‘This Is Us’: The Pearsons’ Perfect Marriage Is About To Get Real

This Is Us fan have been in awe of Jack and Rebecca Pearson’s (Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore) near-perfect marriage, but there could soon be trouble in paradise, as indicated at the end of the most recent episode, “I Call Marriage.”

The couple’s romantic overnight rendezvous—perfect husband Jack, the king of grand romantic gestures, surprised his wife by renting out the couple’s vacant first apartment for a night and decorated it with twinkly white lights and rose petals for an impromptu vow renewal—ended on an ominous note when Rebecca broke the mood by announcing she wants to join her band on a five-state tour. Seriously, girl?

Jack Pearson is officially the greatest TV husband/father ever. @MiloVentimiglia #ThisIsUs pic.twitter.com/FOBLWDKdpC

— morgan (@m_corbetta) February 8, 2017

Now, This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman says cracks will begin to form in the Pearson’s once rock-solid marriage as the NBC drama moves forward.

“There’s a distance in the marriage and in this amazing couple who we’ve gotten to love so much,” Fogelman told EW head of Episode 15, “Jack Pearson’s Son.”

“We’ve seen a little bump in the road in our second episode, but for the most part, they’ve been rock-solid. We’re going to explore a different version of them in the weeks to come. Not that it’s all ugly… but we start laying some cracks that are going to scare people.”

Fogelman teased that Rebecca’s bandmate Ben (Sam Trammell) could play a part in the marital trouble. The This Is Us showrunner revealed that the Ben character will be featured “heavily” in episodes to come.

“He’s a source of both friction and jealousy for Jack as we go deeper down the line in the series,” the This Is Us creator said.

Fogelman told Entertainment Weekly that Rebecca’s commitment to her band could be a game-changer as she reflects on the life she could have had.

“If this season is a door, that moment at the end of this episode is the hinge,” the This Is Us creator told EW.

“On the Jack and Rebecca side of things, we’re going to stay very much in this storyline for them, for multiple episodes… Whenever we’ve been in this time period in the past, there’s been hints…that this is the part where their marriage is most tested. And I think this is the moment that leads to it really starting to get tested in the rest of this season….Yes, Ben is a big part of the obstacles here, as is the band, but Ben is the representation for Rebecca of a life not lived, a life she gave up, and willingly gave up to take care of her family. “

This Is Us fans have long said that Jack Pearson is perfect. While a brief glimpse at the late 1980s showed him struggling with a drinking problem, the character seemingly got it under control, cold turkey. Fast forward to subsequent episodes when his wife Rebecca described him as “perfect” to a liquor store clerk who helped her throw together a half-baked birthday cake made with a banana muffin topped with Twinkies filling. The Pearson matriarch even told her bandmate, Ben, that Jack is a “superhero” who leaves a glass of water on her bedside table every night.

Indeed, this is a character who camped outside of his wife’s bedroom door after a fight because he still wanted to be near her, and gifted her with a moon-shaped necklace the morning after. This is a character who ditched his best buddy at a country club so he could get back home to his very pregnant and miserable wife after she kicked him out if the house—on his birthday, no less.

While he seems like a dream husband, at a recent Television Critics Association members, This Is Us star Mandy Moore said Jack definitely has his flaws.

“We learn in the second episode [about] the alcohol,” Moore said. “We’re shooting Episode 15 right now and there are definitely issues that come to light that are not pretty. Frankly, they are traits that Rebecca is not attracted to and does not like at all.”

And while fans continue to swoon over Papa Pearson, This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia says he doesn’t completely understand the adulation.

“I don’t think he’s perfect at all,” Ventimiglia said of his This Is Us character. “I think he’s flawed, and we’ll see those flaws. Those flaws and those cracks and those imperfections are what make us human. A lot of people, especially on social media, are saying, ‘Jack is perfect. Where can I find a Jack?'”

While Rebecca promised Jack, “We’re going to be okay,” after their go-to couple announced they were divorcing, This Is Us fans know the Pearsons won’t make it to their Golden Anniversary—or anywhere near. The big question is, will Jack’s death be their undoing or—is it something else?

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC. Take a look at the promo below for a peek at the upcoming friction in the Pearsons’ marriage.

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI]