Entertainment

Um, So 'This Is Us' Just Made Kevin's Backstory EVEN MORE Tragic

Ron Batzdorff/NBC

Kevin's had a rough go of it on This Is Us — he became addicted to drugs and alcohol, lost his girlfriend, and was arrested for a DUI. Major SPOILERS ahead for This Is Us. Luckily, when you hit rock bottom, there's only one way to go (that's up). But in Kevin making amends as part of his addiction program, we learned that there's one person who Kevin can never make amends with — his father, Jack. His father died before the two could make up from a silly fight, and Jack's note to Kevin on This Is Us was especially heartbreaking.

Honestly, though, the events leading up to Jack's death shed a lot of light on why Kevin, Kate, and Randall are the way they are. Though Randall went on a date on Super Bowl Sunday, he had a nice moment with Jack before he went to bed. Now, Randall is a well-adjusted adult who knows that he was good with his dad and who couldn't have changed a thing. Kate was listening to headphones as the blaze started, and her dog was downstairs, so Kate may be blaming herself because she didn't hear the commotion of the fire or because Jack wanted to save the dog for her in the fire.

But Kevin? Oh, Kevin. Kevin had a fight with his parents before he went to Sophie's. He was a teenage snot who said snotty things, and he never got to apologize to his father. Jack still left him this note, but Kevin opted to sleep at Sophie's and never got it since it burned up in a fire. See the saddest note in the world here. (It's a screenshot from a TV, so in case you can't see, it reads: "Kevin, if I don't see you before work tomorrow, I love you. You owe us an apology. Dad."

Yes, Kevin — you did owe your parents an apology, and you should have talked to Jack on the phone when Rebecca asked. But, it's the little things that leave us scarred. Kevin didn't know that was the last time he could speak to his father. Jack didn't know he wouldn't see Kevin again. It's the saddest possible ending for these two, for Kevin to not have been able to reconcile with his dad and tell him he loved him back. It's why Kevin numbs his pain, because he doesn't want to remember that a dumb thing he said was the last thing he ever said to his father.

Thankfully, Kevin got his father's necklace back, and since Kevin looks at it as a symbol of hope for him (it's all he has left of his father), maybe Kevin's life will start to get better and he can come to terms with the fact that Jack obviously loved him and he loved Jack back. In an interview with Variety, Justin Hartley, who plays Kevin, said that Kevin has a lot of healing to do. "It’s not only his father’s death, it’s how he died and the whole Miguel thing and the rift that he had with his mom," he said. "Eventually he’s going to have to go down that path and deal with his father’s death ... he never got any closure of his relationship with his father. And you start to see what he was going through with his father when he died — and they weren’t in a good place."

Kevin and Jack weren't in a good place when Jack died, and now fans are not in a good place after learning how Jack died. A fire caused by a slow cooker? That's it? This Is Us urges viewers to see the beauty in the everyday. It also shows how every little decision you make turns into a life... and it can also turn into a disaster. Right now, This Is Us fans are doing a lot of "What ifs?" What if Jack had made sure the appliances were off? What if the towel hadn't been close enough to ignite? What if this show didn't make us buy stock in Kleenex? As usual, This Is Us provides answers and more questions along with them. And, though Kevin never saw his father's final "I love you" note, hopefully he comes to a place soon where he realizes that, bad final moments or not, he doesn't need to feel guilty over how their relationship ended. Jack wouldn't want it that way.