‘This Is Us’ EP Shares Finale Secrets & What Fans Can Expect Upon Show’s January Return

Spoiler Alert: This story contains information regarding an episode of This Is Us that aired on November 17, titled “Honestly.”

This Is Us Executive Producer Ken Olin has revealed some series finale secrets and details regarding the loose ends of the jaw-dropping mid-season ender that left viewers stunned. After four episodes, the show will take a hiatus and return on January 5. Reportedly, it will delve deeper into some of the storylines that were teased thus far in Season 5.

In an interview with Deadline, Olin shared some of what fans can expect moving forward. The EP explained that the Pearson clan’s backstory will continue to be fleshed out.

Olin revealed fans will soon come to understand why Kevin (Justin Hartley) pushes himself so hard. These topics were touched on in “Honestly” when it was revealed that Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) pushed Kevin as a teenager to excel in football when he was discouraged and wanted to quit. Jack, Kevin’s dad, told wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore) that he felt she was too soft on Kevin. Jack shared he would always push his kids to excel in direct contrast to the way he was raised, by a father who always put him down.

Olin also shared that Kate’s (Chrissy Metz) backstory will take a more complex turn. After ending an abusive relationship with her boyfriend Marc (Austin Abrams), viewers learned that teenaged Kate was pregnant. This was a secret she never told any of her siblings, her mother, or even her husband, Toby (Chris Sullivan), until a conversation with Ellie (Annie Funke) brought her back to this difficult period of her teenage years. Olin said that the first episode upon the series January return will deal with that topic “quickly.”

As for Randall (Sterling K. Brown), who was accidentally launched to fame as the viral “buff councilman” of Twitter after Malik (Asante Blackk) was distracted by a phone call while managing the live feed of Randall’s nightly local onscreen bulletin, this turn of events will open up a world of opportunity for the show to continue to tell the tale of his missing mother Laurel (Jennifer C. Holmes).

Prior to Randall’s impromptu striptease, he stated to his constituents, “I’m doing this for William Hill because you all were his family.” This part of his statement was watched over and over again by the mysterious person in the show’s prior episode as the man who loved Laurel. It was apparent by his reaction he made the connection as to who Randall was.

“Just through this ridiculous video, this viral, silly video, there will be a way that he begins to connect to her history. And that’s what’s just marvelous about it. And that story and her story, and what all of that means will be played out very soon. You’re not going to have to wait the entire season or anything,” said Olin to Deadline.

As for the finale, which will lead the series into its last season, he teased that there were already scenes filmed that will be a part of what will likely be a jaw-dropper for fans.

“I don’t know all the details yet,” he said. “We have filmed some things already that we will incorporate ultimately into the finale, and some of those things have already been done, but I certainly haven’t read [it], and I don’t know where it is in Dan Fogelman’s mind, but I think he has it very much worked out, certainly worked out emotionally, where he wants to arrive at by the end of next year.”