'This Is Us' Has Been Off For 2 Weeks & It's Been Too Long Without Jack Pearson

Dealing with the usual winter hiatus is nothing new for network TV watchers, but just when things were getting interesting on This Is Us, they had to go and make fans wait an extra week to find out what happened with Nicky. The most recent episode aired on Jan. 22, and now that it’s been two weeks since viewers have gotten rid of their weekly dose of tears, they might be wondering, when does This Is Us come back? The Jan. 29 episode was put on hold for the State of the Union Address, which was then pushed back to Feb. 4. Luckily, this means that This Is Us returns on Feb. 12 with "Songbird Road: Part Two."

In "Songbird Road: Part One," the Big Three tracked down Jack’s long lost brother and confronted him about his past. They came back later on just in time to stop Nicky from shooting himself and they seemed to be intent on helping him as Jack never could. In flashbacks, fans saw Jack’s complicated past with his younger brother grow even more difficult after Jack returned home from the war and tried to live his life separate from Nicky. After one meeting with him, however, Jack didn't turn back. But now the present day Pearsons might be more willing to welcome Nicky into the family.

I don't know if the episode title means this will be a conclusion to Nicky’s story or the end of the Vietnam flashbacks and the beginning of something new for him with the family Jack left behind in his death. The trailer for the episode, however, does allude to present day complications, given Nicky’s very existence.

From what I can tell, Rebecca never knew about Nicky being alive and the fact that Jack kept something so important from her until his death might be a hard pill to swallow. She might have a hard time forgiving Jack, while also staying angry at someone she can't confront. Kevin, on the other hand, is determined to help Nicky. Similar to Jack’s nature in helping others or Randall taking in William back in Season 1, this could be Kevin’s time to shine.

The trailer also makes it seem like the episode will be heavy on the flashbacks of Jack with the Big Three as children, so get ready for more of the tears we’ve all become accustomed to on Tuesday nights. Milo Ventimiglia, who plays Jack on This Is Us, spoke to Variety about the secrets of Jack’s past and how they might affect his family now, long after his death.

"For Jack, the war does not represent anything heroic, anything good for him. He’s ashamed of what went on and he doesn’t want to bring that into his life with Rebecca, with the family," Ventimiglia said. "He’s even said it… when she was trying to get him to talk about the war. The sad truth is that he never was going to tell her, and he never got to tell her. But it opens up the door for so much in Rebecca in the present day and the Big Three to explore. It’s beyond Jack."

This Is Us Season 3 still has a handful of episodes left to explore the post-war Jack and Nicky’s life after Jack said goodbye to him for good. It’s unclear how things will go with Jack’s adult children in present day and the uncle they never knew they had, but they seem determined to help him in a way Jack never could. I just hope that when This Is Us returns on Feb. 12, there are no more interruptions in the rest of the story.