How Did Jack Die In This Is Us?

"This Is Us" is crammed from top to bottom with the stuff of living. Birth, love, marriage, death, joy, and sadness fill its seasons. One of the saddest deaths belongs to Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia), patriarch of the Pearsons and the center of the memories of much of his clan. His three children and widow adore him because, while he isn't perfect, he is utterly devoted to his family.

Jack's death shapes his children's lives, leaving them with guilt, sadness, and a deep sense of loss. It breaks the heart of Rebecca (Mandy Moore, whose final season Emmy snub made fans see red), and it's a long time before she takes another chance on love. When she passes away, it's Jack who's waiting for her, to hold her as she enters the literal train tunnel that is the afterlife. But Jack's heavily foreshadowed death comes first, devastating the audience at home and making them question the show's choices. Even years later, fans of "This Is Us" remember how he went out — and some of them will never forgive the show for the choices it made.

Audience members are well primed for Jack's death long before it becomes a part of the show's actual onscreen makeup. The show's narrative is split between past and present, and in the present, Jack is long dead. But the devastating impact of his passing is obvious throughout the narrative.

During the first two seasons of "This Is Us," audiences receive glimpses of how Rebecca and Jack met, how they come to be the biological parents of Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Kevin (Justin Hartley), and the adoptive parents of Randall (Sterling K. Brown). They watch Jack struggle with his father's alcoholism, a demon that Jack himself desperately tries to dodge but succumbs to after taking on a desk job. He even gives up his dream of having his very own company, opting instead to support Randall's future by putting him through private school. Jack enters rehabilitation, expresses frustration with Rebecca's choice to go out on her own as a musician while the "This Is Us" Big Three are still teenagers, and copes with all the ups and downs parenthood can bring.

In smatterings and vignettes and much foreshadowing, the tragedy is presaged and given a date of January 25, 1998. During that fateful Superbowl Sunday, the Pearson's beloved house will catch fire  — and Jack will lose his life.

Jack Pearson passes away as a result of a house fire that changes the family's fortunes forever. Sparked by a faulty slowcooker given to them by a neighbor, Jack's the first member of the family to awaken. He gets everyone out of the flaming structure and outside, but runs back inside to save their dog, Louis. Though the fire intensifies, Jack makes it outside with Louis and some important family memorabilia. 

EMTS and fire personnel arrive to put the flames out; when they examine Jack, they tell him that he's inhaled so much smoke he needs to go to the hospital. At first, it seems as if everything will be all right. Rebecca leaves him alone long enough to get some candy. It's long enough for Jack to die from cardiac arrest. The stress placed on his heart and lungs by the smoke he's inhaled are too much for him to overcome.

Rebecca, naturally, is left with lifelong regret because she left Jack alone in his room and missed his dying moments. His children, too, miss those last precious second with him. Kevin bears the most regret, as he misses the fire entirely after spending the night with a girlfriend. This will haunt the rest of the family for decades as they form adult relationships and move on with their lives.

Fans knew Jack's death was inevitable, but they were devastated when they were forced to actually live through it. The reactions were intense, ranging from sadness to anger, and no one held back their feelings when his final moments arrived. "Stop playing with my emotions !!!!!!!!!!!!!!" cried X (formerly known as Twitter) user @citchon. "I made it all of 5 minutes and tears have already streamed down my face," agreed @Dorthieee.

Some audience members expressed confusion as they live-tweeted the episode, as they knew the fire claimed Jack's life, but didn't know that he would die of health complications instead of the flames themselves. "From a heart attack!!!" Tweeted @JesuisKimeee, attaching a gif of Anthony Anderson crying. 

Others were furious that Jack ultimately died without his family by his side. "HE DIED ALONE, SHE STEPPED AWAY FOR LIKE A SECOND," said @IreeneGee_23, attaching a gif of Emma Stone in an SNL sketch, crying while eating ice cream. "Me currently screaming at the TV," said @philophobiac_, sharing a gif from "Titanic" of Rose (Kate Winslet) begging Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) to wake up. John Amory summed up the audience's emotions by tweeting, "AN EMMY FOR MANDY MOORE AND A XANEX FOR THE REST OF US." 

The Pearsons would, of course, carry on without Jack, but their lives were never the same — and neither was the show's viewership. For some, Jack's death was a reason they stopped watching the show.