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A Million Little Things Roundtable: Season Four Premiere

By Rueben | September 23, 2021

A Million Little Things was back on Wednesday night with its season premiere for its fourth season.

Here is the official synopsis for the episode (season 4, episode 1) entitled “Family First”:

Gary struggles in the aftermath of his encounter with Peter. Meanwhile, Regina and Rome put on a united front following the closure of Someday and the deportation of Tyrell’s mother. Sophie deals with mixed emotions surrounding her mother while Delilah faces a difficult decision. Eddie inches closer to finding out who caused the accident, and Maggie navigates a new career opportunity.

Nice Girls Cay and Rueben share their thoughts on this episode [spoiler alert]:

Cay:

Gary, Gary, Gary! So Gary [may have] nearly killed Peter and it’s unclear whether he will recover. And then he learns from Sophie that she outed him on Maggie’s podcast and is disappointed that he isn’t having to face that and also realizes that she might be a suspect. These are the consequences of doing very stupid, half-cocked things. Is it any better that it wasn’t just him involved? It seems that we are going to see Gary wracked with guilt over his role in Peter’s attack, but it’s hard to imagine that he will end up facing trial, so it is hard to imagine how this situation is resolved. As Sophie already told her story, there isn’t the option for a “don’t press charges unless you want us to tell…” kind of ultimatum if Peter survives. It’s hard to imagine that forensics wouldn’t lead back to Gary and/or Layla’s dad, especially as they stole the guitar and other stuff to make it look like a robbery – where is that stuff?

I still find myself not caring and sometimes even tuning out the Gary-Darcy relationship. I have little patience for a will they/won’t they stay together kind of plot.

Maggie’s glee at Dr. Stacy’s downfall was very relatable! It’s hard not to engage in a bit of schadenfreude when bullies or otherwise unkind people finally get what is coming to them. I’m predicting that her short-term gig turns into a permanent position.

While I guess I can appreciate Eddie wanting to know about the circumstances that led to his injury, I’m having a hard time seeing any benefit for him long-term, unless maybe he ends up meeting up with the woman and forgives her and that allows him to accept the changes in his life and move on? More likely he loses his sobriety. And while that is statistically the most likely think to happen, I really don’t have any interest in seeing him go down that pathway again!

Delilah’s dad’s stroke was an effective way to give her an excuse to leave again while also garnering some sympathy (the actor who plays her, Stephanie Szostok, lives in the US and Canada’s COVID quarantine rules made it unfeasible for her to commute to the show’s set regularly). I’m kind of surprised that Danny is going along with her, but then again, he hasn’t had a big role aside from his coming out and probably won’t be much missed in the greater storyline.

I’d like to put in a request to the writers to allow Rome and Regina to continue in a relatively good place for a while. Let Tyrell come back to them and let them be happy for a while. They are definitely my favorite couple/characters in the show.

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Rueben:

First of all, I kept thinking to myself, when are they going to show us what Gary did to Peter? And then when Gary finally flashed back to what happened after he slammed that front door shut, I did a double take that Layla’s dad was there too. I wasn’t expecting that at all! He is obviously feeling some guilt for what happened, but what did Gary do to Peter and what did Layla’s dad do to Peter? Did they share in the beat down? They are both guilty, but who bears the brunt of the guilt? And you’re right, Cay, where did that “stuff” go that was supposedly taken to make it look like a home invasion? This storyline isn’t going to be easily resolved at all.

I agree with you, Cay, that I’m still not sold on Darcy and Gary. That phone call between Gary and Maggie was more fun to watch than anytime screen time shared between Darcy and Gary. I can’t see that relationship continuing to the point that they get a 3-bedroom house together and start their own family. The truth about what Gary did (or didn’t do) to Peter will assuredly put a nail in the coffin of not only that relationship but Gary’s future too.

Admittedly, the “family” farewell dinner was a little saccharine-y; but it did have ties back to the pilot episode where they gathered together after Jon’s funeral, with Maggie meeting all of them for the first time. I did like that scene between Delilah, Regina and Maggie where Maggie kept joking that’s “the day I meet you.”

Having Delilah leave again (with Danny in tow) to go back to France because of her dad’s stroke is a good “excuse” – I guess – to get her back there without “forcing” the whole family to move there. But I have to wonder how will Eddie and Delilah share time with little Charlie [that’s gonna be incredibly hard]; and what will happen next for Sophie?

I can’t really say that I’m pleased with Eddie trying to figure out who the woman is who hit him, then called to apology. If he goes down that rabbit hole AGAIN, we could have a repeat of his spiral from before; and haven’t we gone down that route one too many times. Let’s just have Eddie move forward with his live, move into his apartment and try to find a way to keep working amicably with Katherine through their divorce, et al.

The best parts of the episode were focused on Maggie’s reactions to Dr. Stacy’s radio faux pas [that woman got exactly what she deserved!], and then Maggie getting that call from the station manager to fill in for 2 weeks in Dr. Stacy’s former airtime. We know that isn’t going to last for just 2 weeks, for sure! And, watching Rome and Regina come clean with Tyrell about the airport opening then later watching that video message from Tyrell. And just like you, Cay, I want to see Rome and Regina be HAPPY. Can we just get that for them?!