It’s easy to dismiss the wholesome TV dads of past eras,
as simple and uninteresting.
Modern audiences seem more into the entertainment of
watching a nightmarish father spiral out of control.
But in This is Us, it’s refreshing to return to the positive side of
the father story in the character of Jack Pearson.
"My husband is a freaking superhero."
Jack the superhero dad reminds us of the power of
earnest stories about good parents.
He’s selfless, humble, and totally devoted to his wife Rebecca
and their three kids.
“Jack, your back was built to carry your son through life.
Are you willing to hold him up, no matter what comes his way?”
“Yes.”
Jack may seem too good for this world.
“Even when I watch Tom Hanks, I sit there and I think to myself,
‘He's not so great.’
And who does that?
Who watches Tom Hanks and thinks, ‘You know what?
I'm married to a man that's better than that.’”
But his character touches us because he’s
not effortlessly perfect.
We see that he works really, really hard
to be this person for his kids.
"I got three of you, and I'm trying."
Jack shows us what it is to be a dream dad --
and why this is an achievement with far-reaching significance
even after we’re gone.
"And if it's the last thing I do,
I'm gonna make you proud of me."
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We can thank Jack for making the Pearson family what it is.
He’s the one who pushes for kids in the first place.
“We always say we're gonna talk about it in the future,
but it's the future now, Bec, and I want kids.”
And after Kevin and Kate’s triplet dies,
he’s the one who suggests adopting Randall.
“He pushed a stranger on me.
And that stranger became my child.
And that child became my life.”
He hated his life before he met Rebecca,
when he scraped together a living working odd jobs
and was totally directionless.
“My life before I met you, Bec, it wasn't great.”
So in starting a family he finds his life’s purpose.
“When I held you, for the first time,
right here in this hospital,
it hit me like a bolt of lightning.
You were my purpose, Kevin.”
His family is his everything.
Nothing gives him the same sense of pride and fulfillment
as his wife and kids.
He’s had a paternal instinct since childhood,
when he’d look after his little brother Nicky
in place of their dad.
“Don’t worry Nicky, I’m not going anywhere.”
Other husbands on the show experience lust
"What would I do without you?"
or go golfing to escape their home lives.
"Five blissful hours, where your wife won't tell you that
you're holding them wrong or feeding them wrong
or just being generally wrong.”
But Jack doesn’t have a wandering eye.
"Enough!"
He wants to be with Rebecca even when she’s having
pregnancy mood swings and forgetting his birthday.
“I just keep thinking about my wife and how
I just want to get home to her,
hang out with her, make sure she's okay.
Which is crazy, because she's at her absolute worst right now.
I mean, like, Exorcist level bad.
But I still don't want to escape her.”
He doesn’t get resentful when fatherhood interferes
with his dreams for himself.
He works long hours at an uninspiring job to pay the bills
without ever complaining.
And he genuinely enjoys the hard work of parenting itself.
“Yeah, breathe.
You're putting too much
pressure on yourself, son.
Everything's gonna be fine, just breathe.”
He loves swooping in with a romantic grand gesture.
He initiates family rituals that they’ll remember forever,
like the “Big Three” rhyme.
“First came--”
“Me!”
“And Dad said--”
“Gee!”
“And then came--”
“Me!”
“And Mom said--”
“Whee!”
“And then came--”
“Me!”
“And we said--”
“That's three.”
“Big Three?”
“Big Three!”
And when the family’s Thanksgiving plans go awry,
he invents new holiday traditions
that Rebecca and the kids still follow in the present day.
What’s revolutionary about all this is that Jack teaches us
to take pride in family as an achievement,
as opposed to buying into the idea that a man needs to show
his success through his career and material possessions.
Being a good father means finding purpose, achievement,
and joy in your home life.
"That's when I knew exactly when I wanted to be when I grew up.
I wanted to be the man that made you happy."
"Jack, look at me,"
One of the show’s main themes is that we’re
a product of our pasts.
Every episode cuts between past and present to emphasize
how old iterations of ourselves inform who we become.
The Big Three as adults are always reflecting
on their childhoods and trying to replicate --
or at least honor -- their parents’ example.
“I would marry a man like Dad.
I would be a mom like Mom.”
We know how much personal history influences
all the characters --
so we’re in awe when Jack’s able to resist his.
“You are a miracle.
You know that, Jack?
Coming from your dad and being the dad that you are,
you are a freaking miracle.”
He rejects his traumatic past and the influence of
his abusive, alcoholic father.
It’s even more impressive that he manages to become
such a great role model and adoring family man
because he never had anyone like himself to look up to.
“Coming from the family that I did, I definitely
never saw myself having kids.
But then I met you.”
But eventually we start to see that Jack isn’t invincible,
and he hasn’t fully escaped his trauma.
“Let your father out, Jack.
Let him out.
Doesn't that feel good?”
He does feel the aftereffects of growing up in
a toxic environment and fighting in Vietnam.
He just puts on a brave face for his family.
Because he’s determined not to burden them with his pain.
He swallows his pride and asks his terrible father for money
when he and Rebecca need to buy a house.
But he doesn’t admit this to Rebecca until years later.
“I was embarrassed that I couldn't provide for us without him.”
We only find out that Jack has a brother in season two.
But he never talks about Nicky and their time together
in Vietnam,
so it’s unclear what became of him.
And Jack battles alcoholism for months without his family
knowing a thing.
“I have a problem, Rebecca.
And I've hidden it from you
for a very long time.”
Jack is trying so hard to be strong that he goes up
against all his problems alone
and still wants to lighten everyone else’s load.
“I would take this on for you.
Ok?
I would take on this and anything else if I could.”
"It's such an interesting color on this guy,
who's been so perfect all along.
And I think that's a big part of where wer're going in this season
is showing how difficult it is to be a good man,
and how difficult it's been for him."
He needs to learn to be more open about
his own pain and trauma.
His struggle shows that it’s important deal with the past
in a conscious way
as you're creating your own stable family model.
"I never wanted to disappoint you.
But I have to be honest with you guys,
because I need you guys."
But even if it's unhealthy the way he tries to
handle everything on his own,
it’s hard not to love him for fighting so hard
to be the good, positive man.
Just as being a good father is an achievement to celebrate,
we come to see that the stakes of fatherhood are really high.
Jack’s influence shapes his kids’ entire lives,
long after he’s gone.
This is Us is known for its tearjerker moments.
And the most heartbreaking twist of all is when we learn that
Jack died when his kids were teenagers.
He dies doing what he always does --
putting everyone else before him.
When the family house catches fire,
he risks his own life to make sure Rebecca and the kids
get out safely.
He even runs back inside to rescue Kate's dog,
a moment that epitomizes the kind of dad Jack is.
He seems to be alright afterwards, but smoke inhalation
sends him into cardiac arrest
and he dies at the hospital.
His death is essential to the show’s story.
We might even compare it to the death of the third triplet --
although it’s devastating, it also makes the Pearson family
what it is,
and sets each character’s development in motion.
The Big Three’s grief over losing their dad
and their efforts to honor his memory
are what made them into these complicated, fascinating people.
Ironically but fittingly, Jack’s positive influence in life is
what helps the kids cope with his death.
“You know what he’d want for you?
Everything.”
“Yeah, for you too.”
More than anything, the Big Three want to make him proud.
They want to live up to his expectations and example.
“Now, you are Jack Pearson's son.
You have him inside of you.”
So his memory is enough to inspire them to be
the bravest, kindest people they can be.
And pieces of Jack’s personality live on in his children,
more than they know.
“My dad, he's not with us anymore.
He's not alive, but he's with us.”
In Kevin, we recognize Jack’s tendency to repress his feelings
and numb himself.
We could even draw a parallel between
the slow reveal of Jack’s past
and not knowing that Kevin has an ex-wife
until late in the first season.
Meanwhile, Randall has Jack’s generosity and dedication to family,
“His vice is his goodness.
It's his compulsive drive to be perfect.”
We see this when he takes in his biological father
and later decides to foster a child.
Kate was Jack’s favorite, so she’s defined by
her special bond with him,
her determination to be worthy of his faith in her,
and the guilt she feels over his death.
“It's my fault.”
The Big Three’s hallucinations or dreams about Jack
tell us that a parent figure is still ever-present
in his kid’s lives after he’s gone.
In Jack we see the impact an inspirational paternal figure
can have on our lives.
And only a superman like Jack could make fatherhood look so easy.
"All I ever wanted to do with my life was
be half the dad he was."
I'm Debra.
I'm Susannah.
We're the creators of ScreenPrism.
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