Fat camp and a dead dad: 'This Is Us' is your cry of the week

#allthefeels all the time.
 By 
Saba Hamedy
 on 
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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Welcome to our new weekly series "Cry of the Week," in which we highlight whatever moment made us ugly cry on our couches the most in the past seven days.

This Is Us has never been afraid to take us viewers on an emotional rollercoaster. In fact, I'm convinced that Dan Fogelman and the NBC show’s writers relish in our tears at this point.

If that wasn't clear before, it certainly became obvious after this week's episode, in which we watched Kate (Chrissy Metz) go through a breakdown at fat camp while remembering emotional barriers in her life that prevented her from achieving various life goals.

One of those traumatizing moments? Her dad Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) funeral.

Excuse us while we have our own breakdown.

The moment:

Kate's emotional journey has always been part of the series, but when we see her let herself go at the weight loss camp -- one of the most compelling moments in her storyline thus far -- it is powerful enough to move us to tears in just two minutes.

As Kate partakes in an emotionally charged workout at camp, her mind wanders down memory lane. In the first flashback, we see her sitting at a pool, reading a note from her friends saying "We don't want you to play with us anymore. You embarrass us."

Are your heartstrings getting pulled? It gets worse.

The show then cuts to a flashback of Kate's 10th birthday party, where we see her goofing around with her dad, Jack. The two are so adorable, and Kate is so happy.

But suddenly, the flashback jumps to Jack's other children in their teen years. They're wearing black and holding hands at Jack's funeral. Jack, the heart-of-gold patriarch of the family. The loving partner to Rebecca and father of triplets. Jack, who goes from being an emotionally unavailable drunk to the "perfect guy" (as our reviewer Diane Gordon described him).

Sadly, we won't find out how Jack died for quite some time.

“There’s a before and after to this family,” Fogelman told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour earlier this month. “Before Jack, and after. There’s a hinge in this family, and that will be really interesting to show where that hinge was.”

We won't find out until "much later" how the family lost Jack, and it will be an even longer time until viewers see the moment of Jack's death.

If you lack patience -- and are in deeply in need of an outlet for feeling more feels -- there's a whole Reddit thread dedicated to theories around how Jack might have died. Warning: More tears will definitely be forthcoming.

Topics NBC

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Saba Hamedy

Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.

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