This Is Us: 9 More Moments We'd Like To See In Season 5 And Beyond

The good part of becoming as close to a fictional TV family as we've become to This Is Us' Pearsons? Their major life experiences feel real, potent and important to us. The not-so-great part? Like our real families, we miss them when they're not around.

And so while we wait for This Is Us to return on May 11 — to kick off the run of the final three episodes of the season — we thought we'd continue a daydream we started a while back: What milestones from the characters' lives might we hope to witness in the end of this season and possibly even in Season 6?

So we've once more assembled a wish list of character milestones we'd like to see. Because this show loves flashbacks (and now flashforwards!) so much, there's really no reason that we shouldn't be privy to any number of momentous occasions in the lives of Rebecca, Kate, Randall, Kevin, Madison, Beth, Miguel, Toby and the kids, both in the past and in the future.

After all, wouldn't you like to know how Kev ended up with that sweet new abode? What prompted Déja to decide to become a doctor? What the heck is the deal with Madison's horse-minded OB-GYN?

With that in mind, scroll down for nine snapshots in the Pearson family's history and future that we'd love to see in the coming season or beyond. And make sure to add your own wishlist entries in the Comments!

When we encounter Jack's dream home in the flash-forward, is it Kevin's full-time residence? What made him leave California? Is his father's ideal house perhaps Kev's post-divorce retreat? And what's the back story on that bookcase — does the former Manny, at some point, become ridiculously well-read? (We kid!)

Series star Jon Huertas has hinted that this might be in the works, and we certainly hope it is. Because who wouldn't want to see Rebecca the day that Rebecca gets another chance at decades-long love?

Call us paranoid, but we're still worried about how she hasn't shown up in either of the show's ongoing flash-forward segments (at least, not yet).

Ever since the last flash-forward, we've been wondering exactly what makes Déja decide that she wants to go into the medical profession. Does the decision come in her teen years? At college? Does a major life development precipitate it? We'd love to find out.

This show loves pregnancy- and baby-related storylines, so we don't think it'll pass up the chance to show us one of our favorite characters  — who was revealed to be newly pregnant during the last flash-forward — on her path to motherhood.

From all of the time-hopping, we know that Tess is a social worker and Déja is a doctor. But what about Randall and Beth's youngest daughter? We'd happily bear witness to any major moment from Annie's adolescence or young adulthood.

In the present, Beth's dance studio is getting hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. But in the future, she's overseeing what appears to be a very successful dance school. We're looking forward to the moment she realizes that all is not lost with her business, and even more forward to seeing her become the boss she so naturally is.

We realize that COVID-19 complications probably messed with the show's plans for Madison's OB-GYN to be as integral a part of Season 5 as series creator Dan Fogelman teased he'd be. But we're still dying to know what's going on with those characters — particularly if they're going to play a pivotal part in future episodes.

In the flash-forward that takes place at (what seems like) Rebecca's deathbed, Nicky is sitting next to his former sister-in-law... and wearing an as-yet-unexplained wedding band. Are they married? And even if not, what brought them to a point where he'd feel comfortable being by Rebecca's side at such a highly emotional time?