Fans are still reeling from Jack's tragic death on This Is Us. Though the Pearson patriarch didn't technically die in the fire started by a malfunctioning slow cooker, it was deeply connected, with Jack dying via a smoke inhalation-induced heart attack. Following the highly-anticipated "Super Bowl Sunday" episode, some fans turned on their beloved Crock-Pots, despite the company vehemently denying any real accidents of this kind have ever occurred. Now, thanks to Milo Ventimiglia's new interview with Entertainment Weekly's Chasing Emmy podcast, we know that Jack's death was originally totally different... and not slow cooker-related at all.
"I know [what started the fire] did change from [one] kitchen appliance to a slow cooker," Ventimiglia told the podcast.
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Personally, I always thought that the washing machine theory made the most sense. Season 1, episode 7 was titled "The Best Washing Machine In The Whole World," and showed the many ways the Pearson clan's problematic appliance affected their lives. Is it possible that this machine was supposed to play a big part in Jack's death, only to be changed at the last minute?
If that's the case, Ventimiglia isn't talking about it — probably because he already is on a Crock-Pot apology tour. Back in February, he told The Ellen Degeneres Show:
"I own a Crock-Pot. I love Crock-Pot... I think there was a lot of misdirected hate at [Crock-Pot] as opposed to a faulty slow cooker from the past."
He told the Chasing Emmy podcast that defending the brand from This Is Us-ignited backlash was simply the right thing to do.
"Oh, my god, people are throwing out physical objects that make delicious food because they think one that was 19 years old was at fault [for his death]," Ventimiglia explained on the podcast. "We took sympathy over the backlash and tried to do something about it.”
Guess we'll never know if Ventimiglia would have had to apologise to washing machines instead.