Warning! Spoilers ahead This Is Us season 6, episode 4.
Nicky (Griffin Dunne/Michael Angarano) was nowhere to be seen in his and Jack's (Milo Ventimiglia) mother's funeral in This Is Us. As the NBC family drama enters its final stretch, its storytelling is starting to tie loose ends. But while its latest episode resolved a big part of Jack's life, it also posed a brand new question with regard to his younger brother.
For its first two seasons, This Is Us focused on the mystery of Jack's death. When that was finally answered, the show continued to delve into his narrative by revealing new information about his life before he met Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and had the Big Three. That included the introduction of his younger brother, Nicky, with whom he was very close. The pair both served in Vietnam, but due to a heartbreaking misunderstanding, Jack turned his back on him. Years later and after the Pearson patriarch's death, Kevin (Justin Hartley) discovered his uncle's existence, and now, he's an important part of the extended clan.
As This Is Us season 6, episode 4, "Don't Let Me Keep You," revisited Jack in the past when he found out about the death of his mom, the series showed more memories from his childhood. That included how he got her away from his abusive father. However, after Jack got his own family, he barely had any chance to really spend time with her. Jack was the only one from his family to attend his mom's funeral; he did call his abusive dad to deliver him the bad news. However, there was no attempt to reach out to Nicky, even though he knew that he was alive. So where was he? In of logistics, it was more difficult to reach out to Nicky, considering that he lived under the grid after Vietnam. There wasn't really time to seek him out, given how last-minute the funeral was.
Another factor to consider is if Jack even intended to get his younger brother involved. After their falling out in Vietnam, the younger Pearson brother was supposedly believed to be dead by the rest of the family. It didn't seem like Jack revealed that Nicky was alive and that he just didn't want to do anything with him. Considering how callous he was after wrongly assuming that Nicky killed a child, it isn't difficult to imagine that he was adamant about not having anything to do with his brother even when he learned about their mom's death. Jack would've done the same with their dad, but he needed an outlet for his grief and regret for not spending more time with his mom; he wanted to blame his abusive father for that.
ittedly, the latest This Is Us episode seemed like a filler outing, which many didn't appreciate considering that it's the series' final season. But, it actually functions as a cautionary tale for the Big Three as they gear up for the death of Rebecca. Luckily, unlike Jack and Nicky, the trio has a great relationship and it will continue in the years to come as revealed through the flashforwards.
This Is Us season 6 airs Tuesdays on NBC.