See first photos of the final season of This Is Us

The beginning of the end is finally beginning. The feelings factory that is This Is Us will commence its final season on Jan. 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC before signing off for good later in the year. As is tradition, the hit family drama's season 6 premiere takes place on the Big Three's birthday — this is 41 — and EW can give you an exclusive peek at the action. As you can see in this first photo, Randall (Sterling K. Brown), Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson), and the rest of the Philly Pearsons are marking his big day with a three-layer cake and a Zoom session. Birthdays in the Pearson household aren't exactly a non-stop party, and this one doesn't seem to be overly festive, judging by the looks on everyone's faces.

Back in Los Angeles, viewers just might start to see something harmonious brewing between up-until-now-rather grumpy Phillip (Chris Geere) and just-happy-to-be-here Kate (Chrissy Metz) at the music school for the blind, where they both work. Kate will wind up splitting from husband Toby (Chris Sullivan) in the coming years and marry her co-worker, as revealed in the season 5 finale flashforward. "We're trying to capture something we haven't done on the show, which is a lovely married couple maybe not making it all the way," creator Dan Fogelman told EW earlier this year. "And it's something that happens very commonly — more commonly than not in the human experience. It was something we always knew we were going to attack it in our final season." Metz dropped this hint a few months ago: "I do know that we can see how she's continuing to show up for herself in a very different way than she ever did in all the previous seasons," the actress told EW. "She's really making herself a priority."

Meanwhile, coming off his split from fiancée Madison, Kevin (Justin Hartley) will be looking for fresh purpose, and in this photo, he could be on this studio lot working on or toward a new acting gig. "There will be a lot of reconnections," Hartley teased about the final season.

And back in the '80s, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) appear to be consoling young Kate (Isabelle Rose Landau), as the show delves deeper into this younger era of the Big Three.

His show is linked with countless Kleenex moments, Fogelman isn't one to go misty that often. That said, he made mention of an upcoming story that hit him right in the eyes. "There's one story line that's one of our stakes in the ground for season 6 that when I speak about it, my eyes start welling up with tears," the creator said coyly. "And I'm not a crier." Consider yourself warned.

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• This Is Us creator explains huge finale twist and wedding surprises
• This Is Us star Chrissy Metz breaks down that wedding shocker in the finale