior weekend, including that “the bed feels too big without you.” YIKES. Randall informs Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson), who responds in true Pissed Off Mom fashion, “Let’s kill her. Let’s dig a hole in the backyard and bury her in it.” But then they decide that one of them has to be the calm one, and Beth nobly volunteers, since Randall is already too revved up to chill out. “Can we put her back in Zoom school?” he asks, as he indignantly ponders the appropriate consequences for their daughter’s actions. “I feel like that’s kind of punishing ourselves, so let’s hold off on that,” Beth responds, in an exchange that would be funnier if we could also just pretend that the pandemic is over like This Is Us. As it is, it feels a little too soon. Beth talks to Déjà while Randall goes for a run, then later returns to Beth telling him that they’re “not going to be able to ground this out of her.” She says that Déjà and Malik are in love, and feel about each other the way Randall and Beth felt in the early days. Beth says they need to adjust their parenting to address the reality that Déjà is not a child anymore, and has him take a big gulp of wine before telling him that she’s going to take Déjà to get birth control. Randall later talks to Déjà and asks her to be patient with him as he adjusts to the idea of her being grown up. It’s a sweet exchange until he mentions that he still won’t approve of her going to visit Malik in Boston. “That’s going to be a problem,” Déjà says ominously. Now, comparing Déjà and Malik to a young Beth and Randall carries a lot of weight, since of course Beth and Randall went on to get married and raise three children. In the flash-forwards, we know that Déjà is pregnant. Could it be that she’s still with Malik in the future, despite the tension their relationship is causing in her family now? Are they the next power couple (and power parents) of the Pearson family? Time will tell, but so far Déjà and Malik show no signs of splitting up any time soon.
What happens next on This Is Us?
The final parenting storyline in “Four Fathers” revolves around late patriarch Jack, who decides to make up for his long work hours by taking his kids to see their very first movie in a theater at the nearby mall. But during the film (An American Tail, placing the flashback in 1986), Jack falls asleep and Kevin wanders away, in search of free samples from the food court. Later, after recovering Kevin from the mall security office, Jack beats himself up over turning what was supposed to be a happy memory for Kevin into a source of trauma. But after a pep talk from Rebecca, he turns the day around with a family ice cream night, salvaging the day in the memories of his kids. “Never too late to turn a day around,” Rebecca tells Jack, right before the phone rings. Jack picks it up, only to be stunned to receive word that his mother has died. Next week’s episode, titled “Don’t Let Me Keep You,” will see Jack visit Ohio, presumably for his mother’s funeral. Of course, in previous seasons, we learned that Jack’s abusive father passed away in 1988, placing this scene we just watched unfold at a couple years before that. Jack helped his mother move out in 1972 when his father’s abuse worsened, but we haven’t heard much about her since, other than that she was the one who knitted the original yellow Big Three onesies that the babies wore home from the hospital. Prior to the beginning of Season 6, Ventimiglia warned that Episode 4 would be particularly devastating, saying, “It really hurt me, like me personally.” Given that it now looks like Jack will be dealing with the death of his mother in “Don’t Let Me Keep You,” we can see how that would be true, and are gathering tissues in preparation. If you can’t get enough heartwarming family storylines, check out our list of the 42 Best Shows to Watch As a Family.
