‘This Is Us’ Producer Promises Jack’s Death Is ‘Very Close’

This Is Us has been building up to Jack Pearson’s death since the early episodes of season 1, but a producer claims the wait is almost over.

Executive producer Isaac Aptaker dished to Entertainment Weekly about the promise that Jack’s death will be shown in the remaining episodes of season 2. He confirmed his colleagues’ remarks and assured fans the long-awaited reveal is “very close.” He also promised the Jan. 16 cliffhanger — which saw Jack and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) forget to buy smoke detector batteries — was directly related to his demise.

“Without giving away exactly what episode we’re going to see the death, we are very close,” Aptaker said. “We’re not pulling any punches. This isn’t like, ‘Oh, they’re going to get batteries next week,’ and everyone will be on Twitter cursing us. You are watching the events that lead to this man’s untimely death.”

When he was asked what causes the fire that presumably kills Jack and destroys the Pearson’s family home, Aptaker dodged the question a bit. EW‘s Dan Snierson brought up the fan theory that the fire begins from an electrical issue, but Aptaker deflected by saying it could be something “unexpected.”

“It’s entirely possible,” Aptaker said. “But then again, it’s sort of saying like how throughout our show to explore the way that life is totally unexpected, and we don’t necessarily see where the curveballs are coming from, yes, certainly it could be that electrical fire. Also, there’s lots of different ways that a house can catch on fire. It’s the kind of thing where you don’t really realize what’s important until you have all the information and can reflect on it, much like actual life.”

As previously reported, the minds behind the acclaimed NBC drama have hyped up the promise of the remaining episodes of season 2 holding the secret of Jack’s demise since the midseason break.

“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’s 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,” Brown told E! News.

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

Photo Credit: NBC / Ron Batzdorff