'This Is Us' Just Provided A Big Clue About Jack's Death

This Is Us spent its first season hinting at the cause of Jack Pearson's death without actually revealing it, but the first episode of Season 2 might have finally provided an explanation. Does Jack die in a house fire on This Is Us? The final few moments of "A Father's Advice" seemed to indicate that he did. Even with all the theories floating around about how Jack died, that possibility seemed out of left field, though it could make sense.

The portion of the episode that was set in the past dealt with the immediate fallout of Jack and Rebecca's explosive fight in the Season 1 finale. They had decided to separate for a little while so that they could regroup, with Jack moving into Miguel's place and Rebecca staying with the kids back at the family home. Though it wasn't a situation that made anyone very happy, it seemed necessary; Jack and Rebecca needed time before their issues could be resolved. It wasn't just her dashed dreams and personal frustrations causing problems between them. Jack had a serious drinking problem that he felt he had to tackle on his own.

However, Rebecca wasn't interested in staying apart for long. She urged Jack to return home with her and he did. Shortly after that, Episode 2 jumped forward an indeterminate amount of time to show Kate and Randall sobbing on Miguel's couch, Kevin unaware of what was going on while out with a girl, and Rebecca returning to the burned-out Pearson home. The connection felt obvious, but it might be too obvious.

Positioning the Pearson house fire directly after Jack's confession that he was an alcoholic made it seem as though the two scenes were linked. Not much time could have passed between both events because the kids were still the same age. It's possible Jack's battle with alcoholism was ongoing at the time of his death, and may have even contributed to it. If he passed out drunk while cooking or smoking a cigarette or even just burning a candle, it could have led to a catastrophic situation.

However, some things don't add up yet. In Season 1, Kate expressed extreme guilt over Jack's death and even blamed herself for it happening. So many details are still missing that it's hard to figure out how it all fits together, but "A Father's Advice" didn't make it seem like Kate was anywhere in the vicinity when Jack died. So why does she feel responsible? Maybe it was her angsty teenage incense that sparked the blaze.

This Is Us has implied and dropped clues and played coy about Jack's death since early on in the first season, but Season 2 didn't actually confirm anything. Viewers still don't know exactly what led to Jack's passing or how it happened. There are only a handful of hints that fans can try to piece together like a puzzle until the whole picture comes into view. A few more pieces were placed on the board in the first episode of the second season, but the final picture is far from complete.

All viewers know so far is this: Jack died when the triplets were 17 years old. Kate feels incredibly bad about it. It was shortly after Jack's brief separation from Rebecca. And somehow, it involves a fire at the Pearson home. There are many different scenarios that could arise from those scant facts and the show is sure to throw in one or two more twists before the truth comes out. At the moment it looks like Jack died in a house fire, potentially while drunk. But that's only one possibility. There are still more pieces to the puzzle.

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