One mystery solved, a few more to go.
This Is Us dropped multiple hints at the end of the season two premiere in regards to Jack's (Milo Ventimiglia) death, including Kevin's broken leg, Randall's possible girlfriend and Kate holding a dog. And they all factor into the larger story, creator Dan Fogelman said: "We know we're marching toward something and we now know what we're marching towards and we have these little markers that I think you'll see over the course of the season that will bring you closer to everything people want to know about Jack's death." (Warning, spoilers ahead for This Is Us' Oct. 11 episode!)
In Tuesday night's episode, "Deja Vu," we learned how the Pearsons got their adorable family dog. Spoiler alert: it'll warm your heart. Just another Tuesday on NBC, right?
With Jack still struggling to deal with his alcoholism and how to keep opening up to Rebecca (Mandy Moore), the couple attempts to reconnect with a date night...that doesn't go so well, after Rebecca tries to get advice from Shelly (aka her eventual husband Miguel's ex-wife) how to reignite the spark in their sex life. (Awkward!)
Rebecca tries to recreate one of their earlier dates, burgers and Billy Joel, but when she makes a move on her husband, she's hurt when he asks her to "slow down." She says it was "silly to plan a thing like this," and is clearly upset. Fortunately, Jack does open up, admitting how hard this has been for him and didn't want the first time they reconnect in that way to happen when he was feeling the way he was feeling.
After they make up, Rebecca tosses their bag of burgers so they can continue talking in the car.
And some time later, Jack and Rebecca find a dog eating their burgers. "Do you think he's a stray?" Rebecca asks, before Jack picks him up with joy, saying, "Look at this guy!" And that's how we officially met the Pearson family dog!
One of the other hints was also briefly addressed, with a quick flashback to Jack putting his necklace on Kevin, who is laying on a hospital bed with an injured leg, and another flashback of Kate finding her twin brother sleeping in car, about to break the news about their father's death to him.
In the present, Kevin (Justin Hartley) hurts his knee while filming his movie with Sylvester Stallone, with Kate (Chrissy Metz) expressing serious concern when she learns it was his bad knee.
After their phone call ends, Kate looks at the urn containing her father's ashes, and says, "He's just like you." Which might not be a good thing, as we see Kevin take pills to deal with his injury, making us concerned that he may have inherited his father's struggles with addiction.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.