‘This Is Us’: Did Rebecca Ever Tell the Big Three About Kyle?
It’s easy to forget some past plot points of NBC’s This Is Us without some reminders in ensuing episodes or Season Four. One plot element that some have maybe forgotten is Jack and Rebecca lost one child when she gave birth to triplets.
All of this took place in the opening episodes of the series, which has since been overwhelmed with other major character arcs.
A lot of viewers might also not remember the name of this baby was Kyle, something only referenced a few scant times in the last three years. What fans really want to know is whether the Pearson kids truly know the details about Kyle.
According to Reddit users, Rebecca has mentioned it to a couple of the kids, though the jury’s still out on whether one knows.
Was it customary in the older days to keep a stillborn child out of mention?
When someone on Reddit recently asked the question of whether Kyle has been mentioned in the last few seasons of This Is Us, various interesting replies came in. One person mentioned it was sort of a custom in prior decades to not bring up any talk about a stillborn child for whatever reasons.
Nowadays, it seems odd to want to cover up such a thing, though it apparently stayed within family circles before news of stillbirths became a mainstream news subject.
Perhaps this is why the Pearsons have kept it on the down-low during the ’70s and ’80s, despite a few references in awkward ways.
One of the most strange of all was when a neighbor of the Pearsons told Randall when he was a boy during Halloween. He apparently didn’t know at the time he was adopted after Kyle lost his life. Maybe Jack and Rebecca never wanted to say this out of fear Randall would think he was a replacement for their lost child.
The above incident did lead Rebecca to tell Randall, despite it never being shown if she also told Kate and Kevin.
Kate is definitely aware, though
Other scenes have been shown that had Beth referencing the death of Kyle to Kate when former was having fertility issues. Plus, Rebecca did mention the death of Kyle again when Kate had her own miscarriage.
All evidence points to the Pearson kids being more than aware of it, but there hasn’t been a tremendous amount of mention otherwise. Some fans are hoping it might factor more strongly in a future episode. Since we know This Is Us frequently ties past events into a current or future situation, there may be some sense of full circle on Kyle’s death at some point.
Yet, despite Randall and Kate knowing on-camera, Kevin hasn’t been seen talking about Kyle. There’s even an insinuation maybe he’s never been told. Or, maybe he has and it explains some of his feelings of guilt.
There is real-life precedent on people feeling like part of them was lost when a twin died at birth and the other survived.
Is there a sense of personal loss when one knows they lost a twin?
A famous case exists of twins being born where one survived and the other didn’t. It’s Elvis Presley who had a twin brother (named Jesse Garon) who died at birth. Elvis felt haunted by this his entire life, which could explain some of his troubles later in life, though not entirely.
Fans on Reddit suggest had Kyle been born, Kevin and Kyle might have been twins. How compelling would it be to see Kyle appear to Kevin in adult form through a fantasy sequence in a future story? As strange as that might be, a loss like this is similar to losing a soul mate.
Is it possible Kevin feels some existential dread about Kyle dying and not him? Only future episodes of TiU will peel back such a layer to examine Kevin a little more carefully on a psychological level.
