‘This Is Us’ Reveals Why Jack Lied About His Brother Being Dead

This Is Us revealed the tragic reason why Jack Pearson stopped talking to his brother,and lied about him being dead ever since the Vietnam War.

The NBC drama series began its latest episode, titled “Songbird Road: Part One”, with a sequence showing Jack repeatedly ignoring postcards from his brother — signed C.K. as his nickname Clark Kent — to his office, with the same Pennsylvania return address. Things change when he receives a postcard saying “Last One,” and he tells Rebecca that he will be going out of town for business, when in reality he’s on his way to confront Nicky.

In the present day, the family reacts to Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) news that Nicky is still alive. Rebecca (Mandy Moore) refuses to go but volunteers to babysit the girls so Randall can go. Kevin and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) agree to go, but Kate says no since she’s in L.A., pregnant and traveling could be a risk, though she seems undecided when she hangs up. Later, however, Kate arrives at Randall’s house having reconsidered her decision.

The show then sees as Jack embarks on his trip in the past, and his kids set the same course in present days. They all arrive at the same time (in different timelines, of course) and the action happens simultaneously when Jack and the Big Three knock on the door. Jack’s first question for his brother when he answers the door is how he managed to find his home address.

Jack tells Nicky not to reach out to him at home and then tells him to take care, fully intended to leave. In the present, no one answers the door and as Kevin tries to break in, a much older Nicky, now 70 years old, arrives and confronts the siblings.

The kids introduce themselves and Nicky wonders if Jack knows they are there. Kate breaks the news of Jack’s death to his brother. He invites them to come in as Jack also agrees to sit with Nicky in the past.

Jack and Nicky then make small talk about the old days despite a clear awkwardness. Meanwhile, Kevin starts to catch up his uncle on their lives and then asks him why Jack claimed he had died in Vietnam.

“You wasted your time coming here,” Nicky says, asking them to leave. Kate, however, rejects his demands but says that they deserve answers to their questions.

Nicky admits to have become a drug addict in Vietnam and says Jack tried to clean him up. After getting pulled out for “psychiatric reasons” he said he got more sick. When Kevin asked once again why Jack said he was dead, the show flashed back to Vietnam.

After one of his benders, Nicky wakes up and sees one of the boys from the village staring at him. Nicky starts to eat a candy bar and teases him with it, the boy takes Nicky’s glasses and starts to laugh. They bond for a second and Nicky invites the boy fishing. They take a boat and proceed to fish with hand grenades, the first time goes without a hitch but the second the grenade jams and the explosion causes the village to panic, uncertain as to who was hurt.

Jack rushes into the water as Nicky swims back to the surface and finds the boat burst into flames and the child nowhere to be found. In that moment, the woman who gave Jack the necklace loses her mind realizing her boy was on the boat, now in flames. Realizing what his brother did, Jack tells him he is done with him — thinking he killed the boy on purpose after he had previously called every Vietnamese person evil.

After the tragic death, Jack is seen sending Nicky away, as in the present day, Nicky regrets never getting to tell his brother it had all been an accident.

Back in the 80’s, Nicky tries to tell his brother what happened but Jack stops him. After Jack tells him to stop trying to contact him because they will never be able to go back to their old relationship, Nicky asks him if he has a good life. Jack shows him a picture of the family.

At the realization that he really did move on without him, Nicky tells Jack to go and they never see each other again.

Did you imagine such a heartbreaking answer to this question? Will The Big Three try to bring Nicky into the family? This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.