'This Is Us' Season 2 Episode 15 Recap: Jack's Funeral Was More Devastating Than His Death
Tonight's This Is Us episode was all about Jack's funeral, and it was arguably more devastating than the Super Bowl episode—which left me unable to make jokes. This show's really trying to kill me, isn't it? Here's what happened (spoilers ahead).
We start right before the funeral. Jack is dead, and Rebecca's waiting outside their hotel for...something. She reaches in her purse and pulls out five tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert; I think the assumption here is she was supposed to go to that with Jack and the kids. So, of course I'm crying.
But then we go back further—to when the kids are younger and Jack is still alive. Jack and Rebecca are at a dealership looking for a new car, and they cleverly want to use their kids to get a cheaper deal. A little exploitative, but, hey, this is supposed to be a sad episode, so let's blaze right past it. Jack coerces the car dealer to lease him a fancy wagon...the same wagon Rebecca's in at the beginning of the episode, where she's waiting outside the hotel.
It turns out, she's waiting for Randall, Kevin, and Kate, who are all dressed in black for Jack's funeral. Oh man. I knew this was the funeral episode, but I don't know if I'm ready.
Before we get to that, though, we're back to the super-past. Rebecca, Jack, and the very young Pearson Three are going to a Weird Al concert, which is so friggin' bizarre and random. They come to a traffic standstill on a bridge, which freaks out Rebecca, and honestly I don't blame her. I've never understood how bridges just...hold up with all that weight on them. Just like I don't understand airplanes. But enough of my neuroses: They make it off the bridge, Rebecca's happy, and the family starts singing Weird Al—which would would make me very unhappy. Seriously, which screenwriter's idea was it to make the Pearsons go to a Weird Al concert?!
Flash to the car ride to the funeral. It's intense. Rebecca's solemn. Kevin's agitated. Kate says she plans on giving up her dog (the dog Jack went back to save in the fire), but Rebecca's unaffected by this. You honestly can cut all the tension with a knife. Kevin then says he's not going to wear a tie to Jack's funeral, which is typical jerk Kevin behavior. I have no patience for him, even in these circumstances!
Whoa, there are a lot of different time jumps in this episode. Now, we're with just Rebecca and Jack. Rebecca just had an MRI done at the hospital—but for what is still a mystery. She's panicked, so Jack takes her to his "special tree" and gives her a pep talk. He's honestly so goddamn perfect, it's nauseating. He's like Jesus, but ya, know, Jess-us.
The results of Rebecca's MRI come in, and she's fine. Jack and Rebecca both credit the "lucky tree" for the good news, which is sweet if not a tad hokey (and very This Is Us). Jack says Rebecca's going to live forever, which means he's going to die first. He asks Rebecca to not put him in the ground when he passes, but outside. Ahhh, so all of this was to show the significance of the tree where they'll eventually scatter Jack's ashes. I think? I don't know. It's all so weepy.
They arrive at Jack's funeral. His urn is there. No one is talking, and lots of people are just hugging the Pearson family. Everyone's giving speeches, but Rebecca is listless. She's unresponsive: stone-cold. The pastor offers to transport Jack's urn to the reception, but Rebecca insists on taking it herself. She scoops it up and tells the kids to follow her.
After the episode break, we're back at yet another time period: Jack's alive, and he's giving Randall his first driving lesson with Kevin in the backseat. Kevin and Randall start bashing each other—it's Kevin's fault, obviously—so Jack makes them get out and walk home. When the boys return, Jack gives a very dude-ish monologue about his brother and how well they got on growing up. He wants Kevin and Randall to patch up their relationship. He says he won't be there forever, and when he's gone Randall and Kevin will be all they have left. Oof. Foreshadowing.
Cut to the funeral reception: Kevin notices Randall wearing Jack's watch and blows up at him, saying he can tell Randall's trying to be the new "man of the house." Kevin snarks that a "real man" wouldn't have let Jack go back into the burning house, and Randall claps back by saying Kevin can't have an opinion because he wasn't there. Kate grimaces at this, and Rebecca storms off. (FWIW, I agree with Randall, but then again I always do.)
We're back, but to a time period where Jack is alive. Jack's driving and notices Kate sitting on a bus bench at 10 A.M. on a Thursday. She's skipping school to go to an Alanis Morisette album signing (LOL, the '90s). Instead of punishing Kate, though, Jack takes her to the album signing himself. They bond over music. It's sweet, and Kate opens up about how she's writing her own music. Jack gives a very moving speech about how Kate should pursue music. For some reason, this is the scene making me bawl? I don't know, man.
Actually, wait I do: It's because right after this, we watch Rebecca and Kate have a tense argument over why Jack died. Kate wants Rebecca to admit it's only because Jack went back for the dog, but she won't. They're both on the brink of tears here, which is better than I'm doing right now.
AND THEN: The doctor who delivered the Pearson triplets, Dr. Katowski, shows up at Jack's funeral reception. Rebecca expresses doubts about being able to raise her family without Jack. She says Jack was fearless, and she isn't—but Dr. Katowski gives her a really beautiful speech about how she's going to be just fine. He uses that awkward lemonade metaphor from the pilot (which is just as awkward), but this is a sweet moment, so I'm just going to feel things. Mandy Moore is gunning for that Emmy, y'all!
Oh no, this might be the most devastating flashback of them all: It's the day before Super Bowl Sunday. Like, literally the day before. Jack tells his family not to make plans for the following Saturday because he has a surprise. I think it was those Springsteen tickets...the ones from the top of the episode.
We switch back to the funeral. Rebecca, with Jack's urn, rounds up the kids and takes them to Jack's "special tree." Rebecca gives an impassioned speech to the kids about how they're going to move past this, specifically telling Kate that it wasn't her fault that Jack passed. Then, they scatter his ashes and decide to go to the Springsteen concert Jack got them tickets for, which is happening that night. Before she leaves, Rebecca says to the tree—she says to Jack—that they're going to be OK.
Oh, and remember how Jack convinced the dealer to give him that fancy wagon? It's because he told him he wanted a sturdy car that would keep his family safe and tell their stories. All he wanted was his family to be OK, which is why he wanted that specific car. Annnnnd I'm choking on my snot.
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