‘This Is Us’ Season 5: Madison’s Backstory Will Be Explored
We’re well into This Is Us Season 5, but fans still don’t know much about Madison (Caitlin Thompson). The character was introduced as Kate’s (Chrissy Metz) best friend. Now, Madison is playing a much larger role in the Pearson family story as Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) fiancée and the mother of his twins. So will This Is Us ever delve into Madison’s backstory? Recently, executive producer Isaac Aptaker hinted that viewers will see more from the character in season 5.
Who is Madison on ‘This Is Us’?
Madison was introduced in This Is Us Season 1. The character met Kate and Toby (Chris Sullivan) at Overeaters Anonymous. At first, Kate didn’t like Madison and minimized her experience at the support group. But as time went on, the two women learned more about each other.
Madison was the first person Kate told about her pregnancy. Meanwhile, Kate found out about Madison’s bulimia. After uncovering their similarities, the two women started to form a strong friendship bond. Madison was always seen by Kate’s side, from her wedding to baby Jack’s birth. Then things started to shift in This Is Us Season 4.
Midway through the season, Madison and Kevin hooked up. But the one-night stand quickly turned into something more. In the season finale, Madison revealed she was pregnant with Kevin’s twins. She also noted the pregnancy was “kind of a miracle” because of her medical history. Then Kevin claimed that he wanted to be all-in.
In This Is Us Season 5, Kevin and Madison continued their romantic relationship while navigating their future together with the twins. Kevin also proposed. But she still seemed to have doubts about her fiancé. Before leaving for Vancouver, Madison told Kevin to really think about their future family together.
This Is Us Season 5 also revealed that Madison isn’t close with her family. In the seventh episode, the character went into early labor. So she was all alone at the hospital. Then when speaking with a hospital worker, she shared that she’s only close with two people — Kevin and Kate.
“I’m not close to my mom or anyone in my family, really,” Madison said. “To be honest, there’s only two people in the world I am truly close to.”
‘This Is Us’ Season 5 producer hints Madison’s origin story will be explored
When This Is Us Season 5 started diving into Madison’s character, it became clear that no one really knew her backstory. Many fans questioned whether the writers changed the character after getting involved with Kevin. Meanwhile, others thought that the show was just showing new sides to her. But whatever the case, it seems viewers will learn more about Madison in This Is Us Season 5.
“We’re going to get into Madison’s origin story deeper into the season,” Aptaker told Entertainment Weekly in February 2021.
The executive producer also revealed what This Is Us fans can expect out of the upcoming storyline.
“It’s interesting because you have Kevin, who came from this really picture-perfect in a lot of ways nuclear family; they have their flaws, but those parents couldn’t have been more committed. And he’s trying to live up to that and replicate it in a sense,” Aptaker said. “Madison is kind of the opposite, and we’ll learn more about her background. She’s trying to create something that she never necessarily had for herself — and give that to her children.”
As always, This Is Us fans will just have to wait and see how they highlight Madison’s character moving forward. But here’s hoping the arc unfolds sometime after the NBC drama shares Miguel’s (Jon Huertas) highly-anticipated backstory.
This Is Us Season 5 airs Tuesday nights on NBC.
