The Final Goodbye? This Is Us' Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia Break Down the Status of Jack and Rebecca

Get new insight into the emotional episode of NBC's hit drama

By Chris Harnick Mar 08, 2017 2:45 PMTags
Watch: "This Is Us" Stars Tease "Dangerous" Season Finale

Dry your tears and restock the tissues: This Is Us' finale is upon us.

In the penultimate episode of the NBC drama's first season, viewers saw Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) say goodbye—for what could be the final time?!—as Rebecca embarked on her tour. Then in the present, the Pearson clan honored William (Ron Cephas Jones), saw Kevin (Justin Hartley) make his stage debut and Kate (Chrissy Metz) revealed to Toby (Chris Sullivan) she caused Jack's death. Well, at least she thinks she caused Jack's death.

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Yes, the death that has been looming since the beginning of the season is about to be addressed. The episode ended with Jack calling teenaged Kate and telling her he's going to make things right with Rebecca. And he was drunk.

"People want to know what happens with Jack. This may be the time when they find out," Ventimiglia told EW.

There's a lot to unpack here.

Rebecca and Jack's goodbye (or lack thereof)
"To leave on a note of such—it's just like the air in the house is so heavy. There's so much that's not being said between these two people," Moore said in the This Is Us after show.

"Very bad timing to not connect with your wife," Ventimiglia chimed in.

"To just be leaving on this note, it's the worst possible scenario," Moore said. "It doesn't feel good. And I don't think they're accustomed to being in this place with one another."

Jack did attempt to say a proper goodbye to Rebecca, but she was already gone. This was new territory for the TV couple, they had never been there before and don't know how to get out of the funk. It wasn't fun for viewers to watch, nor was it fun for the actors to film.

"Mandy and I, we're very tight," Ventimiglia said. "Our chairs are next to each other, we walk a lot when we're in between takes and everything and whatnot. And the days we have to play very distant, they're just not fun to film."

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The end of Jack?
Jack was drunk. Jack got into a car. Jack's dead…is this it or will this be a wakeup call?

"You never necessarily see the positivity in hitting your bottom of a drinking bender, but I think this is something that definitely could turn Jack around if he makes it...His need or desire to take a break and do something for himself is ultimately putting him in a bad position, hopping in a car after drinking," Ventimiglia told EW. "Jack is always conflicted. He's conflicted by his wife leaving, yet he's making the poor choice of going to a bar or going to a drink to get away, to numb the words that he can't say to his wife. But it's almost like that drink is a bit of a truth serum and a relaxer to the way that he thinks, ‘I'm going to go get my wife back.' And it's a poor decision on his part that may lead to his death."

After William's fun-eral, viewers aren't going to catch a break with the finale. Ventimiglia admitted it's going to be brutal.

"I mean, even me, like William's death, William's passing in that whole episode just crushed me. Crushed me, you know? And I feel that William and Jack are of the same beloved nature that people are truly going to grieve — not mourn — grieve their loss," he said.

This Is Us' finale airs Tuesday, March 15 at 9 p.m. on NBC.

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