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‘This Is Us’: Check Out Your First Look At The Winter Return, Does It Reveal Toby’s Fate?

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 15:11 PST, Dec 22, 2016

This Is Us will be headed back to NBC for its winter return on January 10, and while that’s only two weeks away, the mid-season finale left fans anxiously wondering the fate of Toby (Chris Sullivan), which is why the show provided an exclusive first look to People magazine.

If you have not watched the mid-season finale of This Is Us, and you plan on doing so, stop reading now. Possible spoilers are ahead.

The photo, which can be seen by clicking here, shows a collage of pictures of the Pearson family. The pictures are heartwarming memories, both past and present, however there is one person who is noticeably missing: Toby. If you will recall, during the mid-season finale, Toby was having dinner with the Pearson family at Randall’s house. While there, he professes his love for Kate, and then later collapses onto the floor from an apparent heart attack. The finale ended on a major cliffhanger, leaving viewers to wonder whether or not he survived. So, does the first look provide a clue as to Toby’s fate? Is the fact that he is absent from the photos an indication that he didn’t make it?

“Well, I’d say he’s definitely one or the other. You know what I mean?” Sullivan told Entertainment Weekly when asked if Toby was dead or alive. “I’m going to leave it at that. I start saying any more than that, I’m going to get in trouble. I know they’re listening to these calls. They’re listening to these calls right now. I know they’re listening.”

“We can never underestimate the emotionality of This Is Us. Just when you think you don’t have another tear to cry, we will find a way. We will find all of your tears. We will dig down deep, and we will yank them out, whether you like it or not.”

Series creator Dan Fogelman also spoke to EW about the winter finale, and how it differed from the previous episodes.

“All the episodes seem to be very emotional for people,” he said. “But this episode has a tremendous amount of weight in a different way. Each story has this dramatic, life-and-death weight to it, and it’s all happening around Christmas, so there are coincidences and a little bit of that Christmas magic… What’s really nice is that there’s some big shocking stuff, but then also it’s the first time that we’ve ever had our whole cast together on one set.”

He added: “There is an ending to the episode that involves all of our cast that is really special and game-changing in a way.”

For those who have not caught the first half of the first season of This is Us, you are in luck. USA will be airing all 10 episodes of the Golden Globe-nominated show on January 7, just in time for the second half of the season. The marathon will kick off at 1 p.m. ET and will continue throughout the night. Bravo and E! will also be airing the first episode simultaneously with USA.

Are you excited for This Is Us to return on January 10? What do you think happened to Toby? Do you think he lived or died? Leave your comments below.

[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]

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