This Is Us season 3 episode 7 review: Zoe’s revelation; Jack, Nicky’s reunion

What This Is Us season 3 episode 7 allowed on NBC Tuesday night was a brief look into doors that often do not open. When people suffer terrible trauma in life, they do virtually everything that they can to handle it and try to take a step forward. Sometimes, they feel it best to shut themselves off from the world. At other points, the right word or circumstance can cause them to open up.

When it comes to the character of Zoe, tonight became the time where she started to make it clear as to precisely what she has gone through to keep her closed off: A history of sexual assault from her father. That was why she didn’t want to talk about her childhood, or what her life was like before moving in with Beth when she was eight. Her father now lives in China, and his presence there is why she didn’t want to announce that she was in Vietnam at all. Anything to keep him at arm’s length was something that she was interested and intent on doing. Kevin understood that eventually, just as he also understood that there was no beating down Zoe’s door. He needed to let her be the one to open it.

In revealing tonight that he loved her, maybe that helped — but that also was not the reason she decided to let him in. It was because she also loved him and did not want her father to take this relationship away from her.

For Jack Pearson in the past, he explained to Rebecca why he couldn’t handle talking about Vietnam. He didn’t need to for the pain to be there. He was still having nightmares and as the episode progressed, it became increasingly clear as to why. One of the men in his squad died under his watch, in an accident that he feels could have been easily avoided. Meanwhile, there’s also still the mystery of what happened to his brother Nicky, who was clearly unstable and suffering in the midst of the war. Jack decided to be the hero, traveling to where his brother was stationed and intent on bringing him back to him. Jack has Nicky now for a good two weeks to turn him around — but, in his own words, he should have “left him to rot” back at his old place.

There were really just three storylines woven through this episode, and all of them did touch on Vietnam in some shape or form. First and foremost, you had Jack Pearson there dealing with Nicky and his problems on the ground. Then, you had him trying to bond with Rebecca on their road trip to Los Angeles. Then, you had Jack revisiting Vietnam to get answers, which he wasn’t really finding since the signature necklace was virtually everywhere in the country.

As for the mystery woman…

Save for her turning up to Jack’s camp, we don’t actually know all that much else at the moment. She is obviously important to this story and there is likely something more to unlock when it comes to Kevin being in Vietnam, but we’re just not at that point yet. It’s something that, by the end of the season, will certainly be revealed in some shape or form. (Personally, we like the theory that she and Nicky have some sort of history, and the necklace is for Jack some sort of reminder of that very thing.

CarterMatt Verdict

As a whole, we would say that This Is Us season 3 episode 7 excelled as a chance to know Vietnam from an emotional standpoint also how some of these characters are still coping and trying to handle both A) the trauma and B) characters who are curious about past experiences.

Related News – Be sure to get some other news on This Is Us, including a further preview for some of what’s coming up next!

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