Okay, if you haven’t seen This is Us Season 2 Episode 14 then stop reading. I don’t want to ruin it for you, so I’m warning you now: there may be unintentional spoilers. I know our friends in the US saw this months ago, but here in the UK … maybe not.
Still here? The picture not a big enough clue? Okay then:
So after two seasons, we finally find out what happened to Jack Pearson, the greatest husband/father in the history of television. And bloody hell, was this episode brilliant or what?
So it’s Super Bowl Sunday, twenty years after Jack Pearson’s death, and through a series of perfectly timed flashbacks we find out how he died and how his wife, Rebecca, handled the news when she was told that the centre of her universe had passed away (absolutely fantastic!).
The writing was brilliant, but my god, the acting! The acting, ladies and gentleman!
We’ve had a two season build-up to this moment, and it could have so easily gone pear-shaped, but the directors, cast and writers held their nerve and delivered the most emotionally devastating hour of television drama I’ve seen in my entire life.
And just when you think you need a good stiff drink, they pull the ultimate bait-and-switch: we find that a sequence we’ve been watching featuring a young boy about to be fostered is not what we thought it was … I’ve said to much already.
Right, if you have never seen This is Us, then you’re missing a treat. Start your binge-watch, any way you can, and when you reach this episode, get a man-size box of tissues and wonder how the universe can go on without Jack Pearson and his questionable taste in facial hair.
Goodbye Jack. You will be sorely missed.