This Is Us: Uncle Nicky’s accident was foreshadowed

This Is Us foreshaowed Uncle Nicky’s tragic accident as early as episode three of season three. Did you catch it?

Last week on This Is Us, Uncle Nicky’s tragic boat accident in Vietnam was finally revealed and along with it the reason he and Jack became estranged. The key word here is “accident,” as it becomes an important distinction for Nicky; something he never got to tell Jack. Uncle Nicky accidentally killed a young Vietnamese boy while showing him how to fish with grenades. Whether the fact it was an accident would have changed Jack’s mind about Nicky one way or the other will never be known, but the grenade detail was hinted at early on in season three.

In episode three, entitled “Katie Girls,” Kevin has a memory from childhood of shopping for a model airplane with Jack. While browsing the store Kevin is attracted to a toy gun which Jack immediately disapproves of. Kevin then picks up a toy grenade, and that’s when Jack loses it. Not at first, but by the time Kevin mimes throwing it and yells “fire in the hole,” he’s definitely finished telling him to stop. He grabs Kevin’s hand to stop his throwing motion and hisses, “I said ‘no!’” He clearly has a negative reaction to toy weapons in general, but the grenade seemed to have a special significance. Jack explains to Kevin that he was in the war where a lot of people got hurt and doesn’t think its a fun game to play.

I must admit that I did notice this detail, and I assumed it had something to do with Jack’s time in Vietnam, but not enough to mention it anywhere in my theorizing. And if other viewers took note, it didn’t feature much in fan theories elsewhere online. Perhaps it was just one of those things we absorbed without thinking, maybe filing it away as more part of Kevin’s story with Jack than with Nicky’s. Either way, it was there and plain to see, if we only had eyes.

Source: Elite Daily