This Is Us 1×18 Review: “Moonshadow”

The big question that viewers want an answer to in This Is Us season finale is how did Jack Pearson, played by Milo Ventimiglia, die. If you watched this week’s episode then you probably already know the answer (or lack thereof).

Throughout the season we haven’t dived much into the marriage of Jack and Rebecca. We catch a glimpse as for how they are in their parental roles and with a quick glance, everything looks picture perfect. Throughout the season, some can argue that Jack and Rebecca haven’t been much of the focal point of the show. We caught more of the lives of their children instead. But this week’s finale is a little different. Instead of the children taking center stage, Jack and Rebecca’s relationship becomes the focal point of the episode. What seemed like a solid marriage begins to crumble at the seams.

Rebecca is a career-driven woman, who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and take a stand; this in of itself is refreshing and empowering to see on screen. As she pursues her singing career, her ex tries to make a move, and feeling betrayed, Rebecca stops the advancement and decides this work arrangement isn’t going to work out after all. Her strong characteristics continue to show through as she tells Jack, after a night of fighting and yelling, that it’s probably best he stay with his friend Miguel for awhile so they both have room to breathe. With the mention of Miguel, viewers are still left wondering what led to him and Rebecca getting married in later years as their relationship becomes more prominent in scenes set in present day.

But despite Jack’s drinking problem, temper and other character flaws, the question still lingers as to what led to his untimely death. So yes, the allure that we would (hopefully) find out how Jack died was hugely hyped, and viewers can say they were let down. Instead, we witnessed an episode that felt scattered and all over the place.

To be quite frank, the season finale was underwhelming. The episodes are typically very emotionally driven from beginning to end; however, I didn’t feel much of a connection until the episode’s climax, which was already halfway through the episode. Unfortunately, “the feels” and my tears weren’t there. Initially, one would assume that Jack died by drunk driving due to the previews we saw leading up to the finale. But since Jack is such a key character, you know that the writers won’t give away the answer that easily. It looks like the writers are going to make us wait for the answer just a little more.

Additionally, the transitions between the two time periods seemed a bit jagged. It was hard to really soak in what was going on during the time of their marriage because before you know it, we would be back watching scenes from their younger years. What was going to be one of the best episodes (and let’s admit it, the season as a whole is pretty solid) was actually probably the worst episode in the entire season due to the rough execution of the plot and character development.

The question still hangs about what led to Jack’s death; This Is Us fans will have to wait for season two to find out.