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This Is Uscreator Dan Fogelman has come to terms with the fact that we all care waytoo much about finding out how and when beloved Pearson patriarch Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) died, and thankfully, we won't have to wait too much longer to get answers.

"If that is a question that has haunted people, over the course of the second season they will get all the answers about that that they need and more," the showrunner promised at the Television Critics Association summer press tour Thursday. "The first episode has a big giant piece of the puzzle that will potentially set the internet abuzz, but will also give some momentum to that storyline."

While Fogelman seemed surprised that fans became so frustrated with the mystery surrounding Jack's death as Season 1 progressed, he says the fervent fan fixation hasn't altered how they plan to roll out that reveal.

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"The internet changes things in a way; the conversation happens so quickly and intensely when a show becomes popular, you have to be cognizant of it," he conceded. "But we have a plan, we have not strayed from the plan since episode 1."

Season 2 will feature a small time jump in the present-day storyline, picking up with The Big Three on their 37th birthday, "a month or two" after we last saw them. Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) are proceeding with their plan to adopt a child; Kate (Chrissy Metz) is embarking upon a singing career, and Kevin (Justin Hartley) is doing a big budget movie and working on his relationship with his ex-wife Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge).

Kevin's co-star in the film is none other than Sylvester Stallone, who will play himself, Fogelman revealed at TCA. "Sly Stallone is gonna come and do a huge part as Kevin’s co-star, father figure in the film he's shooting," he teased, revealing that Stallone came on board in part because he previously worked with Ventimiglia in Rocky Balboa. "Milo knows him very well… we have a great script for him and we think it’s gonna be really exciting."

Milo Ventimiglia as JackCredit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC

Back in the past, the action picks up the day after the Season 1 finale, the morning after the big fight between Jack and Rebecca (Mandy Moore), that has led to their early separation.

Jack has often been presented as the "perfect" husband and father, and has been idealized by his kids in the years following his death, but Fogelman says Season 2 will work to bring the character back down to earth: "We're going to show the struggle of being that guy and bring him to a fully realized place."

Meanwhile, the show will also work hard to make Rebecca's second husband -- and Jack's best friend -- Miguel (Jon Huertas) into a more sympathetic character in Season 2, and in "future seasons that we have planned out where Miguel's place in the story gets bigger and bigger," Fogelman says. "I think he can become a beloved character that you’re rooting for in a really big way."

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(Good luck with that.)

Critics were also treated to a sneak peek from the Season 2 premiere which shows Randall and Rebecca in the present day.

SPOILER ALERT

Randall admits that Beth is "struggling" with the adoption, and asks his mother how she and Jack decided that they wanted to adopt him.

"There was nothing to decide," Rebecca insists, but Randall presses her, pointing out that she'd just lost a baby and that he's well aware that Jack and Rebecca's marriage wasn't perfect.

"You wanted me, just like that?" he asks dubiously.

The scene then flashes back to the hospital right after the kids were born, with Jack wheeling Rebecca up to the observation window to look at baby Randall.

"He wound up here -- the exact same place, exact same day. Look at him, Bec, he’s right there, right next to ours. Can’t you just feel it? Can’t you just see it?" Jack encourages her. But we find out that Rebecca initially said no.

"I was tired and I was grieving and he just kept pushing me. He was sodetermined that you were meant to be -- meant to be ours. Sometimes in marriage, someone has to be the one to push, to make the big moves, and oftentimes in our marriage, yes, it was your father," she tells Randall. "Our marriage wasn’t perfect, it’s true, but none are. Your father wasn’t perfect either, but he was pretty damn close; as close as they come. He pushed a stranger on me, and that stranger became my child, and that child became my life. He became you."

BRB, SOBBING.

This Is UsSeason 2 premieres Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. on NBC.

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TopicsNBC

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