‘This Is Us’ Season 3 Looks Particularly Dark for Toby and Here’s Why

Published Mar 16, 2018

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8:37pm

We laughed, we cried and we kept the tissue industry afloat for another quarter. We made it through the season two finale of This Is Us. But we still have so many questions about those weighty flash-forward sequences.

ICYMI: The season finale episode skipped ahead one year into the future to a glimpse of Kevin (Justin Hartley) and his new girlfriend, Zoe (Melanie Liburd), jetting off to Vietnam and Toby (Chris Sullivan) suffering from a deep, dark depression. It also hopped about two decades into the future to a scene where adult Tess (Iantha Richardson) and old man Randall (Sterling K. Brown) dread going to see an unnamed female.

Enter This Is Us co-showrunner and executive producer Elizabeth Berger to clear up some of our confusion.

NBC

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Berger touched on Toby’s flash-forward sequence and hinted at the genesis of his depression, saying, “Depression is something that Toby struggled with before, and it’s something that he’s gotten a hold of. But I think as many people can attest to, the path of dealing with depression isn’t always a straight line, and sometimes you get off course. And especially when there are stressful situations going on, things can sort of come to a head. And Kate [Chrissy Metz] and Toby will be thrust into some stressful situations as we move forward, and that will definitely have an impact on Toby’s state of mind.”

The This Is Us co-showrunner went on to reveal that Toby and Kate’s desire to have a child and the stresses of the first year of marriage also play a role in Toby’s mental instability. Berger promised that season three will explore more of Toby’s relationships and family—like his estranged brother—in a deeper way.

Guess she’s not showing all of her flash-forward cards just yet. Now, to find out more about Kevin’s new love interest and Randall’s plight.

Lex Goodman

Cat mom, yogi, brunch enthusiast

Lex is an LA native who's deeply obsessed with picnics, Slim Aarons, rosé, Hollywood history and Joan Didion. She joined PureWow in early 2017.

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