"The Train" is an episode of This Is Us that first aired on May 17, 2022. Directed by Ken Olin. Written by Dan Fogelman.
The Pearson Family gather to say their goodbyes to Rebecca, now hopelessly bedridden and unresponsive to the outside world, but she does have some awareness of what's going on around her.
She imagines herself the same age as when she was with Jack, on a train going somewhere. An usher guides her to the bar car, where Dr. Nathan Katowski (Gerald McRaney) is serving drinks.
Kevin and Randall make a video call to Kate, who is on plane about to take off. Most of the family's assembled, but Rebecca hangs on to life, waiting for Kate to arrive.
When Kate finally arrives, Rebecca perceives her daughter as a child, and now allows the usher to lead her to the train car where Jack has been waiting for her.
Tropes
- Call-Back:
- Kevin tells the story of the time he and Rebecca broke into Joni Mitchell’s home, as seen in 'Clouds' back in Season 4.
- Beth brings up Jack and Rebecca taking a road trip to Los Angeles for their third date, as seen in "Sometimes" in Season 3.
- Madison brings up her bachelorette party before her abandoned wedding to Kevin, which was seen in 'Jerry 2.0' in Season 5.
- Sophie talks about the conversation she had with Rebecca at Kate and Phillip’s wedding, in "The Night Before The Wedding" earlier this season.
- Kevin and Randall discuss the origins of Pilgrim Rick, which were seen in "Pilgrim Rick" in Season One.
- Randall corrects Kevin over when Kate got appendicitis, which was the subject of the flashback storyline on 'Last Christmas' in Season One.
- Kevin mentions the karate class that had Jack do push-ups with Randall on his back, which was seen in "The Trip" in Season One.
- Kevin talks about the time Rebecca took him to meet John Smiley, which happened in 'Songbird Road: Part Two' in Season 3.
- It is shown that Rebecca has one of Kevin's paintings on her wall, which he previously painted in "The Game Plan" in Season One.
- Call-Forward: When Kevin asks the kids if they know the name of the musician playing, future singer/songwriter Jack immediately recognises it as Joni Mitchell.
- The Cameo: The various Time-Shifted Actors that played the younger versions of the Big Three, their partners and children over the course of the series appear throughout the episode, as passengers on the train that Rebecca’s mind is processing her final moments as.
- Character Death: Rebecca finally passes away due to her Alzheimer’s.
- Continuity Porn: In addition to the various Time-Shifted Actors making cameos and the Call Backs to previous episodes, the set dressing for the train is full of nods to the history of the characters.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Kate’s arrival is announced by Jack calling out to her before the camera reveals that she’s arrived at the house.
- Game-Breaking Injury: The Cold Open focuses on a family to the viewer, on their way home from youngest son Marcus’ soccer tournament, before being involved in a car accident. Marcus ends up needing surgery, and as a result, has to walk with a cane.
- Internal Reveal: Déjà tells Randall that she’s pregnant. Randall tries to tell Beth, but she says that she knew before Déjà.
- It's All My Fault: Marcus’ brother blames himself for his brother’s injuries as Marcus would have been wearing his seatbelt if he hadn’t taken it off to retrieve the ball his brother had taken and thrown behind the backseat.
- Lampshade Hanging:
- Randall and Kevin joke about Jack being "weirdly ripped" for a 90s dad.
- Annie’s goodbye to Rebecca is effectively acknowledging her status as a Living Prop, by having Annie talk about how she never worried about being quiet in such a loud family because Rebecca told her that it was okay to be quiet.
- Once More, with Clarity: The night of Jack’s death is revisited, and it’s revealed that as Jack was waiting to be seen by the doctors, he encountered a father whose family had been involved in a car crash and the youngest child Marcus was in surgery, with Jack imparting Dr K’s advice about making something resembling a good situation out of a terrible one. Ultimately, Jack’s Doctor is called into assist in Marcus’ surgery, and when he’s able to see to Jack, he’s ultimately told of Jack’s death and has to inform Rebecca.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: Annie tells her parents to stop kissing because they're too old for public displays of affection (PDA). Though technically, they're en famille, not in public.
- The Reveal:
- Malik and Déjà are still together, and he’s the father of her unborn baby.
- The reason Kate didn’t appear in any of the previous flash forwards is because she was in London for a presentation. She catches the first flight home when she finds out that Rebecca’s about to die.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Whilst none of them are featured in flashbacks, the various different aged Pearsons appear as passengers on the train as Rebecca’s mind processes her final moments.
