The “This Is Us” season finale might have dropped a huge clue about Jack’s death

Hello, my friends. Here we are, the day after the season finale of This Is Us, and you might still be crying. Maybe you’re not crying, because Jack continues to live to see another day — for now.

We know in the future he’s going to die, and it sucks. It’s safe to assume that you’ve probably thought about Jack’s death a few times yourself, and now since This Is Us is on summer vacation, it’s time to star thinking about Jack’s death A LOT. We’ve got to pass between now and Season 2 somehow.

The circumstances surrounding his death are vague, and that is the point. We know that he died while the Big Three were teenagers-ish, and that Kate has his ashes. Kate also thinks that his death is her fault. Rebecca, meanwhile, is still wearing the moon necklace that Jack gave her present day, which makes it seem like the two were on fine terms when he passed away. And that’s literally all we know.

This Is Us really loves to sprinkle in cute lil’ foreshadowing tidbits, and we’re then supposed to pickup and put together. It’s like Lost, but you cry 300% more. There are lots of theories out there that Jack’s death was alcohol related, or he died in a plane crash on 9/11. But there was one line in the season finale, “Moonshadow,” which was super odd, and about Jack, and about death.

Might that random dude who Jack played cards with kill him one day?

HEAR ME OUT. The whole Jack-is-a-criminal storyline from the season finale was WEIRD. Jack’s just going to ROB A BAR? Come on, Jack. No. He’s only robbing the bar to get back at the dude who took all his money from the card game, so way to be your own vigilante, Jack. Still random. Even more random? What the dude’s muscle yell at Jack as he’s beating him up:

“Ray sees one of you again, he’ll kill you.”

Well, that is an interesting thing to say to someone we know is eventually going to die on the show. What happens if Jack’s future death is directly related to this card game? This Is Us isn’t just going to insert a random card game into the episode for FUN. The show is smarter than that, and as we learned, everything has a deeper meaning. This simple act of playing cards might not only set Jack on his path to find Rebecca, but also lead him down the path that will be his ultimate downfall.

The more you think about it, it’s not that crazy. Jack’s death can’t be something as simple and tragic as a car crash. It’s got to be real, and heartbreaking, and have meaning, and as the cast has suddenly been teasing, Jack died just as he lived. What does that even MEAN?

We’ve got a whole summer to figure it out. And dwell on what past transgressions might ultimately lead to the end of Jack. Stop crying, it’s all going to be okay.