“This Is Us” stars Milo Ventimiglia and Justin Hartley tell us what’s going down in the final two episodes

We have good news and bad news, This Is Us fans.

The good news is, we were able to catch up with Milo Ventimiglia and Justin Hartley at an NBC event in New York City last night, and got scoop on what’s to come in the final two episodes of the season.

The bad news is, all of our questions — like how Jack Pearson died, for example, or what will happen to poor Kevin’s battered career — will not be answered straight away.

“You’re going to learn pretty quickly what’s going on with [Jack’s death], but you’re also going to have to wait for it to happen. Be patient,” Ventimiglia told reporters, adding that cliffhanger endings are sometimes just a necessary part of the business.

“I think there’s a lot of resolution; [but] there’s also a lot of questions that will beg answers at the end of the season. I don’t believe that the writers do it intentionally to say ‘just wait,’ but at the same time, that is what the television business is…if we were given everything, all the answers all the time, what would keep us interested?” He adds:

"So I think the idea that you’re excited to discover more, is a very exciting place to be as a television audience.

We agree, but were also grateful to Hartley for giving us just a little bit more detail in terms of what’s coming up next for Kevin, his ex-wife Sophie, and that hot mess he currently calls his career. (Sorry, Kevin. You know we still love you, right?)

“He’s going to dig in a little bit more with Sophie,” Hartley told HelloGiggles. “He’s realizing that that’s not a quick fix. Like, ‘Hey, I’m back, let’s get back together.’ There’s a lot to answer to, and a lot to prove, and it’s going to be a slow process.” He also says,

"But then he also has this play, so he’s got to figure out if he ruined that or if he can salvage something from it, or bring it back — it’s dead now; he left. And he has this thing with Randall now where he’s actually being a brother, and a supporter, to Randall. It’s a nice, new bond they’ve been able to forge. He’s got a lot of irons in the fire, if you will.

HelloGiggles also asked both Ventimiglia and Hartley the number one question that’s been on our minds, after William’s death, Jack’s death, Toby’s heart attack, and Randall’s anxiety disorder (just to name a few) made it clear that This Is Us is a series that operates at a breakneck pace: now that they’ve been renewed for two seasons, how on earth do they plan on keeping it up without killing off half the Pearsons?

The answer, according to both Pearson men, is to trust that executive producer Dan Fogelman and his talented team of writers has our backs.

“I don’t think [the drama] will scale down,” Hartley told HelloGiggles. “There’s no reason to have it scale down. I think Dan has a vision of where the show goes…I don’t know if he has that dialed down to a specific number of episodes, but I think he knows where the story goes. As long as we can let him lead us, I think we’ll be okay.”

“I’m a hired gun,” Ventimiglia added. “I’m an actor on the show. I’m not paid to write, so I have the luxury of not having to worry about things like that. As well as, I don’t look that far in the future myself. It could all be taken away tomorrow. I stay present as best I can, and I trust that our writers, who are so insanely talented, are going to have a great road map for all of us to walk down.”

We truly cannot wait to find out where this road map takes us…as long as it’s not to Memphis, because we’re not quite sure we can handle another trip to the Birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll after what happened last time.

So while we all wait — Ventimiglia and Hartley included — to find out where This Is Us will take us next, we were glad to hear the actors’ words on why they’ve felt so lucky on the road thus far. Both men sound truly in love with their deeply flawed but incredibly loving characters, which has to be a crucial part of the formula that made the series such a smash-hit success.

“[Jack’s] an optimist, he’s positive, he’s very simple in his decisions,” Ventimiglia gushed to reporters. He adds:

"Things are kind of a little black and white with him...He doesn’t complicate things or muddy them up with indecision or speculation. He likes to get to the root of the problem and find the answers, and move forward in life.

As for Hartley, well…he, along with the rest of us, is having a total blast watching the non-stop emotional rollercoaster that is Kevin.

“He has those moments where it’s like, oh my god, this guy is a nut!” Hartley told HelloGiggles with a laugh. “What is he doing? What is he talking about? Then you have these other moments where you’re like, ‘Wow, he’s deep.’ He’s able to settle down and have a real conversation with someone, and he’s a smart guy. I love that. He can actually settle down and get deep with someone, and have a conversation with someone, like the painting with the girls, and with Miguel the other day. He’s got great stuff coming up with Sophie where he’s just really raw. And I think that he gets himself. He’s self-aware.”

If only we could all be so lucky.