Tonight, This Is Us season 6 episode 11 brought us to the infamous smoker incident, but it wasn’t quite what we expected!

Ever since we saw the flashforwards with Jack Damon earlier on in the season, the implication was that the Big Green Egg may have been directly tied to the divorce of Kate and Toby. However, that wasn’t the case. The smoker was actually innocent, but Jack has a memory of the smoke because it was the day everything worsened in a big way for his parents. He also hurt his head in the park that same day — hence, the scar he has in the future.

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Speaking to People Magazine, star Chris Sullivan (who has done an amazing job as Toby) made it clear what the real meaning of the smoker was, and why it is so important to Jack down the road:

It was the centerpiece of the day. It was the symbol, it was supposed to be something that brought everyone together. There are these symbols in our lives, and we think that there are easy fixes. Or “if we can just go on this vacation.” Or “if we can just get rid of this credit card debt.” Whatever the thing is that we think is going to fix everything. Toby has this idea that he’s constantly chasing this Jack Pearson ideal of grand gestures and unifying the family. It doesn’t always work out that way. The Green Egg, although it is not personally responsible as the fine people at Green Egg Smokers are glad to find out, it represents a day when things really began to fall apart.

Ultimately, we feel for Toby in that he did want something good for the smoker and the day in general; yet, he made some poor decisions with San Francisco and both he and Kate are struggling to get along. At this point, it is unfortunately clear how everything will end.

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What do you think about This Is Us season 6 episode 11 as a whole?

Share all of your immediate thoughts on the matter below, and come back for even more insight. (Photo: NBC.)