‘This Is Us’ Finally Shows Jack’s Death

This Is Us finally showed the death of Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia) on Sunday night’s post-Super Bowl episode.

At the end of the previous episode, it is revealed that the family’s slow cooker shorts out and catches the Pearsons’ home on fire. The fire grew fast, creeping upstairs to where Jack and the rest of the Pearson family is sleeping.

Sunday night’s episode picked up where that scene left off by showing the family discovering their house in flames.

However, Jack did not die in the fire. After helping his family escape, he goes back in to save Kate’s dog. In the process, he inhaled too much smoke.

He is taken to the hospital for treatment, and everything seems all right. However, moments later, he suffered cardiac arrest and died.

His wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore) was out of the room grabbing him a snack from a vending machine when it occurred. She was checking on the kids at a payphone while doctors ran behind her to treat Jack. She was oblivious to this and kept going about her day.

A doctor then comes over to her to break the news. She is obviously devastated and heads home to tell the kids and Miguel of his passing.

Jack’s death has been a long time coming. In season 1, it was first revealed that the proud father-of-three had died some time between the childhood flashbacks and the present day. It was later clarified that the Pearson children were teenagers at the time of Jack’s death.

At end of season 2’s first episode, there was heavy foreshadowing that led fans to believe Jack died in a house fire, but it was still not explicitly shown.

Over the midseason break, the minds behind the NBC drama said they’d show Jack’s death during the remaining episodes of season 2.

“We promised answers in season 2, and we have eight episodes left and it’s all coming in short order,” creator Dan Fogelman told Deadline during the midseason break. “It will really be a heartbreaking surprise.”

Sterling K. Brown, who plays the adult version of Jack’s son Randall Pearson, also confirmed the reveal timing.

“Before this season is over we will see how Jack Pearson dies. I won’t say too much more about it, but there’s only eight episodes, so it will happen soon,” he said.

It appears they were not lying. In future episodes, it is expected that flashbacks of the family will show their lives after the death of Jack but before the Big Three reach adulthood.

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo Credit: NBC / Maarten de Boer