Now that This Is Us has finished its first season, one thing is becoming abundantly clear: Not everyone thought they stuck the landing.
There's a growing contingent of the show's fan base made up of viewers who are less than thrilled that the finale didn't deliver on what they assumed was a promise to reveal how Milo Ventimiglia's Jack Pearson met his untimely demise, especially after the weeks leading up to the big episode dropped a steady stream of hints about the unfortunate incident. Instead, creator Dan Fogelman and his writers chose to focus on Jack's relationship with Rebecca (Mandy Moore), revealing how they first met and quite possibly how they split.
Despite pleas from Ventimiglia and the gang to focus more on Jack's life than his death as the finale neared, a cursory glance at Twitter once the credits rolled revealed that there were some who felt, let's say, shortchanged by the episode.
That sort of reaction to the painstakingly and beautifully crafted denouement of your critically beloved first season can't feel great for anyone involved, and Moore herself has taken to Instagram to share her thoughts on the whole ordeal.
"I stand in awe of this friend of mine," she writes alongside a photo of herself with Ventimiglia. "He is the ultimate partner in crime and he absolutely knocked it out of the park on every level in last night's finale. I am the luckiest. Can't believe we have 18 behind us and at least 36 ahead, Mi. Wow."
She went on to offer a message to those who felt robbed of the moment they tuned in for. "And for those somehow frustrated with the finale not revealing how Jack passed, I would encourage patience. Otherwise you might be watching the wrong show," she continued. "Last night was fundamental to the bigger picture. The story deviated and ultimately landed on (I think) a more compelling question...what was the state of this relationship in the end? And as Milo so eloquently stated, let's focus on how the man lived! Stay tuned cause it's all leading somewhere and we're just getting started."
Luckily, the NBC hit has at least two more seasons to try and win those fans back over.
Where do you stand on the finale? Did it hit all the right notes or come up short? Let us know in the comments below!
This Is Us returns for season two (and three!) on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)