Yet, it’s possible Nicky is the reason Jack has cut all ties with his old man. If Stanley bullied Nicky into going to Vietnam — or, in Jack’s mind, is somehow the reason his brother enlisted — and then the youngest Pearson died in battle, it’s likely Jack would never want to speak to his father again. Multiple signs point to the fact Nicky is likely no longer with us, from the fact a family-obsessed man like Jack never speaks about his sibling to the details of the song playing during the Nicky reveal. Right after we see the little boy’s face for the first time, Father John Misty croons on the soundtrack, “Eventually the dying man takes his final breath.” In fact, the FJM song backing the entire multi-level Nicky scene is titled, “Ballad of the Dying Man.” Again, This Is Us has never heard the word “subtle.”