Jack is dead before most viewers of The Boroughs have settled in. In the premiere episode of the Netflix sci-fi mystery, Bill Pullman’s character is introduced as a charming cul-de-sac neighbor in the retirement community, only to be gone by the start of Episode 2 after Sam Cooper finds a creature feeding from him near the end of the season opener.
The loss landed hard with the cast. Alfre Woodard said she and her castmates reacted like sullen children when they read the script, admitting they knew it was coming but still fought it. “We read it. We knew it was going to happen, but we resisted it, then we resented it, and then we balked and whined,” she said. “Wait, he can't leave the cul-de-sac. You guys are making a mistake!”
Pullman, for his part, said he greatly admires series creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, who he said had a fixed sense of where the story needed to go. “They have a clear conviction of what they want to do with the series,” he said. “And mine was just one of many things that people would say, ‘Let's see some movement on this. Maybe change your mind. Do something different. Well, how about this?’ And they would stick to their guns, because they really believed in certain solid cornerstones for the series.”
That conviction is why Jack had to die. Addiss said the character’s death was necessary because Sam needed a reason to stay in The Boroughs after moving there following the death of his wife, Lilly. “He needed something to fight for, that you rooted for him,” Addiss said. “And you love Jack, and you want justice for Jack.” He added, “When Sam moves to The Boroughs, all you want is for him to become friends with Jack, and then Jack dies,” leaving Sam with a mission to stay, investigate and seek justice.
The creators also offered one more wrinkle: Jack’s end may not have come from the creature at all. Matthews said the misplaced mask is what caused the death, not the creature itself. “It was a mistake,” he said, adding that “The creatures don't intend to kill. They probably don't even really intend to feed on humans.” In their telling, the alarm-triggering error around Jack’s CPAP mask set the fatal chain in motion.
That is what gives the death its edge now. The Boroughs is already streaming on Netflix, and the first season’s central grief is not just that Jack is gone, but that his loss gives Sam a cause big enough to hold the story together. Addiss said Jack is “definitely dead,” though he also left the door open to a return if Netflix orders a second season. “I definitely know that we love Bill Pullman,” he said. “I definitely know that the cast might turn on us if we don't find some kind of a way [to bring him back].” He added, “And amazing things happen in The Boroughs… We'll see what we can do.”
