Entertainment

15 Tweets That Perfectly Sum Up Your Reaction To That Big 'This Is Us' Twist

by Ani Bundel
NBC

This Is Us took a long time to get the story moving in Season 3, but finally, this week began moving the plot forward in earnest. After stalling and dragging, Toby and Kate seem to have pulled themselves together and are heading toward parenthood. Kevin and Zoe took themselves to Vietnam and wound up finding an answer they weren't looking for. As for Randall and Beth, a new flash forward suggests things aren't looking so hot for them. But these tweets about Rebecca being "Her" on This Is Us are proof fans are going to need more answers when the show returns. Warning: Spoilers for the This Is Us Season 3 fall finale follow.

This is the first time where This Is Us has felt like it's been dragging things out to fill the space of 18 episodes. It took a season and a half to get to Jack's death, and yet, there was so much other stuff to fill in, time didn't feel like it was wasting. This season has felt a little more frustrating, perhaps because the answers are exactly the twists fans guessed they would be at the end of Season 2.

Kate and Toby have managed to land a successful pregnancy and are having a boy. Kevin went to Vietnam and found what fans suspected: Uncle Nick wasn't dead after all. (Though to be fair, I doubt anyone guessed "living in Bradford just south of the New York State border" as to his location.) And then there's "Her," who, as many, many guessed, is the now very aged Rebecca.

Listen, as much as This Is Us would have liked this to be a surprise twist, it was the most obvious choice of the potential "Her" candidates, and probably the least tragic of those to pick from. There were other characters who could have been "her." Deja, for instance, in lockup, would have been a choice many fans theorized about. Likewise, Annie is far too young to be anything but heartbreaking if everyone is gathering for a big old family visit to see her somewhere.

Kate, Zoe, or Beth would have all been distressing answers, because though they are definitely all past middle age in this future timeline, early onset anythings putting one in a hospital/home are inherently emotionally difficult. Therefore, the most obvious answer would be Rebecca.

If Randall is looking like he's ready to pat his first grandchild on the head, then Rebecca is reaching her 80s, a time when many naturally reach a point where they can no longer take care of themselves, and a family visit requires emotional support from all sides.

Of course, fans still don't know what is wrong with Rebecca. Currently, she doesn't show any signs of Alzheimer's or dementia or mental decline, but her body is definitely feeling the strain of the years since she's already popping ibuprofen like candy, as she put it this week.

Rebecca's aches and pains could be a sign of what's to come when the Pearson clan finally reconvenes for a visit when the show returns next year.