'This Is Us' Super Bowl episode delivers much anticipated details, new twist

Ok, its Monday morning and I’m not sure I have fully recovered from “Super Bowl Sunday.”

As promised, this week’s episode provided answers to Jack’s death, but also a whole lot more…including a plot twist because that’s what makes these writers so amazing.

The episode starts where we left off last week, Jack wakes up in the middle of the night to a house full of flames. He wakes Rebecca up, yells to the kids and Rebecca reminds us all that Kevin is not here, he slept at Sophie’s.

Jack somehow remains calm, runs to rescue Randall, and then Kate. By the time he gets to Kate’s room the flames have intensified and they run back into the master bedroom using a mattress to ward off the blaze. Jack clearly suffers some burns on his hands – ouch – but is able to save his family.

Back in the master bedroom, he creates a rope out of sheets and towels and lowers Randall, Kate and Rebecca to the ground one by one. Jack is out on the roof when Kate hears her dog, Louie, barking inside. Despite Rebecca pleading with Jack to come down, he goes back in for the dog. As the three watch from the front lawn (teen Randall is literally holding his mom back at this point) the house basically explodes into flames.

So, this is it. This is how our beloved Jack dies. WRONG. In true superhero form, with the dog in hand, and a pillowcase full of other cherished items – including the tape of Kate singing, Jack comes running out the front door.

Cue opening credits and cue the tears.

It is clear Jack suffered some serious burns, an EMS worker calls them second-degree, and recommends he go to the hospital to be checked out. Jack and Rebecca agree they will drop the kids off at Miguel’s and then head to the ER.

While at the ER, Jack seems to be in good spirits. He is offered pain meds, to which he politely declines, once again reminding us of his struggle with addiction. The doctor tells him that he inhaled a lot of smoke and that there is soot in his airways. Jack and Rebecca share a smile and a small laugh when Jack jokes about not getting the batteries for the smoke detector – too soon?

Rebecca goes to call the kids and grab a snack from the vending machine – nothing chocolate, nothing grape – and we realize this will be the last time Rebecca sees her husband alive.

Despite the internal preparation, seeing this all play out was not easy. Rebecca is on a pay phone when doctors and nurses can be seen running behind her. At the vending machine she is left with few choices and grabs a candy bar.

The doctor comes out and tells her the devastating news. “The smoke inhalation put a tremendous amount of stress on Jack’s lungs and heart, and he went into cardiac arrest. He’s gone.”

Rebecca is in shock and takes a bite of her candy bar – something she will never forget doing. She’s in denial and walks back into Jack’s room. Okay, Mandy Moore now basically rips out our heart as she sees her dead husband in his hospital bed. We (thankfully) only see his body through a reflection of the door as pictures of Jack flash through her mind and onto the screen.

But the worst is not over yet, she must tell her kids. She heads straight to Miguel’s where she has a moment alone with Randall and Kate. It now all makes sense, flashbacks we’ve seen before become crystal clear. Again, cue the tears.

On top of this episode holding the key to the secret of Jack’s death, there are also scenes from the present day Super Bowl…even clips of the Pats and Birds. (Way to go, Eagles!)

Each of the Pearson’s grieve differently on Super Bowl Sunday. Randall said it early in the episode: Kate wallows and watches the tape her father made of her singing, Kevin avoids and Randall celebrates his father. This year he has planned a super bowl party for a bunch of tween girls that “only care about halftime.” (I won’t fault them for that). You also learn that Rebecca has a tradition of her own, to make her late husband’s favorite lasagna and watch the game alone.

But this year Kevin does anything but avoid. For the first time in 20 years he visits his father’s tree. He needs to talk. He fills his dad in on his rough year…rough few decades. He apologizes and promises his dad that he is going to do better. Make him proud. This is a Kevin we haven’t seen yet, and his monologue brought on all the feels.

Kevin ends up calling his mom from the tree. Rebecca asks where she is. They share a laugh when Kevin tells her that he is visiting the tree, but that he’s not even sure he’s at the right one. She tells Kevin that she knows what Jack sent her this year — he sent her Kevin.

Kate's tape gets stuck in the VCR, but Toby takes it to get fixed. It now lives (on) in the cloud and Kate and Toby share a special moment together as she pours her heart and thanks him for saving her life.

Now, time to focus on Randall’s day. In an effort to celebrate his father, he has planned a party – his stadium of food was impressive – for his daughter’s friends. The celebrating takes a turn when Beth accidently steps on Annie’s tiny lizard Mr. McGiggles. Randall delivers a speech about loss and pain - it is clear he is talking about Jack here. Beth quickly steps in and wraps it up, but Randall notices that Tess got upset and ran upstairs.

Randall follows her upstairs and learns it is Tess who has been taking the landline off the hook because social workers only call the landline. Tess makes it clear she is not against fostering, but feels like her father is in search of a new life. Randall promises Tess she will always be his number one and that one day Tess will have her own fancy office and they will get dinner once a week and catch up on everything.

The phone rings. Beth answers, and it sounds like a social worker. We assume it is a call about Jordan, this adorable little boy we have learned is in need of a foster family. But again…we are WRONG. Beth opens the front door and it is DEJA! Ok, I was not expecting that.

And now we need Jordan’s character explained. We see the social worker introducing the boy to his new family – not Randall and Beth. But then we see the social worker’s father walk in to her office for their weekly dinner and it is RANDALL! Plot twist.

I guess there is a lot more to the story here. Until next episode…