It's going to be a long hiatus.
Spoiler alert! Do not proceed if you have not watched Tuesday's season 5 finale of This Is Us.
This Is Us pulled off a major shocker on Tuesday's season 5 finale when it was revealed that Kate wasn't with Toby in the future, but about to walk down the aisle a second time to someone else: Phillip (guest star Chris Geere), who had begrudgingly hired Kate as a teacher's assistant. The revelation that Kate and Toby may not have been meant to be stunned fans, but was not a surprise to Chrissy Metz, who had long known about the twist.
Following a special drive-in screening of the series' penultimate finale at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Tuesday evening, Metz -- who attended in person alongside Mandy Moore and creator Dan Fogelman -- opened up about the gut-wrenching reveal.
"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, apologizing to the fans. "It's hard for me because Chris Sullivan is my ride or die. That is my boy. I remember when Dan and I had the conversation about what was going to go down, I was literally crying on the Zoom. I know that is not a surprise for anybody but there's this beautiful chapter that we know has ended and that he was so instrumental in all the growth that Kate had, and I think that's what's so bittersweet about relationships. You're like, 'I made that person better! And now they're happier!' But that's the point of life, right? Is the evolution of who we are as people and our soul, our spirit, our mind, and so while it is really hard to digest... I can't wait to see and discover what has happened in the relationship to see this moment in time five years in the future. You know it's going to be good. It's going to be really good."
Fogelman previously revealed that they brought in Geere, who some may be familiar with from You're the Worst, for secret chemistry reads with Metz during the season to make sure the spark was there. Metz said fans "have to" give Phillip a chance.
"First of all, he's Chris. He's fantastic and I remember chemistry reading with him and going, 'Ohhh, this guy is great,'" Metz said. "And I kind of felt like I was cheating, for real. I wasn't but you know... He's fantastic and we do have to give him a chance and that's just how life goes. Sometimes it's tricky and difficult."
Fogelman weighed in on what the Kate twist will likely mean as the splintering of Kate and Toby's marriage unravels in season 6.
"This has been in motion since the beginning. This was always the plan, even if you look at the past flash-forwards multiple seasons ago with Toby and Kate. I'm now old enough where I've been to many weddings on these joyous occasions or been to many dinner parties at their houses and said, 'That's a perfect couple. That was a perfect wedding.' And I find myself 10 years later at their next wedding. It's not something we've attacked in this show. We've had all these kind of healthy marriages that have survived the test of time and it's not every person's experience and I think about that a lot, in moments of my life," he explained. "That's part of what next season will be. As is our way with the show, we like a good surprise and we're not afraid to make the choice that may not be the choice you necessarily want to see. We'll find the beauty and the love in it. It's not just all these characters will go off the trails and be miserable human beings."
"I think our fans hopefully have stuck with us for five seasons and trusted us and can trust us that we're going to do this the right way, and give them a version of what they want," he added later.
For more, watch below.
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