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Of course 'This Is Us' breaks our hearts everywhere once more. After learning Laurel, Randall's beginning mom didn't die of an overdose, we be told what in reality happened to her.

Back in the autumn when This Is Us Season 5 premiered, lovers had been astonished to be informed that Randall Pearson's birth mother, Laurel, was once still alive. All of this time we believed Laurel had died of a drug overdose shortly after giving birth to Randall, which is what led his birth father, William, to drop him off at the hearth station. 

But lo and behold, we find that when being pronounced dead via the EMTs, Laurel wakes up after William flees with baby Randall to steer clear of Child Protective Services.

Because This Is Us likes to play with our hearts like it's Laffy Taffy, this storyline is not revisited until the mid-season finale, where we be told Laurel is by hook or by crook hooked up to a Vietnamese man who sees the viral video of Randall doing his shirtless gym exercise dance (which, truthfully, used to be a gift in and of itself). 

The most effective clue This Is Us gave us used to be that Laurel was once related to this man, and that it was once imaginable she used to be nonetheless alive.

Finally, in final week's episode of The Is Us, we realized what happened to Laurel. 

What happened to Laurel in 'This Is Us'?

After the man sees Randall's video, he contacts him and tells him he is a close friend of his mother's. We learn this man's title is Hai and that he lives in New Orleans. We also be told that Laurel died in 2015 of breast most cancers. Yup, after the whole lot — all of the suspense, theories, and heartbreak — it turns out some other dad or mum of Randall's is dead. How a lot disappointment can this deficient man take? Nevertheless, Hai invites Randall to New Orleans so that Randall can learn more about his beginning mom.

In "Birth Mother" (Season 5, Episode 6), we additionally learn why Laurel never went looking Randall. It's not that she did not need to to find him (she did, desperately), this is because she bodily could not. She couldn't succeed in out to William as a result of their condominium didn't have a phone, and she used to be in an instant arrested after being brought in for her overdose.

"We don't have a phone. I need to call my boyfriend but we don't have a phone," Laurel attempted explaining to the police. She referred to as her father instead, but prior to she may deliver herself to say the rest, she hung up. She was once then sentenced to five years in prison. And as a substitute of serving time in Pittsburgh, she was taken to a California prison due to overcrowding. 

Hai informed Randall, "The prison in Pittsburgh were overcrowded. So Laurel was sent to California. She didn't talk much about that time. And I didn't push her. There wasn't a single night when she didn't dream about you."

After she served five years, Laurel went again to her birth town of New Orleans, where her Aunt Mae lived. She reconnected with Hai, who she had met many years ago and was her past love. They do not need a romantic relationship for a long time, since Hai is married and has kids when Laurel strikes again to New Orleans. After Hai's wife dies, Laurel and Hai re-ignite their dating. They remained together until Laurel's ultimate days.

The actress who plays Laurel, Jennifer C. Holmes, tells The Wrap that she sought after viewers to know that Laurel did not choose medicine over Randall, and that as a result of one mistake (her wanting to take heroin was to ease the post-labor ache so she could handle her son), she used to be bring to an end from two of an important folks in her lifestyles. Because of her loss of get entry to to healthcare, she used to be punished for it (systemic racism is something This Is Us doesn't shy clear of).

“Everyone is going to get to know the why now, proper? Hopefully everybody is going to be a little bit bit extra empathetic and understanding toward her and to other people who are addicts and fighting for their lives. We don’t all make the proper decisions, but expectantly we can try to understand one every other higher and no longer briefly pass judgement on and simply love more," Jennifer says.

Watch This Is Us each and every Tuesday on NBC at 9 p.m.

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