This Is Us season 2 finale recap: Two weddings and a (potential) funeral

In the season finale of This Is Us, Kate and Toby walk toward the alter, but the future holds heartbreak for the Pearsons. Is [SPOILER] dying?

Even though it was touch and go there for a minute, Kate Pearson is a married woman! The Season 2 finale of This Is Us found the Big Three rallying to make Kate and Toby’s big day perfect, and we have to say that Kevin and Randall should plan weddings full time. But where there’s a wedding, there’s drama, and where there’s Pearsons… you know.

This Is Us lays the second season’s journey of coming to terms with Jack’s passing to rest as the Pearson family embarks on the next chapter with Kate’s wedding. For the first time, the Big Three learn to stop reaching to the past and rather look to the future, which already seems riddled with devastating emotion. Three cliffhangers, two weddings (what?!), and a visit from present-day Jack leave behind a ton of questions. Namely, who died and who’s dying?

Fair warning: The following recap contains major spoilers from the season finale of This Is Us. Continue reading at your own risk if you haven’t watched, and if you have, welcome to your post-Pearson support group!

Kate dreams of Jack.

Those faux flash forwards to present-day Jack? They’re courtesy of Kate’s subconscious. Sorry to burst your bubble if you were hoping for Jack to rise from the dead and rejoin the Pearson family. While Jack didn’t walk his daughter down the aisle during a dream sequence, Kate did dream of Jack and Rebecca’s 40th anniversary vow renewal. The Big Three sits front row with Beth, Tess, and Annie as their parents renew their commitment to each other, and there’s not a dry eye in sight.

Jack’s 40th anniversary vows are just as perfect as any other monologue he ever gave when he was alive, proving that Pearsons can write inspirational, romantic speeches in their sleep. During the reception, Rebecca sings “Moonshadow” (memories!), Jack cries, Kate dances with Jack, and everything was as it should have been. When Kate tells Rebecca about her recurring dream, Rebecca reasonably asks about Toby’s role in the dreams. Kate realizes Toby hasn’t been in them and catches a brief pre-nuptial panic.

Deja doesn’t adapt well.

Following Deja’s mother leaving her in the care of the Pearsons, Deja acts out in with despondent aggression. She had to watch her mother terminate parental rights in court, and now she’s resenting the Pearsons in response. No matter how much Beth and Randall plaster on smiling faces, Deja hardly speaks to them and when she does, it’s quintessential teen snark. However, Beth and Randall regroup with a game of “worst case scenario” and focus their attention on enjoying a successful wedding weekend.

Once they arrive at the family cabin for the wedding, Beth reconnects with her cousin Zoe (guest star Melanie Liburd), who’s helping out as the photographer. See, Zoe grew up in Beth’s home as Zoe’s mother abandoned her at a young age. Zoe relates to Deja’s unique emotional state and talks to her about feeling an instinct to hate the only people who love you. That’s what she did, and that’s what Deja’s doing.

The motivational talk inspires Deja to swap her sweatshirt for a dress, but one negative encounter throws her off the edge. Toby’s mother (oh, we’ll get there) says she looks like her father — Randall — and Deja reacts by beating his fancy car with a metal bat. That’s going to be one awkward drive home. But is Deja’s outburst connected to one of the season finale’s cliffhangers? In true This Is Us fashion, there’s plenty theorizing to go around.

The runaway bride returns.

Look, we have been wondering if Kate would pull a fast one on us and leave Toby at the altar, but within the first five minutes of the episode, Kate promises Toby she would never Runaway Bride him. And she doesn’t, even though it felt like she was headed in any other direction but the altar for most of the finale. Kate’s wedding weekend teems with small disasters, and it nearly pushes her to call it quits on her big day.

First, Toby forgot to pack Jack’s Daytona Beach shirt (her “something old”), then she’s worries about her enduring emotional baggage, and next she discovers the ice cream shop Jack took her to as a child had a hipster makeover. She winds up at the tree stump in the woods where Jack gave her a special pep talk and finally lets go of Jack by spreading his ashes. Kevin and Randall rush her back to the cabin in time to get ready and share a perfect mother-daughter moment. Rebecca fears that she’s in Kate’s way, but she is Kate’s way; Kate wants to be just like her.

However, as much as Kate stresses enough for herself and Toby both, Toby’s parents (guest stars Wendie Malick and Dan Lauria) express their concern for their son’s devotion to Kate. Toby’s mom compares Toby tiptoeing around Kate’s triggers to his first marriage, which sets him off. But nothing gets in Kate and Toby’s way. She walks down the aisle with Jack’s old drill in her bouquet, they say “I do,” and her brothers give two healing toasts. But why didn’t we hear their vows?

The future holds heartbreak.

You didn’t think we’d make it out of a This Is Us season finale without the promise of more tears, did you? In the final moments of the episode, a trio of cliffhangers nudge us toward what to expect in Season 3 and beyond. Kevin boards a plane to Vietnam, Jack’s war photo in hand, with Beth’s cousin Zoe sleeping on his shoulder. Toby rests in bed as Kate sits beside him to discuss changing his medication. And flashing forward to the future, Randall tells his grown daughter, “It’s time to go see her, Tess.” There’s a lot to unpack here.

Since the series hasn’t yet delved into Jack’s war days, Kevin’s trip to Vietnam will surely tie into more connections to Jack’s past. But what prompts Kevin to take this trip? Furthermore, under the assumption that Toby has been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, were their vows kept secrets for next season’s flashbacks? And there’s only two solid options as to who Randall could be referring to with Tess: An ill (or possibly dead) Beth or an estranged Deja. Whatever the case with these cliffhangers, we’re in for a world of waterworks.

Next: 4 things we learned from the This Is Us cast’s interview at SXSW 2018

What did you think of the season finale? Will Kevin find love with Zoe? Is Kate going to lose Toby to his illness? Who is Tess going to see: Beth or Deja? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and keep the conversation going over on Twitter at @thisisuscrying during the summer hiatus!

This Is Us returns for Season 3 in September on NBC.