On Super Bowl Sunday 1998, Jack Pearson stays sober by keeping busy — filming Kate secretly for her music school audition, watching Rebecca sketch out a business partnership for his construction dream, and accepting a secondhand slow cooker from neighbor George whose house has finally sold. The kids scatter for the night, the day ends well, and Jack goes to bed without turning off the slow cooker. Its faulty switch starts the fire that burns the Pearson house down. In 2017, Randall and Beth take ownership of William's old Philadelphia building and immediately release a cockroach infestation by punching through drywall; Kevin, fresh from rehab, makes formal amends to Sophie and comes home to find Jack's Buddhist pendant in the mail.

This episode finally puts the cause of Jack's death on screen — not a dramatic failure but two small oversight ...