A Million Little Things Roundtable: “lesson learned”

Here is the official synopsis for this week’s episode (season 4, episode 16) of A Million Little Things entitled “lesson learned”:

Gary, Maggie, Eddie and Anna go on a double date where Anna has an awkward encounter with Peter. Meanwhile, Eddie struggles to reconnect with fans at a music convention.

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

Cay:

Well, I guess we just learned why Anna is still around – they needed her to be the obvious suspect for killing Peter! So, we have an awkward double date, her drinking too much on the sly, then Peter is dead and she’s just causually sitting at home, getting her trash ready to go out. Yeah, I was done with this plot before and this new twist doesn’t make it any better for me!

What’s up with the detective showing up at Gary and Maggie’s place just to tell them that their alibi is confirmed and to wish them good luck? Really? What cop does that? “I am pretty sure you were involved in nearly beating this man to death a few months ago, but because your fertility doctor gave you an alibi for actually killing him, I’m going to stop by just to tell you good luck on making a baby?!” Ummm… no! Unless it turns out that the cop was after something else and this was just a pretense to stop by, then this is the most ludicrious way for a couple to get outted for trying for kids, ever.

Speaking of the fertility doctor…he gives me creepy vibes. And Maggie already got pregnant once without trying, not that long ago. So why exactly does she need to work with a fertility specialist? Yes, her reproductive time might be shorter than usual because of the chemo, but we have no indication that her and Gary even tried for a few cycles first before going to the doctor. It all seems manufactured without appropriate leadup to create more drama (and give them an alibi for killing Peter).

Poor Eddie, he’s dating an alcoholic who probably murdered her ex-husband, and his name is fading from his fan’s minds. I really hope this isn’t all setting him up to fail again, and instead drives him to remake his life (and dump Anna).

Yay for Tyrell and for Rome – I think they are both set up for some important life experiences. This probably means Tyrell leaves the show, though I guess they could still show us Zoom calls like they have done with Danny. Is Rome working at all right now? It doesn’t seem like it, so taking the school job seems better than nothing and something he can really throw himself into emotionally and feel like he’s making a difference. And, FWIW, teachers in the Boston area make more money than in most other parts of the country.

Imagine – you buy a food truck and it turns out that…you end up making a living selling food from your food truck! It’s shocking that we got to this point! But, despite this seeming a bit inevitable, I’m glad to see Regina in a good place.

Is Delilah’s pantry so big or did she stock up so much that a can of beans with a note has remained unfound for 10 years?! Also in that time, no one looked in the cabinet in the laundry room? Unearthing the note was really sweet, but the “long lost scavenger hunt” was a bit much. They could have easily just found the note somewhere else as they were cleaning up the house – this kind of stuff happens all the time, much more commonly than finding 10 year old beans with a note on the can. (Although my mom did try to make soup one Christmas with 10+ year old dried beans that she found in her pantry before my sister intervened.)

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Rueben:

I didn’t delay as long watching this episode as I did last week simply because I wanted to be a bit more on time with my comments, and because I was curious about why Peter was back in the mix albeit briefly (from what the clips showed us at the end of last week’s episode). I couldn’t have said it any better than you did, Cay. Why are we still on Anna and Peter? Didn’t we get enough of Peter from earlier? Now we have to deal with the “did-she, didn’t see” plot devise of whether Anna killed her molester ex-husband or not? That small scene with her taking out the garbage was so cliche I couldn’t fast forward quick enough. I know we’ve both been over this whole Anna storyline to begin with, and now it just feels like it will never end.

I agree that the whole detective paying a visit to Gary and Maggie – both times – was just ridiculous. No detective would handle a case this way, at least in my estimation. I also agree that the fertility doc is a bit creepy, and that whole plotline seems far to forced and unnecessary. I think Gary and Maggie need to work their way back to being a full fledged couple before they throw a baby into the mix. A baby isn’t the answer for either of them at this point in time, at least as far as I’m concerned.

I did enjoy those little moments between Tyrell and Rome. He is a proud foster dad. And, I think it’ll be a great experience for him to take on that teaching job. Who knows what kind of good influence he could have on the students there, right?

The whole thing of the food truck not really being a food truck, but a means to an end, and then it actually being a “legit” food truck. WTF?! Just make it a food truck, get that established, and then focus on catering jobs. It’s like watching a train full of food go bad, ya know?

I’m not sure how I feel about Greta staying with Katherine and Theo “temporarily” until Greta finds her own place since her ex-wife wants to sell their place. This all seems to be too forced, but then again, most of the storylines this whole season seem to be that – forced, uncomfortable and cliche.

As for the scavenger hunt, that would’ve never been able to happen in my home because cans would never have been in any cabinet for more than 6 months – not with the Mum I had. And, that cabinet where Sophia and Danny found that old lunchbox? In my house that would have been cleaned out every 6 months. My Mum took spring cleaning seriously, and for the most part, she knew where nearly every little thing was in our house except my dad’s basement workshop as that was his terrain not hers. So that whole little scavenger hunt was completely ludicrous to me except for finding that note from their Dad. Sure, that was touching and all, but they (the writers) could have come up with a better way for them to find that letter.

Quite frankly, as I said last week, I’m kinda ready for the season to be over, and I’m not sure if I want to return to the show next season (if there is a next season since there hasn’t been an official announcement yet). If there is a new season, we need to wipe the slate clean, come up with a better overall story arc for nearly every character, and get back on track with these people. Sure, everyone’s life can be messy (whose life isn’t most of the time), but what happens with these characters is just unrealistic and downright ridiculous.

[Photo Credit: ABC/Darko Sikman]

What did you think of this week’s episode? Please share your thoughts below.

The next new episode of A Million Little Things will air on ABC on April 27 at 10/9c.