This Is Us – Songbird Road: Part Two

By: Maddie Ruby

A lot happened in last week’s episode. The big three finally met Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) younger brother, Nicky Pearson (Griffin Dunne), who is now a PTSD ridden alcoholic. “Drinking in his trailer with a gun next to him,” are the words of Kevin (Justin Hartley). Kevin, Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) then bring Nicky to a hotel so they can help him out.

As they are eating breakfast Rebecca (Mandy Moore) comes in and introduces herself to Nicky. You can tell he is startled and uneasy. Rebecca tells him that he has Jack’s eyes. She asks if he knew about them and Nicky recalls the night Jack drove down and showed him a picture of Rebecca and the kids.

It flashes back to that night and the next day. Jack is bothered and can’t sleep. He doesn’t want to bring Kevin to get his baseball cards signed at the mall. Rebecca comforts him and tries to understand how he is feeling. We come back to the present where Rebecca says she remembers that night. Kevin is talking about how they need to bring Nicky to different vet centers, but Kate and Randall are ready to give up and go. This angers Kevin because he says Randall will do everything for everyone else, but not his own uncle. Kevin says it is just him and Rebecca. As Kate and Randall are driving back together, Kate says she remembers that weekend and that there was a huge fight between her and Jack.

We flash back to that weekend where a young Kate (Mackenzie Hancsicsak) and Randall (Lonnie Chavis) are making Valentine’s Day cards. Jack is not for helping them and says he is busy, but tells them not to make a mess. He goes out and sits on the front porch and Randall comes out, just leaning on him and being there for him knowing something is wrong.

Back in the present Rebecca, Kevin and Nicky are at a vet center. Nicky seems checked out when the tour guide is talking. He appreciates Kevin’s efforts, but he says counselors don’t help since he’s a drunk and he can’t leave his trailer.

Kate and Randall decide to return to their old house or where it was. A new family is living there and at first they do not want them to come in. They change their mind though and invited in the house. Kate remembers where they had the sequin fight and the pizza they created. Then, we flash back to what happened after that as Randall recalls it. Jack was so upset they created a mess because he asked them specifically not to. He throws the pizza and breaks a plate. Kate doesn’t seem to remember it that way. In the past, Jack gives Randall permission to order a pizza for everyone and says to get money out of his wallet to pay for it.

Rebecca and Nicky sit down and talk. Rebecca says that at first she did not want to meet him. She didn’t want to unravel that side of Jack. She tries to explain to Nicky that Kevin just wants to make him happy, just like he always has. It is revealed when he was younger at the card signing that Kevin (Parker Bates) looked up places for the baseball player to go have fun if he got traded. Nicky doesn’t see Kevin the way he is, but sees him as a movie-star kid that wants to be a hero.

Rebecca walks away and Nicky has time to think more. He goes up to Rebecca and tells her things about his childhood. He says how he wanted to be a doctor and Jack wanted to be a writer. He says he wishes he could go back to who he was before, but he can’t. Before leaving he starts to cry and he says to Rebecca, “You guys were all he ever wanted.”

Nick goes back to Kevin’s room and says they need to return to his trailer. Nick promises he will go to at least one meeting for Kevin. They say their goodbyes, in hopes of maybe meeting again.

They all go back to their families: Randall to the girls and Kate to Toby (Chris Sullivan) and their dog. Rebecca and Kevin drive home. On their way it shows that when Kevin was alone in Nicky’s trailer he drank his whiskey, relapsing.