Did This Is Us reveal how Jack died in its season finale?

This is one case where the producers and stars of a series were telling the truth all along.

Note: this article contains spoilers for the This Is Us season 1 finale, “Moonshadow.” Does this mean you can’t keep reading? Of course not, but please don’t be upset if you find out something you don’t really want to know.

Many network dramas play things close to the vest. This Is Us isn’t one of them.

In fact, wearing its emotions on its highly rated sleeve is what the show does best. Plus there’s a certain level of genius baked into its time-hopping conceit. Where some series hope to stun viewers by killing off characters or executing other plot twists, This Is Us already has revealed the fates of some of its mainstays.

So if you’ve watched all of season 1, you’re already well aware that Jack Pearson (played by Milo Ventimiglia) is dead in the present. The question is exactly when and how he dies, and whether he and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) are still a couple when he passes away.

The season 1 finale seemed like a good time to reveal the circumstances of his death, especially when his daughter Kate revealed her feelings of guilt and the show’s writers deftly maneuvered Jack into a place where he was ready to go on an alcohol-fueled quest to save his marriage — one spurred on by Kate.

Yet creator Dan Fogelman and other stars of the show have more or less told anyone who was listening that Jack’s death wouldn’t be the focus of the finale, so a drunk driving accident was entirely too obvious. And sure enough, “Moonshadow” ended without touching on Jack’s death, despite the fact that nearly the entire hour was devoted to Jack and Rebecca.

It wasn’t even the cliffhanger, befitting the way the show is written. Instead, a big fight that ended with Jack making one more detailed profession of love left only their relationship status up in the air for the season 2 premiere. As for that cause of death, it could be in season 2, especially since Fogelman has said it is “a little ways away.”

Next: Milo Ventimiglia talks about the This Is Us season finale

Whether he means “a little” as in this fall or later than that remains to be seen. While you wait to find out, consider sifting through the clues left by various cast members and see if you can figure out how Jack dies and when that sad scene is going to be shown.