‘This Is Us’ Fans in Tears Over ‘Taboo’: Call Midway Point to Finale ‘Brutal’
As This Is Us turns a corner toward their final episodes of the season, fans are clinging to any clues that will lead them to any information as to how the series will end. The series’ latest episode, “Taboo,” gave fans clues about how the long-running NBC drama would end. Tying together moments that occurred throughout Thanksgivings, past, and present, the Pearson family history continues to unravel in what fans called a “brutal” episode.
What was ‘Taboo’ about?
Spoiler Alert: The following contains spoilers about This Is Us’ Mar. 8 episode titled ‘Taboo.’
The series Mar. 8 episode focused on Pearson family matriarch Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and her evolution as a woman.
Throughout four separate Thanksgivings, the titular moments that shaped Rebecca showed just how strong she indeed was.
As a young girl, Rebecca tried desperately to emulate her mother Janet (Elizabeth Perkins). However, Rebecca believed she could never achieve her mother’s level of perfection no matter how hard she tried.
As a newlywed, Rebecca attempted to create an ideal Thanksgiving dinner, only to have her mother criticize her attempts at cooking. Although the women would come to terms with how they had hurt one another over the years, this moment shaped Rebecca into the mother she would become to her own three children.
She subsequently realized just how much she needed her daughter Kate (Chrissy Metz) after learning that after years of leaning on her late husband’s best friend Miguel (Jon Huertas) for friendship and support, he left to make a new life in another state.
Finally, as a woman in the later stages of life, Rebecca showed her strength. She faced the uncertainty of her future and her children Kate, Kevin (Justin Hartley), and Randall (Sterling K. Brown), with whom Rebecca made a life plan as her Alzheimer’s progressed.
Fans called the latest episode of ‘This Is Us’ episode ‘brutal’
This Is Us viewers flocked to social media to share their reactions to the episode, which all agreed was “brutal” to watch.
They shared their remarks in the comments section of an Instagram post that shared a photo of Rebecca and Jack in a romantic moment before her parent’s arrival for their first Thanksgiving as an engaged couple.
“Rebecca’s speech and her last demand for all three of her children had me. This show always brings out the tears,” wrote one viewer.
“Brutal, just brutal. The last 10 minutes is killing me,” claimed a second fan.
“Oh, that talk! ‘Be fearless. I am your mother, and I am saying to follow whatever makes your heart happy, whatever moves you.’ My father died of dementia, and my mother is fighting it now. That was brutal. Literally crying my face off,” penned a third Instagram user.
‘This Is Us’ announced its final episodes will run interrupted
In a teaser video that aired at the close of “Taboo,” This Is Us announced the series will run its remaining episodes interrupted until the series finale on May 24, 2022.
The Mar. 15 episode is titled “Guitar Man” and will be the first of three that will focus for the final time on the personal stories of The Big Three: Kevin, Kate, and Randall.
In the episode, Kevin takes his twins, Nicky and Franny, to his family’s cabin to prove himself as a father.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.
