This is Us has been teasing us with Jack’s death for a
season and a half now. Every episode we
seemed to have been getting a little closer to finding out how he died and why
the kids are so screwed up over it.
Last week we finally found out. In a self-referential post superbowl episode
we find out that patriarch, Jack Pearson died from a heart attack following
excessive smoke inhalation after not only rescuing his entire family from a
fire, but Kate’s dog and a pillowcase full of family mementos.
The entire series has painted Jack and
Rebecca as amazing parents. They parented
each kid according to their own needs. They pushed them out of their
comfort zones when they needed pushing and above all loved each one so wholley and individually.
So of course it's fitting that Jack's death occurred as one final act of
selflessness in service to their children. Knowing his daughter would be
crushed at the loss of her beloved dog, of course he went back to get him. Of
course he would do anything to spare his daughter the hurt of losing a pet. Of
course he went back to get Katie-bear her audition tape as a reminder of how
much faith he had in her abilities of a singer. Furthermore, as the diligent
husband he was, of course he went back to grab a necklace, a photo album, and
other trinkets of their lives together.
But
maybe that's not what he should have done.
Maybe he should have put his own life first in this instance
and taught his family a different lesson. That pets aren't people. That
trinkets can't replace the love of a husband. In what was his last act of
fatherly and husbandly valor he lost sight of what was actually important -
himself. His presence in their lives.
Jack
was an amazing dad, but this was his fatal flaw. It's was made him mortal and imperfect. Thinking
he could be all and do all for his family. Thinking he could forever shield his
kids from pain and suffering is what caused the most pain and suffering.
Seemingly, as a result of this final act which caused him
more smoke inhalation and ultimately led to his death, he caused his family
immeasurable sadness. Intentional or not, the show is saying that love and
selflessness in service of your family is not ultimately what a good parent
makes. I've been asking myself, how could two loving, emotionally
stable and supportive parents produce such emotionally unstable children?
Kevin, Randall and Kate are all rife with different issues. Kate’s
obesity is linked with emotional eating, depression, feeling a lack of
self-worth. Kevin’s addiction issues that he’s inherited from his father
is coupled with his narcissistic personality and impulse control issues.
Randall struggles with his own anxiety disorder.
So what happened to these three kids whose parents loved and
supported them? They had a dad who did
love them and wanted the best for them, but he also overestimated his mortality
and by doing so, for instance, didn't teach his daughter that suffering a loss
of a pet is easier to overcome than suffering the loss of a parent.
