This Is Us: Bad Things Can Happen on Christmas Eve

At the end of the night's festivities, Toby collapsed in Randall's (Sterling K. Brown) living room and was rushed to the hospital.

The closing moments of the episode showed Toby flatlining on the operating table with doctors attempting to revive him -- and we'll have to wait several more weeks before we find out whether he survived.

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Since the first episode, Toby has been a shining part of Kate's storyline.

With Kevin living in New York now and Kate 3,000 miles away from the rest of her family, Toby is an essential part of her journey and his death could be a hard blow that Kate doesn't have the strength to handle at this juncture.

Toby carries a lot of the comedic relief weight (though Randall has been catching up recently), and just like he balances Kate, his sarcastic and dry sense of humor helps to balance some of the heavier drama of the show.