NBC's hit series "This Is Us" is no stranger to leaving fans shocked and emotional, and Tuesday night's season finale was no different.
While there were plenty of teary moments, the episode also brought up many burning questions about the Pearson family's past and future.
Mixed right in with the drama was a moment that left many watchers scratching their heads: What was up with that corn sandwich family patriarch Jack Pearson served his kids for dinner?
(Spoiler alert: If you haven't watched the "This is Us" season finale — or just hate corn — then stop scrolling and read this later!)
During a subplot of the finale, the series flashed back to a night when Jack’s wife Rebecca was in the hospital after a car accident, so Jack was left to make dinner for the kids.
While peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or take-out pizza would have made perfectly acceptable meals, Jack decided to go with a little something he told his kids that he used to "make all the time" before he got married: canned corn sandwiches.
Hey, if it's a vegetable, it's probably healthy ... right?
Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the kids were not impressed by Jack's vegan sloppy Joes and he ended up feeding them ice cream for supper.
The puzzling moment had many "This is Us" fans scrambling to make sense of Jack's meal.
There were also plenty of hilarious reactions, too:
But are canned corn sandwiches really a thing — outside of Jack Pearson's creative mind? Yes and no.
Corn and cheese sandwiches are indeed popular snack and lunch items in India where many people are vegetarians.The corn provides a satisfying sweetness which complements the salty cheese.
"I remember as a kid I was not fond of eating vegetables," Chintan Pandya, James Beard Award semi-finalist and executive chef of Adda Indian Canteen, told TODAY. "My mom would make corn and cheese, or sometimes [a] corn, spinach and cheese sandwich. This was her way of making me eat my vegetables." Today, said Pandya, corn and cheese sandwiches are very popular and can be found at plenty of sandwich stalls and restaurants in Mumbai. A quick Google search also brings up dozens of corn-and-cheese sandwich recipe combos.
But in Pittsburgh, where the Pearsons lived during the flashback, canned corn piled high on burger buns isn't known to be a local delicacy. “As a true Pennsylvania native, I know that a corn sandwich was never a staple during that era," Daniel Nightengale, Food and Beverage Director at The Restoration Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, told TODAY Food. "I’d like to research this, as it would be great to test for a future recipe."
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"I've never heard of a corn sandwich, but I'm intrigued!" Dave Anoia, chef and co-owner of DiAnoia's Eatery in Pittsburgh, added.
Maybe next time, the Pearsons should just add a little cheese to their corn sandwiches for an acceptable meal.
Of course, any true "This is Us" fan would never be deterred from trying Jack's creation by a little thing called reality. After all, his meal included two budget-friendly ingredients that are easy to assemble in a hurry.
This isn’t the first time that food has been the topic of emotional reactions to "This Is Us" on social media. Last year, TV viewers across America threatened to throw out their slow cookers after a malfunctioning cooking device led to deadly house fire in one of the series' most dramatic episodes.
