The Next This Is Us Promo Is Full Of Hints About The Future

This Is Us Season 6 is rounding on the final six episodes of its run, and the drive to reach closure is on. The 100th episode sped up time enough to play out Kate and Toby’s divorce. Now, the This Is Us Season 6, Episode 13 promo suggests the future may already be here.

Warning: Spoilers for This Is Us Season 6, Episode 12 follow. Although it told the story all out of order, “KaToby,” the show’s 100th episode, was like a microcosm of This Is Us’ entire premise. This Is Us is a show about the Pearson family, in which three timelines are interwoven to show how the past influences the present. KaToby’s divorce was the same thing. The present, the near future, and the far-off future, 30 years’ worth of experiences, were woven together to show how a family can break apart and then come back together.

The episode also had the intended effect of a fast-forward button, taking the Pearson family’s current situation and speeding up to the next major milestone. Randall went from accepting a call with the current Senator of Pennsylvania to the final weeks of his first statewide campaign. Kevin went from letting Madison go to returning to his old f*ckboy ways with a string of questionable (love)life choices. And Kate found a soulmate in Phillip, a man who respected and saw her, and loved her children like his own.

Now, welcome to 2026; the Pearson family joyfully invite you to the wedding of daughter Kate and son-in-law-to-be Phillip.

This Is Us Season 6, Episode 13 is titled “The Day Of The Wedding,” and the synopsis is straightforward enough to suggest this episode will be fully set in the future: “The Pearsons gather for Kate’s wedding.” Showrunner Dan Fogelman hinted to reporters back in February 2022 that “at least” one episode this season would be a complete flash-forward, and it seems the show has reached that point.

As for what fans should expect, Chrissy Metz told Entertainment Weekly it’s an uplifting episode before things get dark. “It's so beautiful in the way that it's shot, and there's a lot of fun, but there's a lot of stuff going on within the episode.” She also confirmed a lot of what the trailer hints at: “[There’s a] lot to do with what Kevin’s going through. There's this calm about Kate and about Phillip and the whole ceremony that I feel like it's come through the maturity of who they are as people. Then there's the decline of Rebecca, which is really difficult, but the way she shows up for Kate, it's very touching.”

And finally, because the mystery of who Kevin marries will never not be a subject of debate, fans might have noticed Sophie is at the engagement party and that her friendship with Kate has been rekindled. Is that who Kevin sleeps with... again?

This Is Us: The Final Season continues with new episodes every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Hulu the next day.