This is Us Season 6 Episode 18 review: The Final Chapter bids adieu with underwhelming episode

After last week’s emotional goodbye to Pearson matriarch Rebecca, this one didn’t feel like the last-ever episode of the show.

The Big Three bid farewell to their mother

This Is Us

Story: The Big Three come to terms with the loss of their mother, Rebecca and wonder if not having her in their lives, will have them drift apart. Rebecca was, after all, the binding force of the family. Will their busy lives set them off on different courses?

Review: The last few weeks have been emotional rollercoasters on This is Us – The Final Chapter, as the showrunners let us in on what would become of the Big Three – Kevin, Kate and Randall – while also bidding adieu to matriarch Rebecca. On last week’s episode, it was finally time, and Rebecca passed on with her near-and-dear ones around her. It made for some heart-wrenching viewing, even though we’d been prepared for this eventuality for a while. With one more episode to go at that point, one wondered how much more the writers could pull at our heart strings?

Turns out, they couldn’t. The last episode on This is Us The Final Chapter was underwhelming to say the least. It did not feel like a finale and was almost as if the show writers ran out of steam and had no idea how to wrap it up befittingly. In the aftermath of Rebecca’s passing, The Big Three come to terms with having no parent left, which makes Kate wonder if they’d drift apart amid their busy personal lives. They will not chime in the brothers, but then, we’ll never know. This is Us has ended today. And strangely, it did not leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling. This episode felt like an after-thought. The writers had exhausted all story arcs and couldn’t possibly force-fit another like they did with Jack’s death and Marcus’ survival last week. So, why didn’t they just end it with Rebecca’s death? That would have been so much better than the way it did now.

There was no emotional funeral eulogy, although Randall was clearly at sea trying to figure out what best to say about his late mother. Instead, the showrunners thought that making it about the Big Three transitioning from parent to grand-parent, in this case Randall, was more interesting. Deja is having a baby boy and wants to name him after Randall’s biological dad, William, a man she’s never met. Emotional much? Nah!

Kevin, Kate and Randall also decide that the best way to honour their late mother is by living their lives to the fullest, which for Kevin means focusing on his non-profit construction firm with army veterans; Kate setting up more music schools for the visually challenged and Randall working on his bid to run for President. So, well, it’s taken them half a century to finally lock on their life goals, but apparently that’s ok – better late than never, eh?

Verdict: If you haven’t seen the final episode yet, feel free to go ahead and skip it. There’s nothing groundbreakingly revelatory that you ought to catch it. Last week’s The Train was a far more befitting end to the show. Say goodbye to Rebecca and be done with it.

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