‘This Is Us’: Why Kate and Toby Fans Shouldn’t Be Worried About Divorce Just Yet
This Is Us fans have been worried about Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby (Chris Sullivan) ever since the season 3 finale flash-forward. In the episode, titled “Her,” Toby showed up at the Pearson household without his wedding ring, leading to a million fan theories, including the possibility of Kate’s death or even the couple’s breakup. Fan speculation about Kate and Toby’s divorce then spread like wildfire after the This Is Us Season 4 fall finale aired on Nov. 19. That said, following the episode titled “So Long, Marianne,” executive producer Isaac Aptaker had a few comments about baby Jack’s parents that could mean fans have nothing to worry about — or at least not yet.
[Spoilers for This Is Us Season 4 ahead!]
What happened to Kate and Toby in the ‘This Is Us’ Season 4 fall finale?
Throughout the course of This Is Us Season 4, fans watched as Kate and Toby began drifting apart. Toby lied about going to the gym and his weightloss progress with CrossFit. Meanwhile, Kate didn’t tell Toby about baby Jack’s first solid food at Gregory’s (Timothy Omundson) house. Then on Thanksgiving in “So Long, Marianne,” the This Is Us writers dropped two big bombshells in regards to Kate and Toby.
When Kate picks up Toby’s phone, she accidentally sees a text message group between Toby and the rest of his “CrossFit Crew.”
“Trying to get past it, but it’s hard,” Toby writes in the text. And then someone named “LadyKryptonite” replies, “Don’t let her bring you down. Here for you.”
Of course, fans still don’t know the context of the messages. However, the texts don’t sit well with audiences back home — or Kate. But just wait, it gets worse.
The This Is Us Season 4 fall finale also includes a flash-forward sequence. And this time, it seems the scene is set nine months in the future on the Big Three’s birthday. In the flash-forward, Kate signs her full name when the police drop Rebecca (Mandy Moore) off at the cabin. However, Kate doesn’t sign her name “Kate Damon” or even “Kate Damon-Pearson.” Instead, she signs the paper as “Kate Pearson.”
Isaac Aptaker says it would be ‘awfully fast’ for Toby and Kate to get a divorce on ‘This Is Us’
Following the episode, many fans wondered if the This Is Us writers were setting up Kate and Toby’s divorce in the future. But is it possible the couple will break up in nine months? It seems unlikely.
When speaking with Glamour, Aptaker confirmed Kate’s wedding ring is still on in the fall finale flash-forward. And although Kate and Toby are having marriage troubles, the This Is Us executive producer also admitted it would be too fast for the couple to get divorced in nine months.
“I think even if things are bad with Toby, nine months is an incredibly fast time to go from married to divorced, especially when you have a young child,” Aptaker said. He also noted that it “would be awfully fast for them to be divorced.”
But fans should still be wary of Toby’s absence in the flash-forward sequence.
“I think people should definitely be aware and concerned about the fact that Toby wasn’t in that flash-forward,” Aptaker said. “But, yes, she is wearing a ring.”
What will happen to Kate and Toby when ‘This Is Us’ returns for its winter premiere in 2020?
Aptaker then revealed This Is Us will continue where the fall finale left off when the NBC series returns on Jan. 14. So, at the very least, it seems Kate will try to get to the bottom of Lady Kryptonite.
“I think we’re going to be dealing with the immediate fallout from that text message right when we come back in our next episode,” he said. “I mean, that’s an upsetting and scary moment for a wife to find out that her husband is not only venting and complaining about her and their marriage to a group of friends, but that there’s some mysterious woman responding and giving him counsel and marital advice.”
He continued: “What Kate does with that troubling information is something we’re going to be addressing right away when we’re back in January.”
Meanwhile, Aptaker shared fans will discover what happens to Kate and Toby between Thanksgiving and the nine-month flash-forward by the This Is Us Season 5 premiere.
“That will be the beginning of our fifth season,” Aptaker said when asked about revisiting the Big Three’s birthday flash-forward nine months from the present day. “It’s not going to be a super long wait to get the answers to all of the questions that we just flash-forwarded to. It’s really by the end of this season and the very beginning of next that we’ll be caught up to that moment.”
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