Its an apt term for the story.
She and Nicky lock eyes, initially awkward, then strangely familiar.
You have his eyes, she says.
Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC
She asks him if he knew she existed.
Rebecca is jolted by this; she knows exactly which weekend hes referring to.
I remember that weekend, she says later.
He was acting so strangely.
Back in time we go, to the morning after Jack returned.
But he needs a day.
The kids are puzzled by this apparent role-reversal but have no choice but to go with it.
Rebecca and Kevins mother-son day complements the present-day action.
He doesnt want to let her in all the way.
But its proof of a certain sensitivity and care that she has never forgotten.
He demonstrates these qualities throughout Songbird Road, especially this second half.
When they arrive at the VA, Nicky is spooked by his nephews effort to help him.
Also, Im a drunk.
Oh, and also, I cant seem to leave my trailer without getting the shakes.
Im mad too, she admits.
Its hard to be mad at someone whos not here anymore theres nothing you might do with those feelings.
But Nicky wont budge.
He told you I died because he wished I was dead, he snaps.
She responds, calmly, that he has the chance to make things right as Jack didnt.
His son is here, Rebecca reminds.
Hes harder to define.
She thinks back to that day she saw him with John Smiley.
Hes had a really tough year…. Hes just worried about you…. Nicky angrily waves this off, too, and she leaves.
But in the end, she got through to him.
Rebecca goes to sit outside, and Nicky walks out to join her.
He offers a memory: [Jack] once built a tree fort in the backyard.
He tells the story, then says, I wanted to be a writer.
And then I wanted to be a doctor.
And then I didnt want anything.
I used to be a person.
I wish I could be that person again.
You guys were all he ever wanted.
He takes him back to his trailer and gives him the opportunity to fix it.
And Nicky levels with him, saying he understands Kevin wants to take a stab at fix things.
But you and your family, he adds, its just too painful.
In the ambiguity of Kevin and Rebeccas relationship, this framing lends the show a new depth.
The reminiscing leads the pair to decide to return to the sight of their old childhood home.
Its emotional potential feels drained, filtered into a neater narrative.
Again, the demands of this section of the episode get in the way of smart storytelling.
Did I misremember our entire childhood?
With their own families, trying to make things right, as Rebecca put it to Nicky.
They have the chance to.
But the episode ends on Rebecca and Kevin driving home just like they did 27 years ago.
Yet again things went well, and yet again things feel off, quiet, sad.
Im really grateful to you, Rebecca tells him.
Im really proud of you, Kevin.
But hes in another place, carrying his own secret.
And there he found his bottle of whiskey and drank it, sabotaging his newfound sobriety.
There, rearing its head, is that Pearson pain.
Indeed, when Nicky tells Kevin its too painful to face all this, he isnt alone.
