“Sometimes” is a deeply haunted episode ofThis Is Us.
(She’ll later regret the choice.)
Though of course, the backstory is as significant as Kevin initially thought; little does he know.
Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC
Much of it comes from what Jack himself goes through in this episode.
In the War timeline, we begin where we left off: onJack and Nicky’s reunion.
“Don’t touch me.
Don’t look at me.
I’m not here,” he tells Jack at one point.
He gets in his face, trying to scare him away.
But Jack doesn’t budge, indicating he’s going to get him help.
“I got charged with Article 15 that’s unbecoming conduct,” Nicky tries explaining.
He appears broken, hopeless.
“He’s not cut out for this.
That’s why I’m here.”
He sends Jack on his way, ordering he go back to camp on foot.
But Jack arrived by helicopter and has no way to get there.
But the man’s allegiances are still difficult to place.
(Rebecca, as a refresher, is amping up to play her music for a major label.)
He asks her, softly but firmly, to leave the topic alone.
“I let my guard down.”
But the parents comfort Jack, tell him it’s not his fault.
The man responds: “Sometimes.”
And we know this reunion will not have a happy ending.
This is sure to be developed soon.)
Zoe is blunt but strong in her response.
“My father sexually abused me,” she reveals.
She slips in that she’s falling in love with him after he states it outright.
Then comes one of the episode’s strongest moments.
Kevin reacts, “You always seemed so strong.”
She replies, “I am strong.”
No “but.”
We close, fittingly, in the in-between on Jack and Rebecca.
She says she misses Pittsburgh, where it rains, where it feels real.
He asks Rebecca to sing the song for him.
She obliges and, flashing back to Vietnam memories, he cries.
Just earlier, he’d told Rebecca he’d never, ever cried.
She pauses and watches him.
And she keeps singing.
It’s a profoundly moving scene.
Then, when she finishes, they sit in the car in silence together for a moment.
She then says, “Let’s go home.”
