Warning! This article contains spoilers for the This Is Us episode "Super Bowl Sunday." Read at your own risk!
This Is Us showed a lot in its episode following the Super Bowl, and between the excitement of the game, funny commercials, and Jack's death, it wouldn't be surprising if fans missed any subtle moments. One touching moment that might've slipped right past fans came when Rebecca was at the vending machine, oblivious to the doctors rushing to revive her husband. Rebecca eventually learned what happened, but not before responding to a voice that sounded like Jack. What did it all mean? Milo Ventimiglia shared some behind-the-scenes info and his thoughts on what happened:
And if you caught this, when she's at the vending machine, you hear Jack say 'Bec?' I had recorded a lot of different versions of that, some that were a little more ethereal like I was whispering. You'll have to ask Dan, but my belief is that it's a presence. That was Jack saying 'Bec?' She turns her head and everything.
Milo Ventimiglia may be on to something as there was a slim chance the voice Rebecca heard was coming from the physical body of Jack. The moment happened just a minute prior to the doctor informing Rebecca of Jack's death, so unless the doc just wanted a jump start on his apology, Jack had already passed from cardiac arrest when she heard the voice. Given that, and Milo Ventimiglia's revelation to Esquire that he recorded the line heard in the moment, are we to assume Jack reached out to Rebecca from the afterlife?
As Milo Ventimiglia said, that's a question Dan Fogelman will have to answer, but the fact that This Is Us played out that moment the way it did is incredibly interesting. The creator of This Is Us hasn't publicly spoken about that moment from the episode in particular, although he did draw a parallel between the episode and a moment from his own life that's worth mentioning:
It's certainly not uncommon for people who've lost a loved one to say they felt something strange even when they were initially unaware of what happened. We can speculate that might have been the feeling This Is Us was trying to convey, rather than Rebecca getting a shoutout from ghost Jack from beyond his deathbed. Until Dan Fogelman shares his thoughts, fans can't know for sure, but hopefully this voice moment isn't an introduction to some weird scenario similar to the film Ghost. While that sounds like a joke, don't forget teenage Kate referenced the movie not 30 seconds before this otherworldly moment happened!
This Is Us airs on NBC Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. Keep up with television in 2018 by getting the dates for when all shows new or returning will premiere this year at our midseason premiere guide.
"Superbowl" was an episode that was very much anticipated, and it was a truly emotional journey for everyone at home. While This Is Us has a penchant for making its viewers cry, Jack's death was worse than we could have imagined. The cast actually sat down to speak about the process of filming in This Is Us' after show, check it out.
