'This Is Us' fans are sobbing over major death, praise penultimate episode as greatest hour of television ever
Warning: Some spoilers ahead for this week's episode of This Is Us.
This Is Us star Mandy Moore recently shared that she threw up when she read the script for the penultimate episode of the long-running hit NBC drama series, adding that fans would need to take a day off from work after seeing it. She wasn't wrong.
The episode titled "The Train," which was dedicated to saying goodbye to Pearson family matriarch Rebecca, was full of heart-wrenchingly beautiful moments that only This Is Us could deliver.
One of the fans' favorite scenes was when Beth visits Rebecca's bedside to say goodbye and say she'll take care of her partner and Rebecca's son, Randall. "I just want to say, all these years, so many times when I was faking it, I was doing my best impression of you, Rebecca. I'll take him the rest of the way, mama. Thank you for helping me with that complicated, incredible, beautiful boy that you raised, but I got him now."
Tonight we say goodbye to ma and next week we say goodbye to #ThisIsUs. Damn…?? pic.twitter.com/KQ2jSPFdWa
— Sterling K Brown (@SterlingKBrown) May 17, 2022
Half of the episode took place on a fancy train, where viewers were taken on a ride inside of Rebecca's mind leading up to her death. On the train, Rebecca got to say goodbye to every member of her family, including every actor, young and old, who played the characters throughout the years, before she ultimately reached the caboose — the final car on the train that was her life.
It was there on the train that William, Randall's birth father, guided her while sharing words of wisdom like, "The way I see it, if something makes you sad when it ends, it must have been pretty wonderful when it was happening. Truth be told, I've always felt it a bit lazy to just think of the world as sad, because so much of it is. Because everything ends. Everything dies. But if you step back. If you step back and look at the whole picture. If you're brave enough to allow yourself the gift of a really wide perspective. If you do that, you'll see that the end is not sad, Rebecca. It's just the start of the next incredibly beautiful thing."
“If something makes you sad when it ends, it must have been pretty wonderful when it was happening”… and with that, one last car. The caboose.???? #ThisIsUs pic.twitter.com/5PbewsauTb
— Mandy Moore (@TheMandyMoore) May 18, 2022
And in the caboose, which symbolized the end of her life, Rebecca was reunited with Jack, which was, hands down, the biggest tear-jerking moment of the night.
Rebecca reuniting with Jack in heaven is the moment of all moments #ThisIsUs #ThisIsUsFinalChapter pic.twitter.com/HipNoXZhKH
— ? (@tswiftsbt13) May 18, 2022
The episode was truly moving. So it was no surprise that longtime fans of the show took to social media to share their feelings:
That was one of the best hours of television I’ve ever watched and I’m so serious #ThisIsUsFinalChapter #ThisIsUs
— tee ?? (@taypaypage) May 18, 2022
Omg that episode of #ThisIsUs was so damn brilliant! The writers, the cast, everyone who was involved deserves all of the awards! pic.twitter.com/ptTOjQWjLS
— Desi (@4everdesire1) May 18, 2022
I now know why Mandy Moore threw up. #ThisIsUs
— Paige (@johnnymoira_) May 18, 2022
I know for a fact that I have never cried that hard for that long over a television show. #thisisus
— keep calm and fangirl on (@thefandommom) May 18, 2022
This train ride is devastatingly perfect #ThisIsUs
— Meghan Woods (@Miss_MEW_) May 18, 2022
using the train as a way to show rebecca’s passing is reason number 3638829484747 why this show will forever be goated #ThisIsUs
— horatio thelonious ignacious crustaceous sebastian (@4faa4kels) May 18, 2022
The writing.. it’s impeccable. The little details. It’s too much ???????? #ThisIsUs
— Nicole Smith. (@duhNasia) May 18, 2022
I hope this gets @TheMandyMoore an Emmy because boy oh boy what a season she's had. #ThisIsUs
— Tara Marron (@TaraKMarron) May 18, 2022
Take a bow ?????♀? Mandy Moore ??
You delivered a MASTERPIECE of a performance
Now it’s time for your Emmy ?? #ThisIsUs #ThisIsUsFinalChapter pic.twitter.com/BRj7IK60Pj— Paula ???? (@paula_30throad) May 18, 2022
not to be dramatic, but I think that was one of the best episodes of television i’ve ever seen. there will never be another show like this. #ThisIsUs pic.twitter.com/9OWhXZALKC
— *j.rich (@sincerelyyelise) May 18, 2022
That was one of the greatest episodes of TV I've ever seen, just perfectly written and told. Heartbreakingly beautiful.
Also, I'm an absolute wreck.#ThisIsUs #ThisIsUsThefinalchapter— Zach McGowan (@ZachMcGowan) May 18, 2022
The writers of #ThisIsUs deserve every accolade for such a beautifully written episode. Transition is hard but they honored the life of Rebecca in such a beautiful way. And showed how the Pearson legacy lives on. Real tears #ThisIsUsThefinalchapter
— Urban Elegance LLC (@UrbanEleganceLL) May 18, 2022
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
Watch Mandy Moore explaining how she threw up after reading the script for the penultimate 'This Is Us' episode:
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