Why ‘This Is Us’ Fans Think the ‘Good Will Hunting’ Scene Means the End for Kevin and Sophie
Everything is up to interpretation — that’s the beauty of the This Is Us fandom. The Jan. 28 episode, titled “A Hell of a Week: Part Two,” split fans on Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) relationship. Some believe the couple is meant to be together at the end of the series. However, the scene featuring Good Will Hunting has This Is Us fans wondering whether Sophie and Kevin closed the chapter on their storybook romance once and for all.
[Spoiler alert: This Is Us Season 4 Episode 12.]
How did ‘This Is Us’ reference ‘Good Will Hunting’ in season 4?
The Big Three trilogy continued with the Kevin-centric episode. And as mentioned, “A Hell of a Week: Part Two,” delved into Sophie and Kevin’s love story, which spans over two decades.
In the past, young Kevin (Logan Shroyer) and Sophie (Amanda Leighton) see Good Will Hunting in a movie theater. But just as they get to the end, the film stops due to technical difficulties.
Later, Kevin and Sophie go to the woods and have a romantic moment in front of a bonfire. Sophie says they should have waited for the theater to fix the issue before walking out. However, Kevin wants to preserve Good Will Hunting, suggesting the film was already perfect and seeing the ending could potentially ruin it.
“Until it blacked out, wasn’t it the perfect movie? I mean the real ending would never have been good enough,” Kevin says.
Then Kevin and Sophie decide not to watch the ending of Good Will Hunting, instead creating a game where they make up their own endings. This is a game they still play in the present day.
“This way, we can imagine the perfect ending to the perfect movie for the rest of our lives,” Kevin says.
In the present day timeline, adult Kevin and Sophie spend some time together after the funeral of Sophie’s mother. They finally decide to watch the ending of Good Will Hunting together.
“That was better than I could have possibly imagined,” Sophie says and Kevin agrees.
Once again, the couple shares a moment together, staring deeply into each other’s eyes. But then it’s time for Sophie to say goodbye.
‘This Is Us’ fans predict Kevin and Sophie are over after the ‘Good Will Hunting’ scene
In a thread on Reddit, one This Is Us fan wondered whether the Good Will Hunting scene symbolizes “the end of [Kevin and Sophie’s] romantic relationship together.”
Then in a separate comment, the same user explained their theory. “They promised never to watch the end and then they did,” the fan wrote. “I guess I thought maybe it was symbolizing closure to their relationship.”
Another fan agreed. “Yes I think because as kids they made a promise to never watch the end and just make up endings,” the fan wrote. “Watching the end of The movie together was their way of closing the door to their relationship.”
Now, some fans also saw the theme of letting go with Jack and baby Kevin. And paired with the Good Will Hunting scene, those viewers believe This Is Us is — once again — hinting at the end of Sophie and Kevin’s relationship.
“Near the end of the episode Jack is talking to toddler Kevin,” the fan wrote. “His talk is all about accepting when something you love is gone. It’s most obviously about death (him and Sophie’s mom) but is also shown to be about when you no longer get to be with someone you love (supposedly to mean him and Sophie).”
The fan continued: “This, thematically, can imply him and Sophie are coming to a close, and they are learning through letting go of each other a healthy way to deal with grief and letting go of other things in their lives (death, addiction, etc). Coupled with fact that they finished Good Will Hunting even thought they vowed not to. Everything points to them learning to let go.”
Why ‘This Is Us’ fans think the ‘Good Will Hunting’ scene indicates Kevin and Sophie will get back together
Some fans also brought up the ending of Good Will Hunting itself could suggest Sophie and Kevin will get back together in This Is Us.
“The ending of good will hunting is that he goes and gets the girl,” a fan wrote. “The twist is that Sophie is Will [Matt Damon], not Kevin.”
Meanwhile, another fan suggested Kevin and Sophie’s response to the film’s ending will reflect how they end up together.
“They didn’t want to watch the end because they were afraid it would let them down, but they finally finished it and it was better than they could have imagined,” the fan wrote. “They’re afraid to get to their own happy ending because they don’t want to be let down. But they’re going to finally get there and they’re going to love it.”
At this point, most fan theories about Kevin and Sophie’s future on This Is Us is fair game. The episode threw a multitude of other references and hints at viewers that are almost entirely up to the viewer’s interpretation — that is, until the writers decide to definitively confirm what’s next. But hey, that’s the beauty of it.
