‘This Is Us’ Fan Theory Predicts That Beth Pearson Is the Next Death
As if you weren’t already broken up over the death of Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia), there’s a new This Is Us fan theory milling around that another Pearson casualty might be coming.
In the pivotal “Super Bowl Sunday” episode—the one where Jack dies—there wasn’t just a death but also an unexpected time jump into the future. During the scene, Randall (Sterling K. Brown) is comforting eldest daughter Tess after their dud of a Super Bowl Party, and he promises to visit her once a week when she’s grown up and working.
In true This is Us fashion, the scene then shifs to that future timeline, with Randall arriving at the office where Tess is working as a social worker. See the clip below:
What’s interesting about this scene is Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) is visibly missing, as are Randall’s hands—don’t worry, they’re still attached to his body out of frame. If we know one thing about this show, everything means something, so Randall’s missing left hand could potentially be wedding ring-less. It must also be pointed out that when Sterling K. Brown posed for a photo in his “old man” makeup, his hands were once again hidden:
Also, is it just us or is that blurred out background eerily similar to the hospital room where Jack died? It could be a coincidence or could it mean something more—hence the blurring.
Now, Beth could be alive and well and maybe she and Randall are divorced in the future. But after everything Beth and Randall have been through, their love has never faltered… at least not in front of fans.
That leads to our next point: In a show where stories from the past collide with the present regularly, it’s plausible that Beth may be diagnosed with cancer in the future. Beth really connected with William (Ron Cephas Jones) in the first season over her experience with her father’s cancer. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that Beth is predisposed based on family history.
It’s hard to think that this may be the case, but the thought of Beth and Randall not being together due to divorce is almost as hard to reconcile. Can’t the writers of This Is Us cool it with the deaths? We’re not sure we can handle much more.
Either way, fans are sure to see more of the future timeline. When TV Insider spoke with Milo Ventimiglia about “Super Bowl Sunday,” he revealed that writer Dan Fogelman wanted to jump into the future since the pilot episode. If the writers have known about a jump forward since the beginning, then there must be some plan for the characters beyond that one scene with Tess and Randall.
There are three episodes left in the second season, so hopefully some fan theories will be answered. Hopefully viewers will have a clearer idea when This Is Us returns to NBC after the Winter Olympics.
This Is Us, Returns, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 9/8c, NBC
