Sunday night was a profoundly emotional experience for me, an evening where many tears were shed, sobs were heard, and the feels were stimulated.
I mean, the Patriots lost the Super Bowl, an event that brought so much joy to my heart I felt like I did the moment my son popped out of the womb to greet the world with arms wide open — fifty gold stars for those who get the reference — the man-tears gushing like a mighty flood.
But that wasn’t the only reason my waterworks were pouring forth from my eyes. Last night was the dreaded episode every fan of This Is Us has been waiting for since the very beginning: The death of Jack Pearson.
This was a moment destined to cause such widespread heartache that the only folks who stood to profit more off the man’s death than NBC is the Kleenex company. And boy did they probably rake in the dough.
So let’s dig in, shall we?
Summary via IMDB:
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, what was Jack and Rebecca’s favorite day of the year and what is now the anniversary of Jack’s passing. As usual, Rebecca, Kevin, Kate and Randall will have their individual Super Bowl ritual, which differs between the four based not only on the fact of Jack’s death but also how they were in relation to him when he died. Rebecca and Kevin’s vastly different Super Bowl routines will have to have some compromise due to they spending the day together, which is largely affected by all that Kevin has gone through of late which has brought him emotionally closer to the memory of his father. Regardless of what happens with Kevin, Rebecca still hopes that Jack’s annual gift of an unexpected laugh will occur. Kate’s ritual hits a snag due to aging technology. In the process of what she has to go through with Toby’s help, Kate may feel ready to share her father with her fiancé. And Randall’s ritual now centers largely on his daughters whether they want it to or not. The day for them is affected by what happens with Mr. McGiggles, and an admission by Tess about something she’s been doing in light of all that has happened in their lives the past year.
I’m a guy who really loves to eat — as is evidenced by my healthy, robust waistline — so I’m going to use a food analogy to help me put into words what makes this show work.
Think of This Is Us as a pie — the greatest dessert of all time — where the writing is the crust, the acting is the delicious fruity filling, and the superb direction and production is the whip topping. It’s perfection. Thus, it’s really dang hard to find things not to love about it.
So, with that in mind, I got to tell ya, everything about this episode was jacked up to eleven.
This series isn’t one that’s driven by plot, but by character development, which means you not only have to have stellar writers — like Dan Fogelman — but amazing actors who understand their characters and are able to give them depth. This show manages to have oodles of this popping out of every crevace.
While every actor does a great job, it’s Milo Ventimiglia as Jack and Mandy Moore as Rebecca who make up the backbone of the show, and this showcases that beautifully.
There’s a scene where the family patriarch is asked by his beautiful bride how he can possibly crack a joke after the fire and all the horror and loss they experienced. He remarks that it’s because he had everything he wanted in his family, the rest was just stuff. That’s me paraphrasing by the way.
The dialogue and interaction in this scene is made all the more bittersweet by the fact we know Jack is just moments away from the end of his life’s journey. Ventigmiglia and Moore really sell their characters’ relationship, which makes the impending doom to come feel like a railroad spike to the heart.
I really enjoyed how much of the theme of this episode revolved around legacy. Jack was an amazing father and husband, not a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely uncommon. He was seemingly infinitely patient with his kids, always sought to put his family first, and was a wiseman full of pithy sayings, always seeming to know the right thing to say to someone in need.
His selflessness, put on full display when he rescued his family from the helacious fire that destroyed their home and later claimed his life, left an indellible mark on his children that they carry forward into their own lives in different ways.
A great example of the impact Jack had on his kids is how Randall, his adopted son, has become not only an excellent family man, but is also a foster parent, attempting to do for other children what his dad did for him. Later in the episode in a surprise twist, we find out that his daughter Tess is so profoundly moved by this continuing legacy of love that she carries it on by becoming a social worker and helping young kids find families find happy homes.
That’s two generations, and countless numbers of foster children, who are directly impacted by the actions and personal character of Jack Pearson. It’s the ripple effect on steroids.
The scene where we see Tess and Randall interacting, where she expresses concern that her pops wants to trade in his current life for a new one, is such a beautiful reflection of the many heart-to-hearts Jack had with his children and is a fitting tribute in its own right to one of the most legendary TV dads of all time.
On a parting note, how refreshing is it to see a television series feature a strong male lead who is not a bumbling moron? Most of the crap on the boob tube for the last several decades has painted men up to be nincompoops who need their wives’ help to wipe their cracks.
Thankfully, This Is Us is shifting the paradigm away from this trend and showcasing how important, dare I say critical, that a child has a good father present in their life.
Overall, I thought this was an amazingly well done episode with basically zero flaws and a heartwrenching narrative. The acting was perfection and the performances of the series leads both sweet and tragic. Definitely a “must watch” installment of the show.
Score: 5 of 5