Last week a lot happened on This is Us as the show played catch up on the last few weeks of the Pearsons. Notably, Kate and Toby dealt with their impending child, or doom depending on your outlook. Randall and Beth worked through their own issues as Randall won his political campaign for councilman in Philly. Kevin and Zoe also worked through some issues in their relationship and made a shocking discovery: Jack’s brother Nicky didn’t die in Vietnam. This week sees the ‘Big Three’ deal with that revelation.
First, in the past, we see Jack and Nick reunite after the war. Nick’s postcards have broken down Jack and he finally goes to tell his brother to stop sending them. Jack softens his demeanor however and the brothers spend some time together reminiscing. However, Jack hardens back up when Nicky tries to talk about what happened in Vietnam. Jack storms out after Nicky won’t stop talking about the war. Jack stops at a gas station on his way home and almost goes back to his brother’s before deciding not to and goes back to his life.
Flash forward, Kevin has filled Randall and Kate in on their uncle and the two brothers are planning a road trip to see Nick. Kate surprises them and the ‘Big Three’ set off to discover the truth. On the drive, Kate tries to come to terms with the lie but can’t focus because of the horrible snacks Randall packed.
The three finally reach Nicky’s and after he tries to turn them away, they refuse and he fills them in on what really happened in Vietnam. One morning, he woke up and took a small Vietnamese boy out fishing with hand grenades. Nicky desperately tries to get the boy out of the boat after a live grenade lands in the bottom but he thinks it’s all a joke, forcing Nicky into the water to save himself. We’ve known this tragedy was coming for a while, but seeing it finally unfold on screen is nearly unbearable to watch. The boy is revealed to be the one Jack helped earlier this season.
For then on, Nicky was effectively dead to Jack as he, in Nicky’s words, always saw things in black and white. “I never got to tell him,” Nicky says to the three before they leave. The siblings end up at the same gas station their dad stopped at years earlier and Kevin decides that they won’t make the same mistakes their dad did. He turns the car around to go back to Nicky’s. There they arrive to find Nicky on the verge of suicide, “I never got to tell him, it was an accident” Nicky says as Kevin comforts him.
This is Us airs Tuesdays on NBC.
