Uncle Nicky Is Found and Kate and Miguel Speak Up - S:3 Ep. 11 "Songbird Road: Part 1"

Here are this week’s Really  Moments:

Kate showed who is boss. The Big Three track down Uncle Nicky in a broken down trailer in Pennsylvania. He’s in rough shape. Uncle Nicky wants them to leave, confusing her brothers into inaction, so Kate takes command. She gets all “Fearless Girl” and tells Uncle Nicky they will not leave without answers. Go Girl. Show your family who really wears the pants.

Miguel should be allowed to speak more. After Rebecca realizes she never really asked Jack about his past with his family and Vietnam, Miguel tries to comfort her. And you know what? He’s pretty good at it. Miguel should speak more often. He might have something interesting to say after all, or have a second career as a therapist.

Even though Miguel is good, Randall is still better with the ladies. Randall gives an amazing pep talk to Beth before her job interviews. A pep talk so strong, I started applying for jobs as I listened. Randall still needs to get over his “saving the world” complex, but he kills it as a supportive husband. I do not know of any man who is this articulate about his feelings because, really, they don’t exist unless they’re reading a script written by women.

Of course, Kevin is bringing Uncle Nicky back home. Although Randall is usually the one to bring family members home (William in Season 1; Deja in Season 2),  Kevin is now getting in on the action by bringing Uncle Nicky home. It’s a bold move, especially since Kevin lives in an apartment with a commitment-phobic girlfriend. Bringing the crazy uncle out of the woods to sleep in their living room might not be her cup of tea.

Kate clocks in MORE frequent flyer miles. In every episode, it seems one of the Pearsons fly to the West or East Coast. The whole family must rack up so many frequent flyer miles, they could buy their own jet, but I question why this plot point is necessary. Why don’t all the Pearsons live on the East Coast? They clearly want to see each other a lot more frequently than just on Christmas - it seems like every burp and fart gets its own text.  So let’s save some airfare and just put an everyone on the same coast.

Really? (Rating from 1-5: 1 means nothing too far-fetched happened; 5 means that someone else has died at the hands of a faulty crockpot):

I give this episode a 1. This was a very sad, serious episode and everyone can relate to a family with a troubled relative. I give this one a pass, but I predict some far-fetched things will happen when Uncle Nicky comes into the family fold.