Warning: this post contains spoilers about this week’s episode of This is Us

Where the inaugural season of NBCs drama series This is Us came in with a bang – thanks, in part, to Milo Ventimiglia’s butt (hey, it intrigued me enough to tune in and now I’m hooked) it left with a slight whimper in Tuesday night’s season-ending episode, “Moonshadow.”

Let me clarify, a middling episode of This is Us is still probably better than about 70% of what’s on TV, but the critical consensus indicates that the season one finale was not one of the series’ best. The episode focuses on the relationship of Jack and Rebecca. We learn how they met – in a bar that Jack was trying to rob (!) where Rebecca was singing during open mic night – and in the 90s we see them separate after Rebecca’s tour falls through.

In between, young Jack participates in a high-stakes, back room poker game to raise money for his dream car repair business (and also to get out from under the roof he shares with his alcoholic father), wins a huge hand and immediately cashes out, leading to a beating and robbery by his fellow players. Young Rebecca is told by her (awful) friends that she shouldn’t pin her hopes on her singing career and later gets her demo rejected by a record label. And both are set up on blind dates – Rebecca with a handsome but bland mergers and acquisitions guy and Jack with a mystery woman he stands up in his attempt to get his poker winnings back. But, if their respective dates went off without a hitch, they would have never met. Ah, fate.

Some good news about the episode – as many fans theorized, Jack didn’t die on the way to see Rebecca’s gig. Yes, he drove drunk, but he made it in one piece, and, after drunkenly assaulting Ben, who admitted he tried to steal a kiss from his wife before their gig, was driven home by a very angry Rebecca. (Side note: also in the good news department, we get to see young, clean-shaven Jack in the episode. Way better than the porn ’stache. Just saying.)

Once Jack and Rebecca arrive home, they get into a long overdue fight for the ages – one that we all knew was brewing. Rebecca accused Jack of conveniently hitting the bottle again just in time to squash her lifelong dream and Jack volleyed by criticizing Rebecca for giving up her family for what he feels is a hobby, not a career. Rebecca asked Jack what he loved about her and he couldn’t respond, she dealt this blow, telling her husband, “The next time you tell me that you love me, make sure you’re not just doing it out of habit.” Ouch. The next morning, Jack packs his things and heads over to Miguel’s so that the couple can have a little “time-out.” Before he leaves, Jack says the things he should have said the previous night, telling Rebecca, “You weren’t just my great love story, you were my big break.” Despite those words, he still leaves – and leaves us uncertain as to what happens next, well, before Jack inevitably dies, of course.

Mandy Moore, who plays Rebecca, talked to Entertainment Weekly about the finale, admitting, “I love these sort of darker tones that are coming in for [Jack], and for all of these characters.” Of the relationship between Rebecca and Jack, Mandy opined:

Things are pretty precarious. I really think this is a turning point in the story of this family, and this is a fundamental rift in the foundation of their relationship, and it really shows that darker, uglier side. I don’t know where it goes from here. I have an idea — I don’t know if things have changed — but I think it’s going to take a lot of work on both of their parts to figure out what the next steps are.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Milo Ventimiglia (whose last name most of his co-stars can’t spell) agreed, telling EW,

I feel that this last episode has showed a different side of the show, but it was a side that was necessary to show. With the light, you got to have the dark. With the good, you got to have the bad. With the happiness of Jack and Rebecca, you’re absolutely going to see the breakdown — the complete and total breakdown — of the relationship.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Mandy also took to social media on Wednesday to send a message to fans who may have been disappointed about the way the season ended. She tweeted, “Sometimes we don’t get all the answers we want. Patience. That’s the kind of show we’re making and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Sometimes we don't get all the answers we want. Patience. That's the kind of show we're making and I couldn't be prouder. #thisisus

— Mandy Moore (@TheMandyMoore) March 15, 2017

Hey, the show has at least two more seasons on the air – and there’s still lots of stories to be told. The finale spent its last few minutes on the “Big Three” – Kate wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps and sing, Kevin auditions for Ron Howard (and it seems things with Sophie are at a “cautiously optimistic” level) and Randall wants to adopt a baby. And yes, we still need to discover how Jack meets his maker. It’s been a roller coaster ride this season, but I, for one, am getting in line for season two. As the This is Us Twitter account put it, “Thanks for an amazing first season!”

Thanks for an amazing first season! Love, the #ThisIsUs family (minus @sterlingkb1 and @Dan_Fogelman). pic.twitter.com/rE63ut4Ppf

— This Is Us (@NBCThisisUs) March 15, 2017

Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com, Fame Flynet