Warning! The following contains spoilers for This Is Us' Season 4 premiere. Read at your own risk!
This Is Us really threw its audience for a loop in the Season 4 premiere with a slew of new characters, but all was well at the end when viewers learned who each new character was and their connection to the Big 3. With that being said, the big reveals came right at the episode's end, which didn't leave fans enough time to put two and two together on some characters' stories and how they fit into the timeline.
For example, we were introduced to the adult Jack Damon, or Kate and Toby's baby Jack. We visited Jack well into adulthood, which zips past the 10 year time jump at Rebecca's death bed that is supposed to be where the series finale is centered. For those that thought Rebecca's death was as far into the future as This Is Us would get, think again, because Dan Fogelman has us questioning just how much further ahead the NBC drama may go.
Jack would be approximately 12 years old in that period you’ve been at with Rebecca. What you’re seeing [in the Season 4 premiere] is about 10 years-plus after that...It’s a difficult period to go to all the time, because we’re pretty deep into the future, and it presents production challenges. But we do plan on returning to it.
As Dan Fogelman stated, this won't be the last time that adult Jack will be seen on This Is Us. That's exciting news, and somewhat comforting, considering Jack's wife announced her pregnancy and fears of said pregnancy just moments before he sung in front of a packed house. It seems like there's a lot of drama that could happen there, and something for writers to shift to if all the Jack and Rebecca story lines begin to go dry.
For those wondering how this may impact This Is Us' endgame and the whole situation with Rebecca on her death bed, Dan Fogelman told TVLine that that scene remains where the series is headed, though don’t be surprised if the story continues to jump to events beyond Rebecca’s final moments.
When we talk about the endgame of that future story that’s already been established with [Rebecca’s flash-forward], it’s where the story for our Pearson family — the immediate family of The Big Three — heads towards. But it doesn’t mean [that flash-forward] is the endgame in terms of timelines.
This Is Us has established its endgame, but it sounds like it’s also giving writers some breathing room to continue stories in many different ways. Hey, they could even throw a curveball and do a flash-forward with Jack Damon’s baby years into the future. This series is called This Is Us after all, not "This Is Pearsons." Does NBC have a budget for flying cars? We’re gonna need flying cars at some point if we keep jumping forward.
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