You never know who will show up on a Pearson doorstep onThis Is Us.
His custom snow-globe gifts were defeated by TSA.
He got seated next to arealtalker.
Michael Angarano and Genevieve Angelson in ‘This Is Us’.NBC
(Jennifer Morrison) and realized that he was where he needed to be.
But on the night he was to leave, fear and inertia kicked in.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This episode was teeming with poignant, agonizing what-if questions.
LAURA KENAR:Absolutely.
Nicky is such an interesting character because he’s such a sensitive soul.
But also in present day, we’ve seen Griffin play him kind of gruff too.
[Laughs]He gets very annoyed by the world at large.
And it’s heartbreaking that these two brothers never got to connect.
Let’s break down those what-ifs.
Here we see him sublimate his own fears of change and failure into being there for family.
But he’s also a very neurotic character.
Nicky is just someone who overthinks things.
What if she dumps me?"
I think you’re right.
It’s intriguing and difficult for audiences to watch Nicky work against himself.
And how did the writers arrive at the decision to not even have him have that conversation with her?
That’s a theme in his life, avoiding tough conversations.
Nicky is the kind of character who can not have the hard conversations.
But in present day, Nicky doesn’t even want to tell Kevin that he’s flying across country.
And of course Cassidy’s like, “That’s very odd.
You should call him.”
And I think it’s just Nicky protecting himself, Nicky not wanting to let people down.
[Laughs] He’s that sheltered of a character.
What if Nickyhadmustered the courage and approached Jack in the parking lot of the American Legion post?
Would that have set them on a path toward repair?
Was Jack possibly more ready for a reconnection at that point?
Very, very interesting questions.
Nicky was drafted in ‘69 and was in war in ‘70, ‘71.
So this is only a few years after, and Jack hasn’t actually proposed to Rebecca.
I think it would all depend on what Nicky was able to say.
Especially because Jack’s about to propose to Rebecca.
It’s exciting to think about.
You just kind of forget about it.
You push it down.
You don’t dig into it and drive yourself crazy thinking about it.
It can also overwhelm your life.
And that’s what we see with Nicky.
The war never left him not that it ever left Jack either.
But Jack was able to compartmentalize.
And start his new life.
And unfortunately it left Nicky stuck.
We saw in this episode Jack pushing his brother to live his life and get a girlfriend.
He was Nicky’s hero and the fact that he created this lie also drove Jack crazy.
He compartmentalized one thing, but you’re able to’t compartmentalize your family, you know?
Will viewers get to see the other part of his what-if Sally story before the series is over?
And might he seek her out in the present day?
She could be in California…
Mmm-hmmm.
Did Jack seeing Nickynottake the leap also facilitate his own leap?
But it was a very clear example of Jack takes action and Nicky doesn’t.
They are two brothers who just come at life in two different ways.
Nicky now seems determined to reconnect with family, even if it’s difficult for him.
Nicky is going to be very close with Kevin and Madison as they figure out wedding stuff.
How bittersweet for Nicky is this reconnection with Jack’s family?
Even in this episode, we feel that push-pull from Nicky, like, “Okay, I arrived.
I made it, got through the tough stuff, particularly riding on the plane.”
Of course, he loves Jack so much.
But they had this falling out for so many decades and they really left everything unfinished.
Viewers got to see a little of Cassidy, albeit on the phone.
I can say that.
I’m not going to say any more than that.
But it’ll be a cool reveal when we see her.
And finally, what is one cryptic tease you’re free to issue for next week’s episode?
I would say… [laughs]… there might be some butter involved.
