This Is Us season 2 will reveal Jack’s ‘dark side’

Buckle up, This Is Us fans, Jack’s about to fall from his pedestal.

Part of what makes Jack’s death so tragic is that his character has just felt so perfect for almost the entirety of the first season of This Is Us. His dad bonafides are not in question — though TBD how he deals with the terrible teens — and when he dabbles in more questionable, controlling behavior with Rebecca, he counters with a massive, heart-melting speech like the one in “Moonshadow.” (To be clear, that doesn’t excuse the behavior, but it does leave you with a net-positive feeling toward Jack.)

But, as Milo Ventimiglia highlighted in an interview with TV Guide, a lot of Jack’s problems and “dark side” is already very apparent — and will increasingly be so in season 2. He buries things and hides things, including but not limited to his drinking problem, his frustrations with Rebecca’s singing career and that time he bought a house.

Throughout flashbacks, we’ve seen Jack as the supportive, fun dad, with Rebecca being forced to play bad cop and make the uncomfortable and painful decisions. (Shout out to all moms who relate to that.) Protecting Jack’s Best Dad identity is also, it could be argued, a key factor in Rebecca’s motivation to keep William out of Randall’s life.

And Jack is also compulsive and stubborn, with a pre-Rebecca past that includes both a reckless willingness to fraternize with shady gamblers and commit armed robbery, not to mention a literal — notably traumatic — war.

Jack has problems that his Peak Dad-ness (and let’s be real, his death) have helped cover up. Now, it seems unlikely that This Is Us, family show that it is, will do a full 180 on Jack’s character in the upcoming season. Still, as Rebecca’s path becomes more and more sympathetic — the actors promise we’ll come around to Miguel’s side — it does feel likely that Jack will inevitably fall from the pedestal we have him on.

You have three months to prepare.