Warning! The following contains spoilers for the This Is Us episode "Super Bowl Sunday." Read at your own risk!
This Is Us fans finally learned how Jack Pearson died, and man, it was a powerful moment. The episode gave a full breakdown of what exactly caused Jack's death, how Rebecca, Miguel, and the Pearson children found out and gave fans just about everything they could want short of a clear shot of Jack dead in his hospital bed. Ventimiglia shared the great reason why the show opted out of showing Jack's body and made it sound as though it ultimately was an act of mercy to fans:
I truly believe that nobody wants to see this man laid out in front of them. And seeing Mandy's reaction, slowly understanding that her husband is gone, is such a powerful moment, without needing to get into the gore and darkness of what death is.
This Is Us spared fans any images of doctors failing to revive Jack and opted instead to focus on the oblivious Rebecca, who had stepped away just briefly to call Miguel and get snacks from the vending machine. It was a change of pace from the usual traumatic ER death scene television shows typically show, and after watching Mandy Moore's realistic response, it isn't hard to see why Milo Ventimiglia and the writers preferred this option over doctors shocking Jack with a crash cart. Had fans not already known Jack was gonna die, they might've been just as confused as Rebecca was when she initially heard the news, which prompted her to take a bite out of a candy bar.
Of course, once Rebecca saw the body, there was no denying that Jack was gone. This Is Us did stray away from the "gore and darkness," that Milo Ventimiglia told Esquire wasn't necessary for the scene, and instead opted to show Jack's body in a somewhat unique way. For those that missed it, a reflective and out of focus shot of Jack lying shirtless on his bed lingered over Rebecca's shoulder as she came to grips with her husband's death.
This Is Us may have shown the episode in which Jack died, but Milo Ventimiglia assured fans that he's still alive and well in other episodes. While there will undoubtedly be some more flashback scenes that are Jack-less, Ventimiglia said the series will continue to jump to the time before Jack's death and even go into the time he served in Vietnam. Ventimiglia wasn't too forthcoming about when the next Jack appearance will happen on the series, but did hint that the story behind Jack's brother, whom fans learned about in Season 2, will be addressed "relatively quickly," and further explored in Season 3.
This Is Us airs on NBC Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. For a look at what else television has to offer in 2018 head on over to our midseason premiere guide.
