TV Review: Why Are We So Obsessed With Jack’s Death On This Is Us (My Theory)

I am CONVINCED I know why I and so many are obsessed with how Jack ends, and it does not ALL have to do with humanity’s penchant for morbid. Let’s be honest! The best tv episodes or, at least, the land-marking, are the ones that involve life- changing or traumatic events. Our fave characters either get married, have kids, or potentially die? The point is that we have to be invested in the course of their life, and This Is Us is all about the course of one’s life.

From the minute This Is Us made clear that Jack died, the writers put themselves in a slight pickle. Sure, Dan Fogelman knows what he is doing and pre-panned, heavily, how this ship will steer. The problem is that I am on the ship DAN!, and I need to know my destination: Cabo or Hell? Thus, when I saw that our beloved Jackie, most likely, died in a fire, I felt like hell. Yet, it helped me realize three things. 1) I was oddly relieved to know a bit of his end. 2) I started mourning how he ended 3) Good people really make an impact on you.

This Is Us thrives because every character is imperfect, but they are good. In a world, where we are trying to figure out the differences between a genuinely malicious person and a flawed one, This Is Us rises to give us a lesson. You pull for every character because you know, in their heart, lives a light that may dim from bad choices but never from bad intent. Thus, with Jack, a fantastic dad and person, but alcoholic, audiences felt a surge of protectiveness, and needed to know every bit of his end for a sense that this good guy was given an proper ending. How would the beautiful heart, with some demons to combat, be sent off to Heaven? As human beings we may have an obsession with morbidness, but we also fiend over the idea of closure. From the minute they said Jack died we all needed our closure, and according to This Is Us spoilers that “closure” should be received and spread throughout season 2. I am not to happy if his death was violent, but by how Mandy Moore gave me Meryl Streep vibes in the last two minutes I KNOW we will be getting performances.

This season looks to be one where we delve further into the tensions of keeping family together. From Jack’s alcoholism to co-dependency between Kate and Kevin, This Is Us seems to be seeking an analysis on how family rides through highs and lows to hold a sense of balance through love. For More Information On This Is Us Click Here. Feel free to leave your own theory why we all are OBSESSED with Jack’s death.