This Is Us season 2: The crock pot, the fire, and Jack’s death explained

This Is Us season 2 episode 13 was a painful hour pretty much like no other we’ve ever seen on the series … and that’s saying something. In some ways, we were perfectly prepared for what happened to Jack; yet, somehow the show still found a way to devastate us when we actually saw it play out.

Here is the beauty of This Is Us — this is a show that can turn in many ways the mundane into magic, or turn the human into the harrowing. There is nothing out of the ordinary about a crock pot; yet, sometimes one little thing can change lives and even end lives. That happened in this episode courtesy of a dish rag being put in the wrong spot next to a crock pot. This ignited the fire, which we know eventually is going to lead to Jack’s death.

The final scene of This Is Us season 2 episode 13 showed perfectly why this series is special — the best on all of the broadcast TV in many ways. It hyped up this death like nobody’s business. Yet, in so many ways one of the things that makes this show so different is that all of that hype led to something so normal, something that could happen to anyone. This wasn’t a “who shot JR?” mystery; it was the piece-by-piece journey to tragedy, watching the fire come at you via a creative slow burn.

Technically, the fire is Jack’s fault, but it was also nobody’s fault. He was reckless in the mildest sense. Anyone would have made the mistake that he made, not realizing that such a thing could happen that would short out a crock pot.

Related – Preview what is coming on This Is Us moving forward

What’s the takeaway from all of this?

That nobody should blame themselves. We’ve seen the characters on This Is Us harbor a lot of guilt over what happened and they shouldn’t. This was an accident of the purest form. It was sad and it was tragic, but there really wasn’t anything more to it beyond a fire started via freak accident. The pain comes more via circumstance, such as Kevin not speaking with his father the night before.

It may be hyperbolic to say that This Is Us has just created one of the most powerful character deaths in television history, but as of right now it feels pretty darn high on the list.

What is your reaction to the way in which This Is Us played this out? Be sure to share in the comments below! Also, like CarterMatt on Facebook to get other news regarding This Is Us whenever you want. (Photo: NBC.)