‘This Is Us’ Creator Dan Fogelman Promises a ‘Complicated’ Follow-Up to Season 3’s Shocking Fall Finale
Fans of This Is Us have come to expect the unexpected from the NBC family drama, and on the season 3 fall finale this week, we got just that when a shocking twist ending upended some major plot points. Fair warning: There are spoilers ahead!
Leading up to the fall finale, the show had been focusing on the mystery of what Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia) experienced in Vietnam, including the presumed death of his brother, Nicky (Michael Angarano).
However, on the Tuesday, November 27, episode, titled “The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning,” it was revealed that Nicky’s name was not on the list of soldiers lost during the Vietnam War. The show then cut to a shocking reveal of an older Nicky (played by Griffin Dunne) collecting his mail in the modern-day timeline — meaning he is still very much alive.
“There’s a complicated story that’s going to be told very quickly when we come back on the air, and it’s a story about what happened between Nicky and Jack,” This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman told Deadline about the plot twist, hinting that the long-lost Pearson brother would become a fixture on the show for the remainder of the season. “It’s very complicated. There’s a lot more to be told and it’s coming very soon.”
Nicky’s survival wasn’t the only bombshell on Tuesday, though. Throughout the first half of season 3, the mystery “her” has also been a point of confusion for viewers. As we learned on Tuesday, the woman in question is Rebecca Pearson (Mandy Moore) — but it still isn’t clear what her situation is, or why Tess and Randall seem so anxious about the visit.
This Is Us season 3 is scheduled to return to NBC on January 15 at 9pm ET, and Fogelman promises “a big second half of the season.”
Were you shocked by the reveal that Nicky is alive? Let us know @BritandCo!
(photos via Brent Lewin/NBC + Ron Batzdorff/NBC)
