‘This Is Us’ May Be Sending a Subtle Message With Rebecca, Kate, and Kevin’s Relationships
TV shows tug at their viewers’ heartstrings, keeping them tuned for longer due to the emotional investments fans have made in the characters and their relationships. This Is Us is one of those dramas designed to speak to viewers’ hearts through connections and family. The key plotline in the story involves Jack and Rebecca and their children. As dysfunctional as the relationships on the show have been, could the showrunners be trying to send a message with Rebecca, Kate, and Kevin’s relationships? Find out.
‘This Is Us’ is almost over
This Is Us debuted in 2016 and captivated audiences with its time-shifting narrative. The show took fans back and forth through time as viewers got to see the events happening in the ’70s, the ’80s, and the present day. Sometimes the show would foreshadow the characters’ futures.
The tales in the drama series are all tied together by three children born on the same day. Of the three, two, Kate and Kevin, were born to Jack and Rebecca. The third child was abandoned in the same hospital that the other two were born in on the same day.
Jack and Rebecca’s third child doesn’t survive delivery. They, therefore, feel compelled to adopt the abandoned baby Randall. The three siblings are all raised together as their parents go through marital disputes while finding their footing as young parents.
Jack met his untimely death in season two when he awoke to a burning house. He died of cardiac arrest after inhaling a lot of smoke. The character’s death sent shockwaves to fans of the show. Many fans had thought Jack and Rebecca would work out their issues and ultimately ended up together. However, Jack’s death threw cold water into fans’ hopes about Jack and Rebecca’s marital future.
What does the show’s creator think about marriages and relationships?
The fifth season’s finale saw fans getting a glimpse of Kevin writing his vows. However, viewers get shocked once they realize that the vows he was writing were actually for his sister Kate’s wedding. Fans had shipped for Kevin and Madison to end up together.
Those who’ve followed the series from the beginning understand the complicated dynamic that Kevin and Madison share. The two became parents to twins after having a one-night stand. Since then, their paths and lives have been equally complicated and intertwined.
They had planned to get married, but Madison called Kevin out for not loving her enough. She brought light to the fact that while he loved their family, Kevin didn’t love her enough to want to be with her for a long time.
US Weekly reports that the show’s creator Dan Fogelman admitted that there was a connection between Kate and Toby splitting and Madison and Kevin never getting married. He said, “the honest truth is that really loving, great marriages don’t always survive. And marriage is not for everybody”.
Is the show trying to convey a message with the key character’s relationships?
Although the main characters began relationships with people whom viewers thought to be their soulmates, the latest events in the show prove what the showrunner said about relationships. The characters ended up in relationships that may or may not have been their so-called “soulmates.”
For instance, Rebecca ended up with her husband’s best friend after Jack died tragically in the fire. Kate might have thought Toby was her endgame but married Philip, her music teacher in season five. Kevin might be connected to Madison, but his relationship with his twins is most important to him. This Is Us might be sending a subtle message to its fans through all these relationships implying that companionship and true love are two different things.
