Even though Kate’s ceremony was beautiful on This Is Us (and led to a beautiful dream of Jack and Rebecca’s 40th anniversary with the two renewing their vows), Kate’s relationship to Toby should not have been finalized so soon. Kate has a lot to work on, and the writers are painting her story out to be something that can easily be fixed by having a steady figure in her life, like Toby, but Toby shouldn’t be used to fill a void in Kate’s life.
A Loss of Focus
Kate’s miscarriage earlier this season came as a heartbreaking shock, but the depth of this heartbreak was never really explored. Kate had one episode devoted to her after the miscarriage, but, again, the episode was mostly about Toby and his feelings. After everything she’s been through, I would’ve liked to have seen a Kate-centered episode that didn’t focus so much on Toby.
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Toby’s reaction to losing the baby was almost made out to be more important than Kate’s, and this happens far too often. The writers focus far less on Kate and how the problems in her life affect her, and most of Kate’s development happens through Toby and his development. As with the baby, the entirety of the story focused on Kate and Toby. Kate doesn’t really feel like a main character on the show about her family anymore.
The Marriage
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The lack of focus on Kate and her life is why the marriage came too soon. Instead of developing Kate and using her problems to further her story, the writers are using Toby to fill another void in Kate’s life. The void in Kate’s life is, more than likely, traced back to losing her father and the loss she felt, and the writers are avoiding addressing this void. It began with Kate’s struggle with food in the series premiere, and it’s kind of faltered since then. Kate’s struggles aren’t as explored as much as her relationship with Toby is.
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That said, her relationship with Toby seems like what Kate is using to fill the void in her life, and it would’ve been more respectful to Toby and Kate, but Toby especially, had the writers addressed this before the two walked down the aisle. Going forward, Kate’s story needs an overhaul. If this marriage is going to work, and Kate’s ever going to blossom into the character she could be, the writers need to stop making Toby the primary person in Kate’s life and have her put herself first for once. She needs to deal with her problems, most importantly the loss of her father, and learn to fill the void in her life with something other than food, Toby or another crutch.
What do you think? Was marrying Toby so soon the wrong choice? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
This Is Us returns in Fall 2018 on NBC. Like our This Is Us Facebook page for news and updates on the new season!
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
