Even as Jack’s best friend, he’s always been a fringe character.
Then, the episode took us into Miguel’s life, at several stages.
Here is his story.
They eventually manage to break the ice, and Rebecca warmly asks him what his story is.
That’s the beginning of his story regarding Rebecca.
But his own story begins when he’s a young boy in Puerto Rico.
But then Miguel’s father moves the family to America to Pennsylvania, to find new work there.
Once there, Miguel learns English partly through the radio.
This seems to stick with Miguel as a source of ambition, and Miguel works to fulfill that ambition.
(That’s when his father utters the line Miguel gave Rebecca in the bar.)
Miguel angrily departs, to his mother’s devastation.
But contrary to Jack’s experience, Miguel’s father dies first.
His mother says, simply, “love is giving your heart without expectation.”
His mother assures him he’ll find his way and someone to love again.
Cut to Miguel seeing a Facebook update from Rebecca (product placement, much?)
He meets her at a bar when Jack and Rebecca urge him to get up and flirt with her.
Down the line, Miguel proposes, they have a child.
Shelly says Jack comes home early enough to spend time with his family.
Lo and behold, even before Miguel married Jack’s wife, he lived in Jack’s romantic shadow.
It seems every man in Jack’s life was damaged by the bar he set.
Is that the price of being so potently good?
In any case, Miguel’s marriage falls apart.
With it, so does his relationship with his children (or at least his son).
But eight years later, he does at least get a second chance with Rebecca.
They reunite in person one evening, and after some awkwardness, Miguel opens up.
At that, Rebecca kisses him, and their romance officially begins.
One morning in bed, Miguel brings up the elephant in the room: Jack’s memory.
When they tell the Big Three about their relationship that Thanksgiving, the kids are shocked.
We see an elder Miguel go through a routine of caring for a clearly declining Rebecca.
One night, Miguel wakes to find Rebecca twirling outside in the snow.
While tending to her, he slips and falls hard on his back.
Miguel manages to get up and get them both inside, but he’s clearly hurt.
Miguel ultimately relents, allowing a nurse to assume full care for both himself and Rebecca.
Then Kevin makes a grand gesture on Miguel’s behalf.
Ultimately moved, Miguel’s son joins the Pearsons for Christmas that year, to Miguel’s delight.
Sure enough, Miguel soon after passes away (poor Rebecca, losingtwoloves).
In the end, it was a beautiful story.
