“This Is Us” Creator Dan Fogelman Talks Season 4

Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia in "This Is Us."

Just hours before the fourth season of This Is Us is set to air, Dan Fogelman, the series creator, talked about what to expect of the season. 

According to Fogelman, fans should get ready for “a big, sprawling, ambitious start.” Apparently, the season will include its fair share of twists and turns. 

“The goal is to never fall into a pattern where the show just becomes expected,” he said. “We’re coming towards the midpoint of our series, saying, ‘We’re not just sitting back and taking it easy.’”

As for the characters’ development, this season we’ll get to see a lot more of Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) recovery from this time in Vietnam. 

“Jack is trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. He needs to find himself a career. And he needs to do it all while dealing with the trauma of Vietnam and everything that happened with his brother while also trying to woo the love of his life. It’s a complicated period for him.”

Despite having gone through a bad break up, Kevin (Justin Hartley) finds himself faced with another big opportunity. 

“Often Kevin’s story, more than all the other characters, is very existential,” says Fogelman. “He’s a guy who’s searching for meaning and his place in the world and also on the bigger more macro level: is he a good person or not? And it’s ironic because he’s the ex-sitcom actor. It would be very easy to view him as the shallowest character. But [what] he’s chasing and trying to navigate is often the most complex stuff. This season really puts him on a path towards starting to figure that out.”

Season 4 of This Is Us premieres September 24.