A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 15 Review: The Rock
Jasmine Blu
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There was a lot of character interaction and development and a little bit of mystery.
There were also a lot of emotions to experience during A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 15.
While Katherine didn't die, thank the heavens, a sweet minor character did die, and between that and the final title card, it was such a touching but tragic tone.
After coming off of a character-centric hour like A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 14, this installment was so well-balanced among the characters. Every character had something going on of importance and one no one storyline overpowered the other.
It'll be best to break down the storylines by character.
Gary and Maggie
Gary is such a positive force in Maggie's life while she fights for her life that it's beyond emotional. He has thrown his entire being into helping her get through this, and it's to a point where it's exhaustive even as a viewer.
If I'm alive a year from now, it's because of you.
Maggie
Maggie's health continues to be concerning. She's at a place where she could go either way. She's been doing well in chemotherapy, and she has a procedure coming up that could be life-changing.
Yet, there is an ominous feel to this positive tone surrounding her. Gary has been going out of his way to think positive. They say half the battle is keeping a positive attitude, and he has taken that to heart.
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His positivity is infectious, and it rubbed off on Maggie in a way that she needed. She has gone from saying "if" when discussing things she may or may not and has resorted to using "when" because of her belief that she can and will get better.
Isn't it strange how the more positive she becomes, the more worrisome it is?
It's understandable that Maggie didn't want to get her hopes up, and it was beautiful that Gary was gung-ho about getting her to Plymouth Rock and crossing something off of her Bucket List.
It was so annoying that they didn't get to the chance to go when they expected to go. Gary has devoted his all into Maggie. His general reluctance to get close to people and date for real is making more sense than ever.
When Gary cares about someone, he cares about them to death. He exhausts himself giving his all to them. A string of casual hookups kept him from giving his full heart. He could remain guarded as much as he can and protect himself from a specific pain.
The rest of your life starts right now.
Gary
He is head over heels for Maggie, right now, and he's in the trenches with her. If something happens to her at this rate, I'm not sure Gary will ever recover.
What was also frustrating was that he wanted that one day to spend with Maggie, but someone always needs him for something or something always comes up.
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With each passing hour, it's more apparent that Gary spreads himself too thin. As a result of being someone who devotes everything that he has to the people he cares about, he's pulled in multiple directions all of the time.
Now he has become the person that everyone contacts when they are in need, and he's trying to juggle tending to all of their needs while also supporting Maggie, and supporting a woman fighting cancer takes a lot of work.
For a while, myself, the round table, and many of the commenters have speculated that Gary is on his way to some sort of breakdown. He has taken too much upon himself and rarely does anyone else pay attention to the fact that he's unraveling at the seams while trying to support everyone else.
It's rather disturbing, especially in a friendship group where they lost their "strong friend" to suicide. There continues to be a blind spot when it comes to this.
Before he made it up to the room, there was this sinking feeling that Linda had died. Sure enough, it was confirmed, and Gary had to face the fact that even if she seemed healthy or on the mend, death is still a possibility while battling this awful disease.
He spent all that time being this sunshiny person for Maggie, and Linda's death hit him like a punch to the gut. They may have had one of those antagonistic relationships, but she was a friend.
He barely had the time to process it all before he was right back outside stepping into that role of supportive boyfriend and optimistic person for Maggie. He couldn't tell her about Linda, and I understand why he withheld it for the moment.
When he slipped that hat on, however, my throat closed up. He's not OK, and it's scary. How much can you internalize before it all becomes too much?
I'm pretty sure he's stealing my girlfriend right in front of me. That's impressive.
Gary
He's trying to support Maggie, but also Delilah and Danny too. He's also trying to be a good friend to Rome, and he was trying to support Regina, and he stopped what he was doing to deliver food to Katherine and check in with Eddie.
He agreed to be Theo's guardian in the event something happened to Eddie and Katherine, and while I was screaming at him to accept, I can also imagine what it felt like for him. He's a guy who lives in a constant state of worrying his cancer will return.
The possibility of being expected to raise a child when you're uncertain as to what your lifespan may be like is terrifying.
Gary is that one that nobody ever has to worry about, and that's why people should be checking in.
Rome
Speaking of that powerful quote by Rome's father, that is a line of thinking of which people should rid themselves. The introduction of Rome's brother, Omar, shed some light on Rome's family dynamic.
Omar was a disaster child. He's a grown adult who can never get his life together, and to Rome's utter frustration and dismay, his parents tend to coddle Omar.
Rome's Dad: Son I don't have to worry about you.
Rome: Maybe you should. Because ... sometimes you should.
Jay Pharoah and Romany Malco had fantastic chemistry with one another. They felt like real brothers, and I found myself giggling many times during their interactions and Rome's frustration.
Rome couldn't make sense of something that I picked up on early into my life around the time my first sibling was born. As the oldest child, you kind of get used to getting screwed over in favor of your younger siblings. It comes with the birth order.
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Rome also didn't figure out why his father treated Omar with kid gloves and was so hard on Rome or dismissive of him. It wasn't that his father didn't know Omar was a bit of a screwup in life, it's that he did know and he knew that meant he required more help and attention even as a 35-year-old man.
Rome's father took for granted that Rome would always be OK. Rome was the son that he never worried about.
Is that the eldest child thing, or is it something else? Maybe it's a combination of things. I find it relatable, and I can recall the times my mother said the same thing to me, but it wasn't nearly as often as my grandmother saying it to her.
The biggest issue with being the one that no one ever has to worry about is that sometimes you don't worry about yourself either. Perhaps that it is how Rome ended up battling depression this long and not getting the help that he needed until it was almost too late.
Omar: So, anti-depressants huh?
Rome: Yup.
Omar: I heard about it because Dad kinda admitted it to the entire restaurant. How long you be taking them?
Rome: Couple months.
Omar: I'm glad you're doing what you gotta do.
There has to be some guilt that Rome's father is experiencing because of that. He spent all that time thinking he didn't need to be concerned about Rome and taking that for granted that he missed that his son was in pain.
Rome took his resentment out on his brother when it was his parents he was most upset at. The final scene of the brothers having a real conversation and asking how each other were doing was the best.
Unlike their father, Omar didn't judge Rome for taking anti-depressants and was happy that his brother was getting help for himself. I get the sense that depression runs deep in their family as Omar has some issues too.
Between Rome's storyline and Gary's, there was a powerful message: check on your strong friends. No one is exempt from struggles and tough times, and everyone needs support and consideration.
Katherine and Eddie
The powers that be must have known a large portion of the fandom (raises hand) would lose their collective minds if Katherine died. She was banged up a bit after that accident, but she lives!
Katherine and Eddie's divorce proceedings were going too well. It was all pleasant and fair until Theo's guardianship came up. It's about time Katherine blew off some steam about Delilah.
When I saw that car, I thought that ...
Eddie
She has been way too graceful and composed. She more than earned the right to sit in her feelings without it being about someone or something else.
The one thing she couldn't allow was Delilah to be Theo's guardian in the event something happened to both of them. I'll refrain from all the reasons I feel Delilah would have been a poor choice anyway.
Serious question, do they not have any other friends or relatives though? Eddie doesn't have parents, siblings, or any other friends outside of this group?
Katherine doesn't have any family outside of her mother or any friends outside of these people who have more often than not been terrible friends to her? Damn.
Jon and Delilah made the most sense given them being parents already, and they ruled out Rome and Gina since they don't want kids. Gary did make perfect sense.
They always treat him like a disaster, but he's spectacular with children, and he loves so much and so hard that he would be more ideal than most would give him credit.
To be honest, the only reason I didn't want him is because you did. Somewhere along the way arguing against you became my default, and that's not OK.
Katherine
Katherine's reluctance didn't seem like it was due to her and Gary having a rocky relationship, and she's usually more pragmatic than that. She knew Gary loved Theo and would be an incredible guardian if it was necessary.
There is something intriguing about the chemistry between Katherine and Eddie. They shouldn't be together; they both need to be happy, and frankly, Katherine deserves better, but when they have real talks, you can see that there was real love there.
Katherine addressed where she went wrong in their marriage, and that was important for the whole "it takes two" angle of a failed marriage. There was some growth there, and it seemed like they could move on for good.
Oddly enough though, Eddie is doing that Eddie thing where he comes across confused. He went from planning to car seat shop with Delilah to standing her up (the irony was too delicious not to giggle at) and spending the day with Katherine.
Katherine having a near-death experience scared the heck out of him, and now it feels like he's back to wondering if they can work, especially after she took some responsibility for their marital problems.
The two of them reminiscing on the significance of the table was endearing, and their flashback was too.
Delilah, Danny, and "Barbara Morgan"
Delilah was back to being the damsel in distress, but now that I think about it, did she ever stop being the damsel in distress?
Anyhow, she wanted to do some car seat shopping for the new baby who isn't due for a while, and she wanted someone to accompany her. In the end, she was able to work it out on her own, and I think that's what Delilah's biggest challenge is throughout the series.
You outed a 12-year-old.
Gary
She has to learn how to do things on her own. It can be an empowering arc, but for some reason, she's always in need. Plus, someone always swoops in to help her out instead of her figuring anything out on her own.
Did it annoy anyone else that after finding out that Katherine had been in an accident (and that Eddie was there helping Katherine) she still chose to call Eddie (who was not answering his phone at first) instead of Katherine?
Why not call the woman who was in the accident? Isn't it the least that she could do after Katherine helped her out of a jam?
Plus, she knew Eddie was there with Katherine and that things have been awkward and tense for a bit, so why add onto that by calling Eddie to talk about him not showing up and then asking him to give Katherine her best?
Was it genuine concern (no) or a petty power move?
Also, she landed herself in hot water when she made a 12-year-old boy uncomfortable about his sexuality. The second she made that comment, I cringed, and that was before Elliott visibly reacted to that statement and took off. There was still no real confirmation that they were on a date.
It was such a thoughtless thing to do, but it was quintessential Delilah. Then, for some reason, she didn't know what went wrong and had to call Gary to talk to Danny.
There will never be any complaints about a Danny and Uncle Gary scenes. They are a fan-favorite, but why does Delilah make it this hard to like her?
Nevertheless, that ending was enough to have a person on the edge of their seats! Barbara Morgan (?) has tracked down the Dixon home and was sitting outside of their house watching Delilah.
Mitch: Where are you? You need to leave it alone, you're only going to make things worse.
Barbara: I know, but Mitch, she's pregnant.
Who is Mitch though? And why does he want her to leave something alone? He knows that she's itching to insert herself in Jon's life, but why?
She also had quite the reaction to Delilah being pregnant. What does it all mean, and what is this big secret?
Do you think she's related to Jon somehow? What is their connection?
Whatever it is, she's about to blow through their world like a storm, and I cannot wait!
Over to you, Million Fanatics! What are your theories about that final scene with "Barbara Morgan?" Are you worried about Maggie? How about Gary?
Hit the comments below, and also, you can watch A Million Little Things online here via TV Fanatic!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
