These Hints About Rebecca's Fate On 'This Is Us' Will Get You Ready For Season 4

The conclusion of This Is Us Season 3 slammed fans with a massive reveal. After all the speculation as to who "Her" would be, the answer was indeed Rebecca. Moreover, she wasn't in good shape. From the looks of it, her move to California with Miguel would be her last. When fans saw her decades in the future, she was living in Kevin's mansion, with 24-7 round the clock care, having slipped away into either a catatonic state or perhaps dementia. But these hints about Rebecca's fate on This Is Us suggest that whatever has happened to her, what fans are seeing is close to the end.

The scene, the longest of the "flash-forwards" the series has done, told fans a lot about the future of all the Pearsons. Though Deja and Annie weren't mentioned, Tess has grown up to be a social worker. Her parents, Randall and Beth, are still together. Her Aunt Kate and Uncle Toby are not. Kate and her son Jack weren't seen, but they were mentioned as being fine and on their way. As for Kevin and his mansion, it housed a son, his mother, and, to the surprise of many, Uncle Nicky.

But that's where the story will be left for now. According to Rebecca actress Mandy Moore, it will be a while before the show goes back to the future.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Moore revealed that "this part of the story will not be directly advanced early in the season." But when the show does get back to it, it will be because it's time to say goodbye.

We’re in the final throes of her life, the last couple of weeks, I would say. You get that sense of urgency of the family gathering, for one reason or another, and in my mind, it’s to sort of say farewell.

Milo Ventimiglia, who plays Rebecca's late husband Jack, feels this is one of the saddest of all the storyline fans will see.

Sixty-six [years old]-and-above Rebecca breaks my heart because I know she’s a woman who’s been through a lot. We’re really shifting to the matriarch side of everything and understanding Rebecca’s journey and what her impact on the family has been. I’m so excited for Mandy.

That's where Season 4 is planning to turn. Seasons 1 through 3 were about Jack and fatherhood. Season 4 begins to explore Rebecca and motherhood. And that will start by getting to know her parents better.

As Moore puts it:

Wouldn’t you expect Jack to win anyone over? I would. But her parents can be a bit… tricky. They’re a little protective. We’ve gotten some clues over the course of the show too that [she’s] not especially close with her parents later in life. I feel like they don’t necessarily understand [her] ambition as a musician.

Fans will both get to know Rebecca far better throughout the season, even as they know what her last moments look like in the future. Have those tissues at the ready! This Is Us Season 4's extended premiere airs on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 9 p.m. on NBC.