Warning! The following contains spoilers for the latest episode of This Is Us. Read at your own risk!
This Is Us just teased two big missing pieces to the mystery surrounding Jack's death, which hopefully means it won't be long until fans get to learn the full story of what went down that fateful night. The big reveals came in the episode's final minutes when Jack and Rebecca found a stray dog eating their meal in the past, and when Kevin and Kate had a moment in the present on the phone discussing his "bad knee." If you're lost and don't quite see the connections here, don't worry. Read on for why these scenes are significant.
First, we have the stray dog, who was spotted in the yard chowing down on those burgers Rebecca and Jack were supposed to eat in the car. Jack picks up the dog, and it sounds like he's going to become a part of the family. Of course, those diligent This Is Us detectives already knew this was true as the pup is the same dog seen consoling Kate in the flashback from the premiere where she and Randall learn of Jack's death.
The other piece of the puzzle is Kevin hurting his "bad knee." This clue is a bit less in the face of This Is Us fans, but those skeptical just have to remember that when things happen in the present, they're often callbacks to the past. We all know that Kevin was rocking a cast the night Jack died, and from the way he was getting all emotional when thinking of his father all episode (thanks to Kate and Sylvester Stallone), we gotta speculate the story of how that knee got messed up is coming very soon and involves Papa Pearson in some way.
So now that most of the stuff behind Jack's death is falling into place, when is it going to happen? It's hard to say considering the flashbacks jump backward and forward in time, and a dog and leg cast can stick around for quite a while. One thing we do know is that there is still a lot to learn about Jack's past, and Milo Ventimiglia teased some new faces from his recovery that haven't been introduced yet. So while there could be a chance the whole thing is revealed in the next episode, it feels like we still have a way to go before we learn the full story.
Will the details of Jack's death be fully revealed next week? Fans will have to tune into a new and very lucrative episode of This Is Us on October 17 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC to find out. While it's clear that many fans want to know the details surrounding the Pearson patriarch's passing as soon as possible, Mandy Moore is glad the series is taking its time. Read more on that here, and for more great fall programming, visit our fall premiere guide.
