Spoilers tag in case anything from Episode 6 or before is alluded to.

The following bunch of disjointed theories have been swimming around in my head:

-Sam dies instead of Kevin

-Alternatively, Sam is accidentally caught up in Allison's scheme and due to his impulsive history is blamed and goes to prison, having been implicated in the oxy dealing

-Allison decides to fake her death or kidnapping to finally leave Kevin; Kevin is set up to spend the following season trying to solve her murder/find her, but often is distracted by sitcom hyginks, while Allison hides in plain sight

-Kevin fakes his death, unknown to Allison and with his sitcom hyginks continues to cause her trouble "from beyond the grave"

-Allison decides to not kill Kevin and just becomes more and more reckless outside of his own stories. She becomes more absent in the sitcom world, or if what he's doing relates to her own grittier reality we see how the consequences work against her or for her at the expense of others

-Pete is shown to have a bleak sad life when not around his son, he's disappointed in Kevin and his antics, but experiences debilitating loneliness when they aren't around. Hes also shown to be very religious and expresses regret that he never followed through in becoming a priest.

-Neil's reality is shown to be similarly bleak when alone with Patty. He's extremely indecisive and meek without Kevin, stunted from the trauma of finding his mother when she had died. His view point is a little simpler, less dark, but sad because he cannot hold a job or participate in meaningful activities outside of Kevin.