‘This Is Us’ Reveals the One Tear-Jerking Thing That Helped Jack Defeat His Alcoholism

(Warning: Major spoilers ahead for This Is Us “A Manny-Splendored Thing.”)

Last week’s This Is Us premiere left fans breathless with its final scene, revealing that Jack Pearson was killed as a result of the family’s house catching fire. In tonight’s episode, while we may not have learned more about Jack’s death, we did learn a lot about one of his other biggest story arcs.

Jack has struggled with alcohol on more than one occasion, and he finally admitted to Rebecca that he was drinking again. Since last season, we’ve known that Jack conquered his alcoholism once before, but the show never revealed exactly how he did.

Now we know that Kate was the biggest factor in Jack’s victory over his disease.

After Rebecca asked Jack how he got sober the first time, we saw some flashbacks from his first battle. Jack tried to go to AA meetings but he couldn’t get himself to stay. Instead, he drove to his childrens’ school and talked to Kate.

He may not have told his young daughter that he was drinking, but he said he was having a hard time at work. Kate, the loving girl she always was, took her dad’s face in her hands, looked him right in the eye and said that he was going to be okay. From there, Jack went to a boxing gym and pounded on one of the bags for quite a while. When he saw Rebecca later that night, Jack said that it was over, and there was nothing more to worry about.

The morning after Rebecca brings Jack home, he decides that he needs to come clean to his kids in order to move forward. He goes to Kate first.

With tears in his eyes, Jack admits to Kate that he has a drinking problem and that he’s afraid of letting them down. Kate takes his face in her hands, just as she did years ago, and assures him that things are going to be okay. From there, Jack heads over to an AA meeting and starts on his path to sobriety.

So, if this episode taught us anything, it’s that Kate Pearson might be the secret hero of Jack’s story, and maybe all of This Is Us.