This Is Us has long established itself as a show much more eager to raise new questions than give definitive answers, but as the series approaches its conclusion, “Miguel“ makes it clear that the show will in fact tie up many of its loosest ends. So grab a few tissues and a glass of Miguel-approved wine as we learn all about the man who did his best to fill the Jack-shaped hole in the Pearson family’s heart. Here is everything we learned in This Is Us Season 6 episode 15, “Miguel.”
How did Rebecca and Miguel meet on This Is Us?
“Miguel” begins during his childhood in Puerto Rico, right before his father decides that they need to move in with his cousin in Pennsylvania. The young Miguel is reluctant, but bravely supports his parents’ plan. In their new town of East Liberty, outside Pittsburgh, Miguel diligently practices his English and ultimately proves successful in his career, only for his father to one day suggest that he’s forgetting his roots. Upset, Miguel leaves, heading to a local bar where he meets up with Jack and his new girlfriend, Rebecca… who Miguel believes hates him. “She doesn’t hate you,” Jack assures him. “She just thinks you’re a lot.” Determined to cultivate at least some begrudging affection between his best friend and his girlfriend, Jack asks to take Miguel’s new car for a spin—solo, leaving Rebecca and Miguel behind. Awkwardly together at the table, the two strike up a conversation, with Rebecca letting Miguel know right off the bat that she finds it annoying how frequently he repeats people’s names, before asking for his story. He answers first in Spanish, before telling her the translation: “I don’t know, but it’s a good question. Ask me again later.” Eventually, she warms up to him, and during another night at a bar with Rebecca and Jack, it is Rebecca who encourages him to go introduce himself to a woman at the bar who has been eyeing him. The two hit it off and get married, having two children together. But eventually, they begin to fight and ultimately get divorced, with one of the final blows in their marriage being that Miguel and his wife can’t seem to live up to the standard set by Jack and Rebecca.
What happened to Miguel after he moved to Houston on This Is Us?
After moving to Houston, Miguel repeatedly tries to reach out to his now-adult kids, but they won’t return his calls, leaving him all alone in his large new home. One day, he gets a call from his mother, informing him that his father has died. Returning home for the funeral, he seems to feel out of place, wearing an uncomfortable smile as family and friends talk animatedly around him. Helping his mother care for his aunt, he comments that he can’t imagine how difficult it must be to have cared for her all these years. She tells him, “Love is giving your heart without expectation.” But Miguel doesn’t think that sort of love is in the cards for him. “I don’t think I have that in me,” he says.
How did Rebecca and Miguel get together on This Is Us?
Later, Miguel comes across Beth’s (Susan Kelechi Watson) Facebook post about giving birth to baby Tess, and sees that Rebecca is tagged. Before he can second-guess himself, he sends Rebecca a message, reestablishing contact for the first time in eight years. Eventually, regular DMs lead to regular phone calls, which leads to meeting up for dinner while Miguel is on a business trip to Pennsylvania. After some slightly awkward initial small talk, Miguel comes right out and asks if he made the right decision to leave eight years ago. He tells her that after a lifetime of feeling like he never truly belonged anywhere, “The first time that I ever felt homesick in my life was when I left you on that porch.” That’s all Rebecca needs to hear. She gets up from her seat, walks around to his side of the table, and kisses him. After a few months of Miguel flying back and forth between Houston and Pittsburgh, Rebecca suggests that he open a local branch of his company so that he can move, and he admits he’s actually been looking into retirement. Tentatively, Miguel brings up Jack, asking what he would think of their relationship, but they both decide he’d want them to be happy. At their first Thanksgiving as a couple, Rebecca and Miguel nervously prepare for the arrival of the Big Three, who don’t know they’re together yet. But their plan to gradually ease into that conversation is blown to smithereens when Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Kate (Chrissy Metz) walk into the cabin to find the two of them kissing. The Big Three have a hard time adjusting to the news of their mom’s new relationship (Beth, on the other hand, is thrilled and says she’s suspected it for a while), but while Kate and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) seem ready to reluctantly get on board, Kevin has no intention of making his mother’s second attempt at finding love easy for her. “Thanksgiving is canceled!” he dramatically proclaims before grabbing the Pilgrim Rick hat and storming out of the cabin.
Does Miguel die on This Is Us?
Obviously, Kevin eventually gets over himself, and the Big Three gradually warm up to their mother’s relationship with Miguel, especially after he and Rebecca get married. Living in the finished cabin Kevin built for them, Miguel centers his days around Rebecca, helping her out of bed in the mornings, preparing her meals and supervising her exercises. His doctor is concerned about Miguel’s health, but Miguel insists he doesn’t have time for a stress test. In fact, Miguel is doing so much that Rebecca can’t remember her nurse, Layla, who comes every day, although Miguel doesn’t leave much for her to do. Kevin reminds him that he’s paying Layla top dollar to handle many of the tasks Miguel is taking on, but he insists on caring for Rebecca himself. One night, Miguel wakes up to find Rebecca not in bed. He finds her outside, twirling in the snow in her nightgown. After bringing her a coat, he slips and falls on the icy ground, but Rebecca is oblivious to how he may have hurt himself, blissfully asking him to dance with her. Soon after, the Pearsons gather for another Thanksgiving, with Miguel wincing at Randall’s hug, still sore from his fall. Almost as soon as he goes to get some Tylenol to help with the pain, Rebecca forgets where he went, panicking when she can’t find him. The Big Three try to reassure her, but she doesn’t calm down until he reappears. After catching Miguel examining his bruises in the mirror, Kevin asks Layla what happened, and she tells the Big Three about his fall. Although Miguel tries to convince them it’s no big deal, they tell him that they think it’s time to hire full-time help for Rebecca. But Miguel can’t abide the thought, saying that he has failed at everything else in his life, but he is determined to keep his vow to Rebecca by never leaving her side for as long as she needs him. Tenderly, in a way we haven’t seen much before when it comes to the Big Three and Miguel, Randall tells him, “We’re not doing this to you. We’re doing this for you.” He assures him that he has more than honored his vows, and that they are grateful and that they love him. “I have to be there for her,” Miguel insists, and Randall promises him, “You will be.” But it’s now time to let someone take care of him, too. The new normal for Miguel and Rebecca becomes doing exercises together, Layla preparing breakfast and monitoring medications, Kevin helping them both out of bed. Miguel finally takes his doctor’s advice to get a stress test. As Kevin watches both of their health decline, he decides to go pay Miguel’s estranged son a visit. “You don’t want to leave things unfinished,” Kevin tells him, saying that his father may not have much time left. That Christmas, Miguel’s children and grandchildren join the Pearsons at the cabin, with all of the kids getting to play together for the first time. Some time not much later, Miguel’s children and the Big Three gather around a once-again-widowed Rebecca under the apple tree they planted together. Kate, Randall and Miguel’s daughter spread his ashes under the tree, while Kevin and his son sprinkle them on a baseball field in Puerto Rico.
What happens next on This Is Us?
Titled “Family Meeting,” episode 16 of This Is Us Season 6 sees (according to its official synopsis) “the Big Three make a plan for Rebecca.” That’s a pretty vague summary, but in the wake of the events of “Miguel,” we know that Rebecca’s contingency plan—in which Kate becomes her primary decision-maker in the event that anything happens to Miguel—is now in effect. This is sure to cause some tension with her brothers, since Kevin has been the one at the cabin to help out with many of the day-to-day tasks of caring for Miguel and Rebecca, and Randall has always viewed himself as the caretaker of the family. But hopefully, the Big Three and their spouses (since “Miguel” also confirmed that Kevin and Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge) are now married) will be able to come together on a plan for Rebecca to live out her remaining years in peace and comfort. Of course, that will be a challenge given the loss of Miguel, who we’ve seen was the only person who could easily calm Rebecca when she became disoriented. Now that he’s gone, we expect Rebecca’s care to become much more difficult for everyone involved, especially if she can’t remember that Miguel died, much like she continues to forget Jack’s death. We just have to hope that the siblings are able to come up with a strategy that helps ease Rebecca’s anxiety while also being manageable for the rest of the family. It’s a big task, but if anyone is up for it, it’s the Big Three. Only three more episodes of This Is Us to go! Is this really goodbye, or might we one day see the Pearsons again on the big screen? Everything we know about a possible This Is Us movie.
