This Is Us Recap: How Jacks House Fire Began

With “That’ll Be the Day” as its title, we knew the Tuesday, January 23, episode of This Is Us had to be a doozy, likely related to Jack’s death, and we were right. The episode showed us Jack’s last final days in his house and how the fire that (most likely) killed him started.

The Fire

It was Super Bowl Sunday, and the Pearsons were having a rocky go of it. Kevin was at odds with his parents over college, so he decided to stay the night at Sophie’s. Randall went out on a real first date with Allison and Kate was angry at Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) for telling her she was beautiful because she didn’t believe anyone saw her that way. Although Jack and Kate made up, Kevin decided to wait and apologize to his dad in the morning.

In Big Three Homes news, Jack asked Rebecca (Mandy Moore) to be his business partner. He wanted to flip homes on the side before launching his own full-fledged construction business, and she happily agreed.

That night, with Rebecca, Randall and Kate in bed, Jack went downstairs to clean up the kitchen. When he was done, he turned off the crockpot — which had a faulty switch — and laid a dishtowel down beside it. Jack went back upstairs, and the switch shorted, causing the towel and the rest of the home to catch on fire.

In Present Day …

Randall (Sterling K. Brown) started making improvements on the apartment building he and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) bought. Beth advised Randall to take it slow, but he was in a rush to get things done. Randall’s impatience led to a roach problem that temporarily displaced their tenants, so suddenly, Randall saw things Beth’s way. However, he was worried suddenly, that he wouldn’t have enough time.

Kevin (Justin Hartley) was avoiding making amends with Sophie (Alexandra Breckinridge), helping Randall at the apartment building instead. When he finally worked up the courage to apologize to Sophie, she asked him to leave her in his past and let her remember him like he was when things were good. Kevin also received a package from Charlotte — the woman whose house he left Jack’s necklace at after sleeping with her — with his father’s necklace enclosed.

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Kate (Chrissy Metz) knew Toby (Chris Sullivan) wanted to adopt a dog, but she thought having a pup might remind her of Jack’s death. She debated whether to get cute little Audio. Ultimately, knowing how happy he would make Toby convinced her to take him home.

This Is Us airs on NBC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET. However, the next episode will air after the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 4. Watch the promo for that episode here.

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