Here’s some good newsfor fans of This Is Us: viewers will find out if Toby lives or dies “within the first five minutes” of the show’s return on Tuesday, according to creator Dan Fogelman. Whether that will be a positive or negative outcome is still to be seen, but in a recent interview with EW, one of the show’s triplets teases what could come about in their first new episode after the mid-season break.
In the conversation, Chrissy Metz — who portrays Kate, Toby’s on-again-off-again girlfriend, on the series — can’t outright say what happens in the beginning of the episode (she admits to being “so cryptic”) but has confidence in how the story will be resolved. Apparently, the cast was “devastated” when they found out about that twist and immediately thought “Well, what does this mean? Short-term, long-term, what does this mean?” She also spoke well of the storytelling in general, saying
I just think it’s amazing storytelling. And they keep you on the edge of your seat by pulling your heartstrings. I knew that something was going to happen because that’s just the evolution of the story, but… I don’t know. It’s heart-wrenching. To be shooting that and seeing that, it really moved me…
Which seems like a great sign for the health of the show in the long run, if not for Toby. Some of the best parts of the show through its freshman season have been emotional moments between the three siblings at the core of the show. However Toby ends up, this development will only make that sibling relationship even stronger than before since Kate will need people to lean on as Toby either recovers or…well…she recovers from not having Toby.
Of course, some fans might not want Toby to recover, as said as that may be. He’s been a divisive character among viewers mostly due to his penchant to do things like show up places unannounced and barge in, dismiss Metz’s character Kate when she voices concerns or personal preferences, or just be an overall putz when the smallest bit of empathy would get him a long way. For fans that love him though, his loss would be noticeable immediately since either way you see things he has a huge personality. For fans that don’t, either way the story goes at least Metz should have some great emotional beats to perform throughout the rest of the season — something she does exceedingly well no matter the scene.
Metz even realizes that “some people will be relieved and some people…might not be” when they find out what happens. Fans will see how everything unfolds Tuesday night when “The Right Thing To Do” airs.
(via Entertainment Weekly)