This Is Us: Songbird Road Part One recap season 3 episode 11

This Is Us returns with the truth about Jack and Uncle Nicky in Vietnam. The Big Three go on a roadtrip to find him while Rebecca struggles with doubt.

The latest episode of This Is Us opens with a montage of Jack receiving several postcards at his workplace from Nicky pleading to see him, which Jack ignores. The final one arrives at Jack’s house, which is the last straw. Jack makes up a business trip and secretly goes to see Nicky.

Kevin sits everyone down with Kate on FaceTime to explain his findings, telling them that Uncle Nicky is alive and that Jack knew all along. Rebecca is clearly having a hard time with it and scolds Randall when his “mind blown” mime goes too far. She won’t go with them to find Nicky, and initially Kate won’t either, but in the end its The Big Three who start on their road trip to Bradford, Pennsylvania.

Beth and Randall talk about what will happen if they find Nicky. Randall says he’s more nervous if they don’t find Nicky. He compares it to finding William and how out of all the possibilities no one answering the door woud have been the most devastating. Randall is worried that’s what will happen to Kevin. Randall is taking it all in stride, though, since he’s come to accept that parents don’t always tell their children the big truths.

Back at home, Rebecca and Miguel make cookies with the Pearson girls. They ask what everyone is thinking, whether Randall will bring Uncle Nicky home like he did with William. Rebecca says probably not, but Tess points out that Randall “sure likes bringing people home, though. Just saying.” Rebecca is a little moody and introspective, so Miguel works with the girls to give her some space.

The Big Three arrive and at first it looks like they might not see Nicky since the trailer is pretty run down and no one is home. Nicky sneaks up behind them though and actually seems afraid when he finds out who they are. “Does your dad know you’re here,” he asks nervously. He doesn’t even know that Jack has been dead for the last 20 years, which is heartbreaking. Nicky is generally unkempt and has arrived home with a brown bag of liquor. Not much has changed over the years. He invites the three of them in, muttering to himself.

In 1992, Jack arrives just to tell Nicky never to write him at home and turns to leave. Nicky invites him in for some Nesquick and they awkwardly reminisce as Nicky builds up to his main purpose. He wants to tell Jack something about that day in Vietnam, but Jack doesn’t want to hear it. He’s left it behind and he can’t just turn back to think about it now. Jack’s two lives are firmly separate and he’s repressed pretty much everything that happened before Rebecca. Nicky, unfortunately, has to live with his whole life all the time.

Nicky tells The Big Three the story of Vietnam and how he and Jack became estranged. Nicky acually got friendly with the little boy from the village and takes him fishing. Of course, Nicky is pretty high and he’s fishing with grenades. Nicky is friendly with the boy but behaving a little manically, which puts us on edge as we watch. We feel intuitively that the boy is not safe. While their first catch goes successfully, their second catch goes terribly wrong. The pin in the grenade is jammed and as Nicky works it out the boy reaches for it. Nicky is just trying to keep the boy safe, but he drops the grenade in the boat as he tries to evade the boy’s reach. Nicky screams for the boy to jump off the boat as he scrambles to find the grenade, but he doesn’t speak English. Eventually time runs out and Nicky jumps off the boat himself, but the boy stays behind. It was an accident, but when Jack discovers what happened he assumes the worst and immediately disowns Nicky.

After that, Nicky got discharged. His purpose for seeing Jack in 1992 was to tell him it was an accident, but Jack couldn’t hear it and he never knew. After Jack leaves, he thinks for a moment about going back to Nicky, but instead goes home. He tells Rebecca that he lied to her about where he went, that he went to see an old army friend who was having a hard time. Rebecca starts to say that there are people Jack can talk to about Vietnam but he immediately shuts her down and she doesn’t push. Rebecca now wonders if she did the right thing, whether she should have pushed him more to get help.

The Big Three head home, but Kevin remembers something Jack said to him the day he left to visit Nicky. He told him that sons can be better than their fathers and work not repeat their mistakes. Kevin decides to go back and help Nicky, not to abandon him like Jack did. They find Nicky drunk and contemptating a gun. Randall takes the gun away, but after that they seem at a loss for what to do. Looks like they’re bringing Uncle Nicky home after all.

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.