In the Season 4 finale of This Is Us, "Strangers: Part Two," we were introduced to a few new members of the Pearson family. Not only did we meet Jack and Lucy's baby girl in the future, named Hope, but Jack's little sister and Kate and Toby's presumptive adoptive daughter on This Is Us, Hailey Damon.
We're five episodes into Season 5 at this point, and we still know very little about Kate and Toby's daughter, Hailey, who is played as an adult by Adelaide Kane (Reign, Once Upon a Time). So I've gathered up what we do know and as well as what we want to know sooner rather than later in Season 5 (please don't make us wait until Season 6).
What We Do Know
She Works At An Art Gallery
Is it really a surprise to see how creativity continues to run in the Pearson family? While Rebecca, Kate, and Baby Jack all went the more musical route, we meet Hailey as a thriving professional in the art world working at the Kohn Gallery, selling an artist's piece that displays an "incredible distribution of light" to a potential buyer.
Her Coworker Has A Crush on Her
Hailey's coworker Zach, who she calls her "best friend," is desperate to go out with Hailey, not to mince words. He tries to appeal to her sense of humor by pulling the pencils in the nose/walrus trick when he brings up how he'd asked her on a date the day before. But Hailey thinks turning their relationship romantic right now would be a a "really bad idea." And that might be because...
She Hooked Up With A Movie Star She Still Harbors Feelings For
From what we've seen of Hailey, it's pretty obvious she keeps her cards close to her chest. Despite his best efforts, Zach is unable to get Hailey to admit that she still thinks about the "famous big shot" she had a one night stand with. Zach's failure in learning details is also our failure in learning details. How did she meet a movie star? Could it be via the art gallery — a high profile client that she hit it off with? Maybe her Uncle Kevin introduced her to someone in the industry?
Hailey And Jack Are Close
Another Pearson Family Value that was clearly imparted on Hailey is that family comes before everything, which is why as soon as she gets word that her brother had his first child, she rushes to the hospital and asks Zach to cover for her. Selling artwork can wait or can be passed off to her colleague; her niece's birth can't.
Hailey Finds Out About Baby Hope Via An Apple Watch
I guess Apple Watches are still a thing in the future? Noted.
What We Want To Know
Is Hailey the Child Ellie was Carrying?
Let's get the big one out of the way. While we've seen Toby and Kate spark a really encouraging bond with prospective foster mom Ellie, we still don't know for sure yet if they end up adopting her child in the end. All we can confirm is that their daughter, no matter who the biological mother ends up being, is not named Chloe (much to the delight of Ellie). But I am keen to know if the adoption ends up being a closed one, whether it's with Ellie or someone else, or if Hailey's birth mother was involved in her upbringing at all.
Who's The Mystery Movie Guy She Skirted Zach For?
Obviously, the reveal she had a memorable dalliance with a famous guy was dropped for a reason, so I wonder if we'll see a scene setting the stage for how they met each other in the first place and why he made a lasting impression.
Does She Keep Everything In Her Life Private?
When Hailey rushes out to see her newborn niece, friend/coworker/rejected romantic Zach contender seems to think she's willing to drop everything to see her mystery movie star man rather than fathom the truth that she's racing to the hospital.
But if he's her best friend, wouldn't he have known that her brother was about to have a baby and Hailey was super excited about it and involved? If my sibling was about to have a baby, I feel like I'd be gushing over the news with my closest pals. But also, Zach could just be projecting his jealousy onto Hailey, and his thinking that everything in her private life now revolves around Movie Star Dude says a lot more about his insecurities than it does about her.
Why Is Hailey So Happy That Jack and Lucy Have a Girl?
The second Hailey walks into the hospital room, all she wants to know is the sex of the baby. And she says, "Oh, thank God," when Jack tells her Lucy gave birth to a girl rather than a boy. A small detail, but I was wondering why she has such a sense of relief. Maybe it was just the overwhelming sense of surprise since they hadn't learned the sex till the day of the birth and there was all this anticipation surrounding the reveal.
While we may not get answers about Hailey right away, This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman did tell The Hollywood Reporter that there is more to come in her story. "We really love the actress we found to play the daughter, Adelaide," he said. "...So our hope is to continue to make people invested in these future storylines by getting into the characters slowly, as we've done, so that by the time you're really landing in full stories with them, if we do, you feel that great investment."
This Is Us airs on NBC on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
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