One of the biggest questions of the final season of This Is Us is the fate of Kate Pearson. Unlike the rest of her family, including her now ex-husband Toby, Kate is nowhere to be seen in the flash-forward that takes place in the family cabin, where Rebecca is seemingly about to take her final breaths. That made fans speculate that perhaps the reason Kate isn't around is because, well, she isn't alive to see Rebecca pass away — why else would she be MIA at such an important family gathering? While we still have no idea where Kate is, we do know that she's perfectly fine, thanks to a scene in the 100th episode of This Is Us, "Katoby."
"Katoby" details the dissolution of Toby and Kate's marriage, and skips forward in time quite a bit. It shows that the couple going to marriage counseling, before ultimately deciding to call it quits. It also shows how Kate and her new husband Phillip got together, and reveals that they married about five or so years into the current timeline, with the support of Kate's kids Jack and Hailey. Yet Kate lives well beyond her wedding day to Phillip; in one scene, Kate, Phillip, Toby, and his new girlfriend all attend one of their adult son Jack's shows together.
Yep — Kate is alive to see Jack as an adult, and is around long enough to see him with his wife (or perhaps just girlfriend at the time?) Lucy. This is a bit strange, actually, as thus far, we haven't seen Kate or Toby with Jack and Lucy at any point in the future timeline with adult Jack — and we've seen quite a bit of the rockstar. Why weren't Toby and Kate visiting Jack and Lucy in the hospital, when Lucy gave birth to their child, Hope? Is it possible that Kate does live to see Jack and Lucy's relationship, but dies shortly afterwards? Or, did This Is Us just give us a small snippet into Jack's adulthood, and conveniently cut out the parts with his parents to keep up the mystery as to where Kate is now?
Whatever the case, it seems we really can breathe a sigh of relief: Kate doesn't die before Rebecca does, and she seems to be thriving in her relationship with Phillip, a man who loves her children and treats her right. All's well that ends well on This Is Us, it seems — unless the show has one more surprise.