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Fans have had time to reflect on the stories of NBC’s This Is Us in the four months since the series ended. While the show holds a tender place in fans’ hearts, that doesn’t mean they don’t have strong opinions on what they liked and disliked. The sixth and final season of the series attempted to tie up all the loose ends of the prior five. However, fans believe it didn’t live up to its potential, calling it “rushed” and a “letdown” for viewers “who deserved better.” Here’s why they feel that way.

The cast of season 6 of NBC's 'This Is Us.'
The cast of NBC’s ‘This Is Us’ | Ron Batzdorff/NBC

‘This Is Us’ had storylines every viewer could relate to

During 106 episodes and six seasons, the This Is Us writing team explored every storyline imaginable in telling the Pearson family’s tale.

The drama tackled many challenging topics. These topics included alcoholism, infant death, infidelity, the effects of war, teen sex, abusive relationships, weight, and death. Also front and center were Rebecca’s Alzheimer’s, drug dependency, adoption, disability, divorce, mental health, miscarriage, remarriage, and LGBTQ issues.

There were also tender moments between these tough topics, a cornerstone of the family drama and one of the key reasons the series was beloved by viewers.

Fans Claim season 6 was ‘rushed’ and a ‘letdown’ for viewers ‘who deserved better’

Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Geere star on This Is Us.
‘This Is Us’ stars Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Geere | Ron Batzdorff/NBC
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In a social media post on Reddit, fans shared their opinions in a thread dedicated to This Is Us‘ final season. The last 18 episodes of the series spanned over several decades in the lives of the Pearson family and attempted to tie together the five prior seasons cohesively.

However, some viewers believe the series didn’t achieve its goal.

“I feel like there was a lot of hype with it being the last season, and in the end, it ended up being very underwhelming and kind of a letdown. The second to last episode should have been the last episode. And, the actual last episode was pretty pointless and kind of a waste,” wrote one follower.

“I will forever be baffled by some of the choices made this season. It wasted time on flashbacks that did nothing to advance the narrative or arcs of surviving characters. It skipped over events you would have liked to see and lingered on ones that didn’t generate much interest. The finale was so shockingly boring that an otherwise decent attempt at meditating on the themes of the show ACTIVELY frustrated me,” penned a second Reddit user.

“It’s awful. It feels like a different show. And I agree about Phillip. They had him tell one tragic story about his past and thought that would make us care about him,” deduced a third fan.

“They seem to keep starting new storylines and never finishing them. The writers kept compressing storylines, making them end prematurely. Season 6 was a rush to close out what they have opened, and it failed,” wrote a fourth fan.

How can ‘This Is Us’ fans rewatch all six seasons?

Viewers have several choices for watching This Is Us.

All six seasons of the NBC series are available on Peacock TV. The series streams in its entirety on Hulu.

NBC.com continues to stream all six seasons of This Is Us as well. Fans can also purchase and download episodes of the series on Amazon Prime.