Justin Hartley Hinted At Kevin's This Is Us Ending And I'm Nervous

This Is Us’ interwoven timelines sometimes give viewers hints at what’s to come in future episodes. But it also answers questions before they can arise, like who Kate’s second husband will be and whether Randall and Beth will go the distance. But one significant question still remains up in the air: Who does Kevin marry? While it’s still a mystery, This Is Us actor Justin Hartley hinted at who Kevin ends up with... and warned fans they might not like the answer.

Warning: Spoilers for This Is Us Season 6, Episode 8 follow. If fans were hoping Kevin’s love life would neatly wrap itself up in his final “Big Three Trilogy” episode like Nicky’s did, they did not like what actually transpired in the March 15 episode. Instead of Kevin settling on the love of his life, he was inspired to start a business based on how the cabin’s construction was proceeding. Big Three Homes, the company Jack once dreamed of creating, would be his new passion, and he would do it with Cassidy and Nicky at his side, along with a workforce of veterans.

That’s a beautiful tribute to Kevin’s late father, as Jack was a Vietnam vet. It’s also something for Nicky and Cassidy to focus their energies on as they recover from their own experiences serving in the military and their resulting mental health. But it doesn’t answer who wears the matching wedding band Kevin sports by Rebecca’s beside in 2034.

But the actor who plays Kevin, Justin Hartley, warned that perhaps fans should be careful what they wish for. The answer is coming, and whoever he chooses, there will be a subset of fans who will not like the answer.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekl about who Kevin ends up with, Hartley said, “I don’t think everyone’s going to be happy necessarily. Every single person is not going to be like, ‘That’s what I wanted.’ Some people will want something different.”

Currently, there are three main contenders: First, there’s Sophie, Kevin’s ex-wife, to whom he keeps going back. Second is Madison, his children’s mother, who left him at the altar. And third is Cassidy, who Kevin shares a deep friendship with, borne of their experiences with substance abuse. There’s also a distant fourth possibility that Kevin, like Nicky, will meet a random person and suddenly have a delightful woman like Edie in the Pearson clan. But it seems doubtful the show would pull that twist twice in one season.

Hartley also raised a fifth possibility: “It could be that he just ends up with no one,” he said. “Sometimes I just sit there, and I go, ‘Dude, just be alone. Just be alone for a while, man!’”

As for what he thinks fans want, Hartley said, “I think there’s a big percentage of people that want Kevin to be with Sophie... it’s hard to beat a love interest that you’ve had from five years old.” But he also acknowledged other options are valid. “Madison and Kevin have had these great moments, and they have a family together, and she’s so sweet to him, so it’s tough.”

But the most crucial thing to Hartley was that whatever Kevin chose to do, it had to make sense for the character, and he said the ending Kevin ultimately gets checks that box. “[W]hether you get what you want or you don’t get what you want, I think it’s going to be very satisfying, and you’re going to understand what happened, and you’re going to say, ‘Well, that makes a lot of sense.’”

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