“This Is Us” fans finally get what they’ve been waiting for
Spoiler alert: This review contains plot spoilers.
Box of tissues? Check. A gallon of rocky road ice cream? Check. Confirmation of how Jack died? Check. Well, sort of.
NBC’s hit drama “This is Us” is back for its highly anticipated second season to make us laugh, ugly cry and to debunk the theories we all frantically read on Reddit in the wee hours of the night. The episode, respectively titled “A Father’s Advice,” aired on Tuesday, Sept. 27
The Pearson family picked up right where they left off at the end of season one, It’s “The Big three’s,” AKA Kate, Kevin and Randall’s (Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, and Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown) birthday. Kate auditions to sing, Kevin takes on the movie role he’s been offered and Randall and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) contemplate adoption.
Meanwhile, Jack and Rebecca (Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy More) are not in the greatest place in terms of their marriage on account of Jack’s drinking problem (insert broken heart emoji). For those who may not know, the show goes back and forth between scenes from the past and present, intertwining the two.
Although the tone of “A Father’s Advice” was much like the first episode of season one, fans of the show finally got what they’ve been waiting for (or at least a glimpse into what lies ahead for Jack’s fate).
In true “This Is Us” fashion, it wasn’t until the last scene where Rebecca is driving home (in a Steeler’s jersey I might add) with a tiny plastic bag of Jack’s possessions next to her in the passenger’s seat. She pulls up to her home, which is burnt down and surrounded with caution tape and firefighters. The camera pans to a red mailbox that reads “Pearson” in white letters and pans back to her. She releases a painfully emotional scream.
“I don’t know how to feel,” Moore said at PEOPLE’s screening in Los Angeles. “It was weird to watch it, but I’m so glad we got to watch it together. It’s nice to know that some piece of the puzzle.”
Could it be that Jack dies in a house fire? Some people seem to think so while others beg to differ. Dan Fogelman, director of the show tells Indie Wire that nothing about that final scene was misdirected.
“I think our closest fans can watch every moment of the last two minutes, like the Zapruder film,” Fogelman said. “Nothing has been done accidentally. Whether it be Kate feeling responsible for her father’s death, things were going to reveal about Kevin, or things we’re seen in the final ending of the show in the last two minutes. We’re not doing this willy-nilly. Everything has a point and a reason. Every little detail, and it will match up.”
Still got that box of tissues by your side? Good. You’re going to need it to wipe away the tears and keep a close watch for more clues this season.