In the season finale of This Is Us, the Pearsons gather to celebrate baby Jack’s first birthday. But that’s not all, as usual, there are lots of time jumps, plot twists, and questions, so let’s unpack this episode. 

The Present: Baby Jack’s First Birthday

Kate and Toby host baby Jack’s first birthday party and the entire Pearson clan gets together to celebrate. Kevin is also celebrating one year sober. Before Randall and Beth head out to California, Beth says she doesn’t like how Randall manipulated his mother into doing the clinical trial. Rebecca hasn’t told the others about the change of plans. However, she does tell everyone at the party. This comes as a surprise to Kate and Kevin given that Rebecca was so sure about her decision in New York just last week. 

The Big Three head out into the garden where they share a laugh and further discuss Rebecca’s new decision. Randall says Rebecca thinks of it as an “investment in her future”. Kevin doesn’t quite buy it. He heads back inside and talks to Rebecca. Rebecca says she sees the trial as an” investment in her future” and Kevin connects the dots. Furious, he goes off to confront Randall and Beth, who saw the whole thing, gets the girls and Miguel and leaves.

Randall and Kevin have a massive fight. Kevin reiterates that Rebecca wanted to spend time with her family and Randall argues that when the time came, everyone would have wanted more time and they didn’t fight for it. Their fight is interrupted by Madison, but Kevin says it’s not a good time, but Madison insists. More on that in a minute. Kevin and Randall continue the fight they had in New York. Randall calls Kevin selfish and immature and Kevin says Randall has a martyr complex. Then it gets bad. Kevin blames Randall for Jack’s death. Randall says Jack died ashamed of Kevin and proud of Randall. Then to finish it all off, Kevin says the worst thing that ever happened to him was his parents adopting Randall. Randall leaves.

Madison shows up because she was invited to the party but she also needs to talk to Kevin. She is pregnant with twins and Kevin is the father. Madison says that she doesn’t want anything from Kevin, she just wanted him to know. Kevin is stunned. But after Randall says Kevin will never be able to devote himself to anything other than himself, Kevin tells Madison he is all in. 

While all of this is going on Kate, Toby, and Baby Jack head over to the NICU and remember where they were a year ago and how much they’ve been through this year. After seeing Kate with her brothers, laughing and having a good time, Toby tells Kate he wants Jack to have a sibling. Kate can’t do another pregnancy but the two decide to adopt. 

The Past: The Big Three’s First Birthday

In the past, it’s Kate, Kevin, and Randall’s first birthday. In the middle of cake, Rebecca gets upset and leaves. She tells Jack she has been thinking about the kids’ “firsts” a lot lately, including what Kyle’s (the biological triplet they lost) “firsts” might have been. Jack and Rebecca take a drive to Dr. K’s office, the doctor who delivered the babies a year ago. Dr. K also lost his first child. In a great speech, he tells Jack and Rebecca that they have to let the joys and tragedies coexist and keep going with both feelings inside and that life has a way of being more beautiful than tragic. 

The Future: Babies

We haven’t seen much of Jack’s future this season since the music studio scene but it seems like it turns out alright. Jack and his wife Lucy have a baby girl named Hope. It looks like that went well. We also see that Jack does indeed get a sister, Hailey, who is the girl from the art gallery, and she comes to the hospital to meet her niece. In the scene with Rebecca in the hospital, we also see that Kevin and Madison’s twins, a boy and a girl, are there. It’s unclear about Kevin and Madison’s relationship. Are they married or just co-parents? There also seems to be a bit of forgiveness between Kevin and Randall as Kevin puts his arm around Randall at the hospital. 

That’s all for This Is Us season 4. Hopefully, we’ll get some answers to our questions answered next year.