S05.E11: One Small Step

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Kevin and Madison get an unexpected guest.

Promo:

Original air date: 3/23/21

[gonzosgirrl]

This show should have all the casting Emmys. I don't know which one is mimicking the other,  but young and old Nicky have their mannerisms down cold.

 

It sucks that Jack and Nicky couldn't work things out while Jack was alive. They were such good brothers. Both of them could've done things differently. 

[mtlchick]

I will have to rewatch this because I zoned out during a lot of the Jack/Nicky stuff. I guess Nicky decided not to meet up with the girl, and after Vietnam he had a chance to make up with Jack and didn’t? 
 

But Jack meeting the twins...can the chef please stop cutting onions next to me? Griffin Dunne is doing the damn thing. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by mtlchick

[Spartan Girl]

Uncle Nicky and the babies was precious. Damn TSA ruining his snowglobes.

Surprised to see Cassidy again. So did she get divorced or not?

In the middle of all the angst in the flashbacks I did love Jack playing wingman for Nicky and the girl at the pound, as well as Nicky having a nice moment with their dad watching the moon landing.

[ams1001]

"I came to see my namesake...and the girl." 😆

Those babies are so cute!

Now waiting for the flash forward with the twins reading John Grisham. (Was also expecting Kevin and Madison to be overhearing Nicky on the baby monitor. Though I guess it's entirely possible we'll find out next week that they were.)

[greekmom]

Glad the flashbacks were not something just fillers for more screen time for Jack.  Loved getting Nick's backstory.  Wonder what happened to Sally since he bought the trailer. Was Nicky hoping that she would just find him?

I felt so sorry for Nicky going through the check and breaking those snow globes.

[Ohiopirate02]

This season really hasn't been doing it for me until this episode. Griffin Dunne is so good as Nicky.  The tears started welling up before the first cut.  

 

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

I guess Nicky decided not to meet up with the girl, and after Vietnam he had a chance to make up with Jack and didn’t? 

Pretty much. He goes to the bar but doesn't go in, then sees Jack walking to his car in the parking lot and looks like he wants to call after him but doesn't.

[Ohiopirate02]

Oh, and, fuck the Sarge for telling Jack to continue lying to Rebecca about Nicky.  

[buttersister]

Uncle Nicky. With the babies. In the nursery. Killed me.

[Runningwild]

Oh my heart broke for Nicky dealing with TSA. 

[AuxArx]

As an art major who could never quite master the crafty stuff, the broken snowglobes after all that work just about killed me. 

Looks like we'll get a different family's story next week, but I want to see more of Nicky.  Maybe if they go to the dog park, Sally the animal lover, will be there.  I know that's too much of a coincidence, but that's the story I would write!

[debraran]

My heart broke for Nicky.  Jack wanted post cards from California which is why he kept sending them to Jack.  He just stuffed them in his work drawer.He was so awful to Nicky.  Even milo was shocked by it I think.  If the show doesn’t have a wedding with Sally I’ll be stunned.  I’m sure seeing their pic made Kevin’s pain worse for the years they lost but they’ll be many more. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by debraran

[DoubleUTeeEff]

"Cancer?"

"No, I'm fine."

I really liked this episode. Nicky finally made it to California! The speech Uncle Nicky "no stupid nicknames" gave to the twins at the end was a little on the nose but Griffin Dunne still sold it. I really enjoyed watching him and the young Nicky too.

It was heartbreaking to watch Jack be so good to Nicky and know that they were estranged for most of their lives. Also, it was hard to watch the TSA agent rip the wrapping paper off that present and Nicky to drop his globes. So sad! He should have kept the figurines. Hilarious that Nicky got the twins his favorite John Grishams at the airport. Man, last time Nicky flew you could smoke on the plane! That is quite a difference from today. Nicky is right-some times this country is stupid about it's rules. Not the smoking, lol, but the liquid thing.

Edited March 24, 2021 by DoubleUTeeEff
missed a word

[katycat74]

"You two are my moon". OMG, Griffin Dunne killed it tonite😥😥

[callmebetty]

I like Nicky more than Jack.  Griffin Dunne is killing it.

I guess Jack followed his own dream girl to California, even though Nicky didn't. 

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by callmebetty

[LexieLily]

What are the odds that the lady on the plane talking to Nicky was Sally?

[Madding crowd]

This show still gets me sometimes! Hearing the song Lonely People and thinking how Nicky was so alone for most of his life-so sad, loved the scene at the end with the babies. 

[KaveDweller]

Nicky episodes always make me tear up.....I find is story so sad. I felt so bad when his snow globes broke, and in the scene outside the bar with Jack.

I guess he just never showed up to meet Sally? I was expecting to see something happen that caused them to miss each other, but I guess he just got scared. 

Giving babies John Grisham books cracked me up. 

[gonzosgirrl]

It's not all Jack's fault.  Nicky did some shitty things and he could've kept trying, too. 

[DoubleUTeeEff]

18 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Oh, and, fuck the Sarge for telling Jack to continue lying to Rebecca about Nicky.  

Right? Jack had this whole laundry list of things he lied to Rebecca about and the Sarge was like cool, cool, keep on lying to the woman you claim to love so much and want to marry. I mean, I don't expect a veteran of a war to get into the details of the horrors of war if he or she doesn't want to but lying about your brother being dead is just...I have no words.

[zoey1996]

Loved this episode! Glad Kevin reached out and kept trying with his Uncle Nicky, and it eventually led to Nicky opening himself up more, and the trip to California. 
Also glad we got some of the backstory with Sally & Nick & Pearl (also a nickname for Janice Joplin).

[stonehaven]

Loved this episode..funny, sad, heartwarming and everything. Loved Cassidy's speech to Nicky about him and Kevin both wondering if they pleased their father. I think that's why they get along so well. Nicky wouldn't have worked with any other Pearson. 

I hope we get more Nicky this season...and just a bit less Randall...

[Jeddah]

I never expected to see Cassidy again. I hope we don’t see too much of her again. She’s just another character I do not care about.

The show picks and chooses when to have COVID be an issue. Rebecca hasn’t even met the twins because of the pandemic, but Kevin and Madison were cool with Nicky showing up.

Uncle Nicky with the twins was so sweet. I’m sad for the twins that they won’t get a cool, hand-made snow globe! I hope Nicky was also bringing a gift for Hailey.

One of my pet peeves is seeing unsafe sleep for babies in movies/tv shows. Get those bumpers and extra blankets out of the cribs! And what happened to the Snoos that were such a big deal last week?

[willco]

14 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

What are the odds that the lady on the plane talking to Nicky was Sally?

That didn't occur to me, but the way this show loves it's surprise endings, I figured Sally would show up at Kevin's door selling Avon or something ! Ok, probably not that, but she has to show up after this episode. That's the show's MO. I will be shocked if we don't she her in the present timeline at some point.

 

I got the impression that with Nicky not meeting Sally, it was a little bit that he got cold feet, but also he saw his parents (  or more to the point, his Dad) actually being nice to each other. Maybe he just wanted to stick around & see if that lasted. It was comfortable for him there, at that time. 

[Ohiopirate02]

16 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

It's not all Jack's fault.  Nicky did some shitty things and he could've kept trying, too. 

I completely understand why Jack went no contact with Nicky after Vietnam,  but lying to you wife about your brother being dead is another level.  He could have told her that he has a brother who is alive but dead to him for reasons he doesn't want to share.  From what we have seen about Rebecca she would not have pushed the issue.  

[memememe76]

Loved this episode! The symbolic parallels (the cardboard paper invitations for the moon date, engagement party and the Zoom baptism), the journeys to California conducted by Nicky and Jack, the suitcase, the moon, everything was so well written.

So, Nicky and Frankie are going to be baptized? I don’t see Kevin as at all religious, is this something Madison wants? 

The actress who played Sally reminds me of a young and blonde Debra Measing.

Give Dunne an Emmy!

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by memememe76

[Blakeston]

When Jack got back from Vietnam, he told Nicky pretty decisively that he could not bear having him in his life in any way.

I think the burden was on Jack to repair things, not for Nicky to reach out against Jack's wishes. 

[Ohiopirate02]

4 minutes ago, willco said:

That didn't occur to me, but the way this show loves it's surprise endings, I figured Sally would show up at Kevin's door selling Avon or something ! Ok, probably not that, but she has to show up after this episode. That's the show's MO. I will be shocked if we don't she her in the present timeline at some point.

 

I got the impression that with Nicky not meeting Sally, it was a little bit that he got cold feet, but also he saw his parents (  or more to the point, his Dad) actually being nice to each other. Maybe he just wanted to stick around & see if that lasted. It was comfortable for him there, at that time. 

Nicky is wearing a wedding ring in the flashforward.   He will marry somebody between 2020 and 2030.  He could reunite with Sally. 

When it comes to him getting cold feet, he only started dating Sally right after the moon landing which was July 20, 1969.  Woodstock happened in August.  They barely dated a month before she wanted to move to California.   Nicky second guessing himself and fearing her dumping him on Route 66 was somewhat justified.   

[gonzosgirrl]

Sometimes a lie really does become too big to back out of, and since he really didn't ever expect to see him again, it's not completely unforgivable to me. Not to mention that Jack died pretty young. Who knows if he might not have softened toward him in later years. 

I wonder if Sally rejected Nicky after the war, too. She seemed like she'd be a protester. 

[BuckeyeLou]

Such an emotional episode, those scenes of Nicky talking to the babies had me in tears.  And the music choices were "On point" tonite...loved all the music!  I loved that Madison did not seem to mind having un-expected company but welcomed Nicky into their home.  My heart broke for Nicky when his snow globes broke at the airport, maybe Nicky can build new figures while he visits Kevin.  

[gonzosgirrl]

4 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

When Jack got back from Vietnam, he told Nicky pretty decisively that he could not bear having him in his life in any way.

I think the burden was on Jack to repair things, not for Nicky to reach out against Jack's wishes. 

I guess it's a different perspective for me. Agree to disagree. 

[memememe76]

For me, Nicky’s journey will end with him meeting the mother of the child he killed. She may have immigrated to the US, living in California. 

[chitowngirl]

19 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

The show picks and chooses when to have COVID be an issue. Rebecca hasn’t even met the twins because of the pandemic, but Kevin and Madison were cool with Nicky showing up.

Nicky got vaccinated...twice!

[KaveDweller]

10 minutes ago, memememe76 said:

The actress who played Sally reminds me of a young and blonde Debra Measing.

She reminded me of a young Candace Cameron.

[Jeddah]

7 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

Nicky got vaccinated...twice!

I know! He was so annoyed about it! I still think Madison would have been a little unsure about him just showing up. She’s definitely mellowed.

If he’s been vaccinated, why haven’t Rebecca and Miguel been vaccinated? They’re in the same age range, and are all living in the same state at the moment. Seems like they all should have had the vaccine by now.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Jeddah

[zoey1996]

5 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

If he’s been vaccinated, why haven’t Rebecca and Miguel been vaccinated? They’re in the same age range, and are all living in the same state at the moment. Seems like they all should have had the vaccine by now.

Don’t know where you are, but it’s not that easy. Nick got his courtesy of the VA, but might not be readily available near the cabin. Also unsure if it’s really that easy via the VA. Fictional TV, etc.

[t7686]

I love Nicky. Both actors are spot on and deserve all the awards. This was a fantastic episode and hit all the right notes. Him talking to the babies and giving them old John Grisham books? 😢😢😭 plus Kevin was so happy to see him ( I see so much of Jack in Kevin  and I think both give a little of what they’ve lost to each other. It’s an adorable bond.) I do hope Nicky had something for Hailey though and I hope a some point he bonds a little with Kate and Randall too. I love Kevin having something that’s just his but I think he should get to know Jack’s other kids too. 

[Manda317]

Ok, I have a stupid question. Couldn't the snow globes have gone on the plane as long as they weren't in carry on? I thought there were less restrictions for checked bags, but I have only flown twice.

I honestly love Nicky way more than Jack. He is just a lot more compelling. I was thinking about his story last week, and I thought of a way they could have made his existence a little more believable. They could have just written that Jack believed he died because he was missing after the war. He was an addict, and homelessness is a huge problem for traumatized vets, so it isn't that far fetched that he would go missing. It is more believable than the story about Randall's mother.

 

[Valentine]

I think this was the first episode of this show where I didn’t roll my eyes one time. It was very touching, and both Nickys are great. 
 

The Sally actress was in Good Girls Revolt. 

[Jeddah]

12 minutes ago, zoey1996 said:

Don’t know where you are, but it’s not that easy. Nick got his courtesy of the VA, but might not be readily available near the cabin. Also unsure if it’s really that easy via the VA. Fictional TV, etc.

Where I live we’re well into groups further down on the list. At this point anyone who is 65+ can get an appointment if they want it. Obviously for house-bound people, or people without internet, it’s harder to make an appointment, but that’s not the case for Rebecca and Miguel. I’m sure Randall was calling to make the appointments the minute he could. Or maybe skinny dipping with ghost mom and hanging out with his basil plant took all his attention. I don’t know. 

[SadieT]

1 hour ago, Jeddah said:

One of my pet peeves is seeing unsafe sleep for babies in movies/tv shows. Get those bumpers and extra blankets out of the cribs! And what happened to the Snoos that were such a big deal last week?

Came here specifically to complain about the lack of Snoos when they were the all important catalyst to the big fight last episode. And I didn’t even know they still sold crib bumpers since no one uses them anymore. 

[Quickbeam]

This episode is why I love this show. More please. 

[zoey1996]

@Jeddah Where we are, DH and I are both in the 65+ age group, with underlying conditions.  I got my first one a couple of weeks ago, and DH got his first one last week.  We won't both be finished and outside the 14-day waiting period until end of April.

Topic? 

16 minutes ago, Manda317 said:

Ok, I have a stupid question. Couldn't the snow globes have gone on the plane as long as they weren't in carry on? I thought there were less restrictions for checked bags, but I have only flown twice.

Yes, could have gone as checked, but usually by the time you're to the point where security/TSA is checking carry-on, it's too late to go back to where it could have been checked. And I've read more than once never to wrap a gift; it's almost an invitation to open it up.  Although the agent did say if he had the address it could be mailed, I think Nick thought they were too fragile to be shipped. Nick's state of mind is still somewhat fragile, and he couldn't cope with the denial.  I was relieved that he apparently got through the checkpoint without being overly detained.

[Artsda]

The TSA scene made me so sad for Nicky. 

I know he's there for the baptism but shouldn't he have a gift for Kate's baby too?

Edited March 24, 2021 by Artsda

[30 Helens]

“Give us an address and we’ll mail them to you.” Where is this Fantasy Land airport, anyway? Because at any airport I’ve been to, all confiscated goods go straight into the trash can.  There are no packing and mailing agents on standby.

1 hour ago, DoubleUTeeEff said:

"Cancer?"

"No, I'm fine."

When she first told Nicky, “I’m a Cancer”, my response was, “Don’t be so hard on yourself.” So I thoroughly enjoyed it when they circled back to the joke. 

[ByaNose]

I love Uncle Nicky. The funniest thing about the John Grisham books was there was one sitting right next to me on my end table. It’s called The Innocent Man. I plan on reading it this summer. I’ve already read the ones Nicky got for the kids. My father who passed away 2 years ago gave it to me to read. I guess it was sign. 

[chocolatine]

This episode made me seethe with rage at Jack all over again. Jack had obviously always been the dominant one in their relationship, and he knew that Nicky relied on him for approval. But he couldn't find in his heart to share some kind, encouraging words with him, even all those years later when they saw each other. The other men with whom they served seemed to genuinely want to include Nicky in their reunions, so if they were able to forgive him, Jack should have been, too.

It was good to see that after getting to know Kevin, Nicky started to participate in life again. He stayed friends with Cassidy - I didn't care much for her with Kevin, but loved the rapport she was with Nicky - kept regularly going to VA meetings, and ditched his old, crumbling trailer for the newer one that Kevin gave him. And getting on a plane for the first time in 50 years, during a pandemic, was such a huge deal for him, but he was obviously just dying to be part of a family again.

2 hours ago, greekmom said:

Glad the flashbacks were not something just fillers for more screen time for Jack.  Loved getting Nick's backstory.  Wonder what happened to Sally since he bought the trailer. Was Nicky hoping that she would just find him?

Last season Nicky told Kevin that after coming back from Vietnam, he went to Sally's house but she wasn't there, but that doesn't align with what happened in this episode. Sally was a hippie living in her van and traveling all over the country before she went to California, so she didn't have a family home in Pittsburgh where Nicky could have gone to look for her.

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

Pretty much. He goes to the bar but doesn't go in, then sees Jack walking to his car in the parking lot and looks like he wants to call after him but doesn't.

It looked to me like he was going to approach but then saw Jack looking at a ring box and lost his courage. Maybe he figured that Jack had happily moved on with his life without him, or he didn't want to ruin a happy time for Jack by bringing up memories from the war. 

1 hour ago, Runningwild said:

Oh my heart broke for Nicky dealing with TSA. 

Especially with him still being in his socks while trying to salvage the snow globes. That little detail just broke me.

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

What are the odds that the lady on the plane talking to Nicky was Sally?

I thought it might be her as well. Glad that it wasn't because after the whole Randall/Hai/Laurel thing I don't want any more "coincidences" like that.

1 hour ago, BuckeyeLou said:

My heart broke for Nicky when his snow globes broke at the airport, maybe Nicky can build new figures while he visits Kevin.  

He knows how to use Amazon now, so he can just re-order all of the supplies and have them shipped to Kevin's house.

[watcher1006]

1 hour ago, Manda317 said:

Ok, I have a stupid question. Couldn't the snow globes have gone on the plane as long as they weren't in carry on? I thought there were less restrictions for checked bags, but I have only flown twice.

Flying on a plane up to and during the time of the Vietnam War was much simpler. No security screenings. It was only during the early 70s that everyone started to take flight security seriously. So if Nick hadn't flown since being medevac'd out of Vietnam today's process would have been totally bewildering to him. I was wondering if Cassidy could have given him some warning.

[CrystalBlue]

2 hours ago, zoey1996 said:

Don’t know where you are, but it’s not that easy. Nick got his courtesy of the VA, but might not be readily available near the cabin. Also unsure if it’s really that easy via the VA. Fictional TV, etc.

It isn't the easy peasy scheduled office visit appointment to get the vaccine(s) you are entitled to per the CDC tier everyone thinks it is.  I can tell you with my 93-year-old Army and Navy veteran disabled father getting his first dose was an entire shit show.  I'm getting my second dose three days before my Dad is finally getting his.  The things they put senior citizens through is a clusterfuck.