After Season 6, Episode 10 of This Is Us, the future of Deja (Lyric Ross) andMalik (Asante Blackk) was uncertain. Malik broke up with Deja after Randall (Sterling K. Brown) convinced him it was in her best interest. Prior to this, Deja had plans to move to Boston with Malik and earn her GED — but this desire didn't sit well with Randall and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson), and friction ensued. When Deja found out what Randall told Malik, she took off for Boston in the middle of the night to try and change his mind. But it didn't work. Deja and Malik officially ended their relationship, and fans didn't know if they'd ever see Malik again.
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"The truth of the matter is every young love doesn’t turn into forever love," This Is Us writerKay Oyegun told NBC Insiderin March about Deja and Malik. "And sometimes young lovedoesturn into forever love. I think this is an instance where we get to see what ends up happening or doesn’t happen with the two of them."
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Seven episodes later, we finally got our answer: Deja and Malik are endgame! Fans found this out in Season 6, Episode 17 (the show's penultimate episode). In it, the Pearson extended family has all gathered to say goodbye to Rebecca (Mandy Moore), and while they're waiting, Deja tells Randall that she's pregnant — but the father's identity is a mystery. Deja texts the father to tell him the news, but he isn't revealed until later in the episode — when he rushes into Deja's room in the middle of the night. It's Malik, all grown up and very successful. He tells Deja that he's loved her since he was 16 years old and wants this baby with her. They embrace — and just like that, another This Is Us endgame was revealed.
Deja, of course, has had a long, nuanced storyline on This Is Us— from being fostered (and later adopted) by Randall and Beth to coming into her own as a young woman. She's a characterOyegun is particularly proud of.
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"A lot of times whenever you have these stories about a kid with a hard life who gets adopted, they’re used as some sort of token or cautionary tale or angelic creature or anything like that," Oyegun says. "I think with Deja, we’ve had a front row seat into her psychology. This is a young Black girl’s inner world and inner workings of her world. You get to see her terrified and scared, understand her origin story, watch her fall in love, watch that love consume [her], and watch that love be actualized. It’s just been such a wonderful gift to kind of explore that."
Where to watchThis Is Us
Watch every episode ofThis Is Uson NBC.com. Also:Relive some of the show's best momentshere on NBC'sThis Is Us: The Final Chapter digital experience.
