If you’re behind on your TV and haven’t watched the post-Superbowl This Is Us fire episode yet, SLOW YA SCROLL and come back and read this later. I wasn’t about to stay up late enough to watch it on Sunday, even though I looooove This Is Us. I love sleep more. Plus, I had a feeling, since we ALL knew this was going to be the episode where Jack died, that I was going to be upset over it, and I didn’t want to be upset.
So, with much trepidation, I set aside some time on Tuesday (I had a super-busy Monday, ok???) to watch the This Is Us fire episode. I adore the show and all its characters, and I love, love, love Milo Ventimiglia’s character (Rory TOTALLY should’ve picked Jess ten years ago, right??? YES RIGHT) Jack, the loving, just-flawed-enough-to-be-real husband, the devoted dad, the hard-working provider. Although we’ve known since late in the first season that Jack would not survive the Big Three’s childhood, I didn’t feel like that was going to soften the blow of the moment the Pearsons lost him.
And it didn’t. It was like a punch to the gut. Like Rebecca, I couldn’t make it fit into my reality. I would’ve taken a bite out of the candy bar, too.
But that’s not the moment of the episode that upset me the most. I could handle Rebecca’s disbelief, handle watching the panicked medical professionals run around in the background as she selected a snack. I could take Kate’s wails and Randall’s sobs and Miguel’s shock.
And the fire. Though my heart raced, I endured Jack and Kate’s torturously slow trek across a blazing hallway, and each family member’s trip from fiery rooftop to solid ground. It was hard, but I watched it all.
But the part I could not make it through, the part I just HAD to skip – came when Kate started screaming about her dog. I GET that pets are precious to people. But when I realized Jack was going to risk (and probably LOSE) his life over a dog?
I literally panicked. I have anxiety and let’s just say I had a real, actual episode.
You guessed it, — I’m not a dog person. But I am a cat person. I had a cat growing up, always. When my parents put down their old cat when I was a newlywed without asking me if I would take it first, I was extremely angry at them for the first time in my life. I was MAD. I didn’t talk to them for a few days. I would have let her live out her decrepit years with me. So, my husband bought me a kitten for our first anniversary. And then awhile later, another little sweetie.
I SWEAR, I am not cold and dead inside. BUT, if you’re a human, and you have THREE HUMAN CHILDREN, and you DIE because you’re trying to save a DOG?
