ET breaks down the most shocking moments from Tuesday's emotional episode!
Warning: Spoiler alert! Do not proceed if you have not watched Tuesday’s episode of This Is Us.
We now have another clue regarding Jack Pearson's untimely death.
During Tuesday’s episode of This Is Us, titled “The 20’s," fans learn of the exact spot where Kate (Chrissy Metz) was when the Pearson patriarch (Milo Ventimiglia) died.
Midway through the episode, we see 20-something Kate sitting in her car, snacking on fast food French fries in front of a house. She was dressed in a turquoise and black top, the uniform for her job as a waitress while attending college night classes. Tears fill her eyes as she watches dressed-up children laugh and bond over candy on Halloween.
The spot is later confirmed as the location of where she was when her dad died (and possibly where he was, too) during an emotional conversation between Chrissy and her twin brother, Kevin (Justin Hartley). They're joking about their not-so-perfect lives in comparison to that of their other sibling, Randall (Sterling K. Brown), who seemingly has it all together after welcoming his first child into the world. (Spoiler alert: He doesn't, as we learn that he had a yet-to-be-revealed massive breakdown two months before baby Tess' arrival).
"Where are you at?" Kevin asks Kate, revealing he hadn't had an audition in nearly a year. "You still sittin' in your car, eating fast food and staring at where the house used to be?"
"He's gone," Kevin continues. "OK? And he's not coming back. Even if you sit there, in the exact same spot where you were when he left… he's not coming back."
For a long time, fans have been trying to put the pieces together and figure out why, out of all the Big Three siblings, Kate seems to have the toughest time accepting their father's death -- and why she holds herself responsible for his demise. In a flashback from Halloween night when Kate was 10 years old, we get a better understanding of Kate and Jack's extra special bond.
Kate is getting ready for Halloween with her mom, Rebecca (Mandy Moore), Kevin and Randall. Kate originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but as her mom hands her the costume accessories, she says she wants to be something else this year, something "pretty."
As Jack walks in the door and greets his family with his best evil, eerie laugh, Kate asks him for approval on the new outfit, not seeming to care how much work her mom put into the making of costume No. 1.
“Daddy, do I have to be a vet? I want to be Sandy from Grease," she says. "Pretty Sandy. Not tough Sandy.”
”Ok, you can be pretty Sandy," Jack replies. "Mom can handle that, right?”
Rebecca and Jack then speak privately, where she explains to Jack that he needs to "stop doing that with Kate," saying yes to anything she wants. She claims that by doing that, he's not preparing her for the real world, college or her 20s. He retracts by telling Rebecca she does the same with Randall, treating him "like a glass figurine."
We see that's true when Kate and Kevin go trick or treating with their father, while Rebecca takes Randall on a separate route. Jack is confused when Kate runs off to meet up with a boy unexpectedly, but Kevin quickly fills him in:
Kevin: "She's gonna ask Billy Palmer to go through the haunted house with her, and if it gets scary, he might hold her hand. She has a crush on him."
Jack: "Come on, that’s ridiculous. She’s 10.”
Kevin: “It's ridiculous because he’s Billy Palmer. He’s almost as popular as me and no way is he going to hold her hand."
Our hearts were crushed (and so was Jack's!) when we saw a cheery Kate return, oblivious to the sad sight of Kevin emptying all his hard-earned candy into Billy's Halloween bag. Jack never wanted to see his baby girl disappointed, but at this moment in time, he learns that Rebecca is right.
Another memorable moment from the episode is when we see Rebecca truly mourning the loss of Jack, followed by the scene where we learn how and when she reconnected with Jack's pal, Miguel (Jon Huertas), her modern-day partner, after all these years.
"That was one of the happiest moments of my life," Rebecca tells Randall. "But also, your dad isn't here."
"And that's just something I'm gonna have to deal with for the rest of my life," she adds. "The happiest moments will also be a little sad."
Rebecca then shares a photo of her grandbaby to Facebook. As we learned earlier in the episode, her friends urged her to join the social network as a way to stay connected and feel like a part of the community. Just moments after pressing "post," she receives a private message.
"Congrats on your first grandchild!," the message, from Miguel Rivas, reads. "Hello from Houston - didn’t know you were on this! How’ve you been for the past eight years?"
"I'm good," she replies, after deleting a few previous versions of her response. "How are you?"
With all this new information, we have so many questions. Like, will Miguel travel to meet up with Rebecca, or vice versa? Is their first meeting instantly romantic, or does their relationship spark gradually? Were Kate and Jack actually together when he died? Did she talk him into doing something he just couldn't say no to? When will we find out what caused Randall's breakdown and how serious was it? Share your thoughts and theories with us by tweeting @etnow!
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
