“Jack’s son called your child behind me. I mean, my God, Jack must be rolling in his grave around this one. “
These are U.S it is a program about family, but it is even more a program about repression. It is the fatal flaw of the Pearson clan. And no character reflects this repression better than Uncle Nicky – the beloved younger brother Jack cut off from his life when his interconnected war traumas became unbearable. While These are U.S it is often a show of tears, the sadness of Uncle Nicky’s story exists on a different level, both because it lasted 50 years and because there is no hope of reconciliation between the “famous Pittsburgh Pearson brothers”. At least not on a literal level. On a spiritual level, however, “One Small Step” is one of the most hopeful episodes in the ongoing Uncle Nicky saga. According to Neil Armstrong’s famous quote about landing on the moon, a small step can also be a giant leap.
“One Small Step” is These are U.S in full character study mode, which is where the show usually does its best work. While we saw Nicky dragged along for Pearson’s events in the past, this is the first time he has taken the initiative to join the family. And most of that episode takes place in a flash of memory, from the moment Kevin says, “I can’t believe you traveled across the country to meet our children. It’s incredible ”, until the moment when Nicky replies,“ It was nothing ”. During this break, Nicky recalls how much courage it really took to embark on his first flight since 1971. “One Small Step” highlights not only the logistical and emotional details of that journey, but also two other cases in which Nicky repressed his hopes and dreams of connectivity and stay with what he knows.
What makes Uncle Nicky such an attractive player in These are U.S universe is the way Michael Angarano and Griffin Dunne work together to shape a character who feels completely cohesive, even though he has undergone such a massive evolution throughout his life. And “One Small Step” puts this evolution in the front and in the center. Nicky, 21, is the soft-spoken and giant-hearted space nerd. There is Nicky from the late 1920s, the psychologically tormented veterinarian who is beginning to stick to his self-destructive isolation pattern, but still has at least a little hope that things can change. And then there’s the current Nicky, a grumpy old man who is taking the bold step of trying to find his way back to the kindest soul he used to be.
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Although the Vietnam War is obviously the big turning point in Nicky’s life, “One Small Step” highlights the continuities of his personality as well. All three versions of Nicky are afraid to hope for something better for themselves; they prefer to keep their dreams and plans a secret, so as not to disappoint anyone if they get scared. Unlike Jack – who suppresses negative emotions to focus on positive ones – Nicky’s repression manifests itself in the inclination to put his life on hold. While Jack has a “proud and determined energy”, 21-year-old Nicky is cautious, considerate and a little withdrawn. That’s why he matches so well with free-spirited photographer Sally (Genevieve Angelson). His confident but gentle hippie demeanor gives him room to step out of his comfort zone while still feeling loved and supported. But when Sally asks Nicky to take the big step of moving to California with her, her confidence crumbles. It is easier to convince yourself that your parents need him more at home than he needs to start an independent life.
After the war, Nicky’s natural inclination to doubt turns into total self-hatred. He deals with this by shrinking his world even more: his trailer, his drink and the occasional phone call from an old war friend offering an invitation he declines. “One Small Step” shows us a little more of the time between when Nicky returned from Vietnam and when Jack paid a tense visit to his brother’s trailer in 1992 (as seen in the third season episode “Songbird Road: Part One.”) Sometime in the mid-1970s, however, they almost had another meeting. A Nicky was too scared to proceed, and Jack was in no position to accept any of them.
“Deep down, don’t you think he would be proud of you?” Cassidy (hi Jennifer Morrison!) Asks current Nicky when he calls her in a panic from Kevin’s house. Rebecca said something similar back in season three, when she told Nicky that she thought Jack’s sobriety journey would have led him to reconnect with his younger brother. But even if Cassidy and Rebecca are right, I think they are also underestimating the extent of Jack’s deeply repressive streak. Jack’s conversation with his former army commander, Lieutenant Sheehan (Scott Michael Campbell), reaffirms his decision to bury his experiences in the war. To keep the lie that he was just a mechanic and that Nicky died abroad, instead of overwhelming Rebecca with the more complicated reality. Jack begins to propose, more confidently than ever, that repression is the right way – a coping mechanism that will shape his family for decades to come.
In many ways, Jack erasing Nicky is the original sin of the Pearson family, which affected Rebecca and the Big Three without their realizing it. There is a deep sadness in the fact that Jack and Nicky never reconciled while Jack was alive. But it is also becoming increasingly clear that this season’s theme is healing – characterized by the slow thawing of Randall and Kevin’s crack. Just as confronting Marc helped Kate heal her self-esteem problems and learning about her birth mother helped Randall heal her identity problems, meeting her great-niece and nephew helps Nicky heal her problems with self-confidence. Nicky finally makes the trip to California that he never made with Sally, just as he made peace with Kevin that he never made with Jack. And now Uncle Nicky becomes the figure of the grandfather of the grandchildren that his brother is not alive to meet.
For the past few seasons, Uncle Nicky has left These are U.S‘least hopeful character to the most hopeful. His story is a beautiful description of intergenerational healing and a well-deserved celebration of the fact that it is never too late for someone to change their lives. The last 10 minutes of this episode, in particular, are some of the most moving These are U.S already delivered. Dunne knows exactly how to modulate Nicky’s grumpy old man behavior so that the jokes about Zoom and John Grisham’s books blend seamlessly with his newfound emotional vulnerability. The idea of leaving his routine and reconnecting with his family seemed as impossible as walking on the moon. But, as Nicky says to Franny and his eponymous great-nephew: “One day we had never been on the moon… and the next day, we were walking on it. The impossible became possible, just like that. “
Missed observations
- Young Jack tells Nicky that if a girl he liked invited him to California, he would die in the blink of an eye. And we saw Jack do just that in the third season episode, “Sometimes.”
- I’m a little confused about how time is going this season, but Uncle Nicky is officially our first These are U.S character to receive the vaccine! Two of them, as he continues to emphasize.
- Nicky first spoke about Sally in the fourth season episode, “Flip A Coin.” After the war, he bought his trailer in hopes of starting a new life with her. But as she was not at home when he stopped to surprise her, he decided it was not meant to be and left. Given that we know that Nicky is wearing a flash-forward timeline wedding ring, could there still be hope for those two crazy kids to finally make it work?
- It’s great to have Cassidy back in this episode! She is a great contrast to Nicky, and Jennifer Morrison and Griffin Dunne have a lovely friendship chemistry together. Also, when we last saw Cassidy, she was leaving to reconcile with her husband, but in this episode, she is clearly shown in bed alone.
- Between the baptism of Nick and Franny and the photo of young Nicky (playing) making the sign of the cross, I am now very curious about the Pearson family’s religious background.
- For the record, Jack is a Leo, who totally tracks. (UPDATE: Apparently, Jack is actually a Virgo, and I’m going to leave that to those who know astrology better than I say if that is or not.