A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Save the Date
Jasmine Blu
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The secret is out.
Kudos to the series for not dragging out the big revelation. The truth about Eddie and Delilah came out early into A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 3, and the rest of the hour was dealing with the fallout and effects on all involved.
Predictably, everything fell apart, and on Gary's birthday at that!
Gary has the worst birthdays ever. Who can blame the guy for hating them? It sucks that this particular birthday could have been the absolute best if Jon were alive and the news of the affair didn't come out.
After A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 2, some of you felt I was too hard on Eddie, and I caught some flack for disliking the guy, although I loathe Delilah too. Did that change? Eh, microscopically.
Related: A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Band of Dads
It was something I mentioned after the previous hour, but it turns out Katherine is a working mom and wife who is trying to provide for her family. The time spent on Katherine was a welcome change because it wasn't fair to the character that viewers formed snap judgments about her based on the other characters.
So Gary, are we good? Or did you need me to sign his permission slip?
Katherine
It seems the guys did the same thing, at least everyone but Jon. One of the frustrating things about Katherine's portrayal up until this point was that the implications that she was some workaholic shrew who didn't give a damn weren't believable because there were a few statements and moments that suggested otherwise.
Also, the more things we learned about Eddie, the more doubts there were about Katherine being as one-dimensional as the trio led viewers to believe.
Are spouses obligated to be friends with their spouse's friends?
Katherine had the misfortune of not being as close to the gang as the others. The thing is, even though she wasn't close to the group, she didn't dislike the group. It spoke volumes when she spoke so fondly of Jon and got emotional recalling something he did for her years ago.
Katherine revered Jon and previously mentioned that he was the one that made her feel included and part of their gang, which implies that maybe the others didn't? If they didn't, is it possible that it's because they were closer to Eddie and therefore biased towards her out of loyalty to him?
The fact that she was always working could have had something to do with it too. It was interesting that Gary's impression of Katherine was that she was some harpy who emasculated Eddie and that's why they were so unhappy in their marriage.
Eddie and Gary both approached Katherine about the game as if she was his mother on the brink of flying off the handle if he so much as asked her a question.
Meanwhile, she didn't give their outing or the fact that she had to squeeze in picking up Theo a second thought.
Eddie: I know it doesn't help, but just so you do know. It's over. I'll do whatever you want.
Katherine: Do you love her?
We still don't know the full story about Eddie and Katherine's marriage, and the two of them should probably be in some form of couple's therapy to hash their issues out because, with the good and the bad, it takes two. It just sucks that Katherine was vilified a bit.
Related: A Million Little Things Round Table: What Did Jon's Message Really Me?
Katherine confirmed some of the speculations about her when she had that shockingly civil conversation with Delilah in the car. It's fantastic and refreshing that Eddie is a stay-at-home dad. It's one of the most likable things about him; it's nice that he isn't denigrated for it either because there is nothing wrong with that.
On the flip side, that makes Katherine the primary breadwinner of the family. They live in a lovely house, and they have Theo. That doesn't pay for itself, and Eddie's guitar lessons can't sustain an entire household.
For Eddie to succeed at parenting and teaching kids, which is something he seems to love doing, Katherine has to work more. She's an attorney, and depending on what area she's practicing in and how long she's been an attorney, that is a stressful and time-consuming career.
Katherine spoke about that being the sacrifice she has to make while working, and you can sense that she has the working-mom guilt. It speaks to the gender disparity that Jon was idolized and given the benefit of the doubt for being a workaholic, but Katherine, not so much.
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Grace Park was incredible in this installment. It was hard not to sympathize with the woman and feel all of her feelings along with her.
From the anger to the hurt, to the resignation, she captured it all. It was crushing when they showed that flashback of her returning Delilah's scarf, and she didn't realize at the time that the reason Eddie was there was that he was sleeping with Delilah, not teaching Sophie.
Delilah: I'm so sorry, Katherine. I was in a bad place in my marriage and in my life, but I shouldn't have complicated things. I didn't mean to hurt anybody. All I've done is hurt everybody.
Katherine: You know, when I found out today, I just felt so alone, and I wanted to call the one person who understood me, who understood why I work so hard, why I'm not always home. I wanted to call Jon. I don't work hard because I want to. I work hard because I'm making a sacrifice for my family. And Jon understood that. I came here today to yell at you, but I can't because I think you already paid the ultimate price.
It's such a human thing to do, isn't it? She found herself recalling every moment, big, small, and seemingly innocent and wondering if there was more to it. The scene between Katherine and Delilah was one of the best of the hour.
It's sad that Katherine thought she was a lot closer to the others than she turned out to be. She saw Delilah as a friend. She also loved Jon, in part because he understood what it was like to sacrifice and work so hard. He was her kindred in that way.
That statement as well as the one about her not yelling at Delilah because Delilah already paid the ultimate price (by losing Jon the way that she did) packed a punch. Yikes!
Meanwhile, is anyone else getting the impression that there was more to Jon that meets the eye? He's painted as this absolute perfect guy. No one is perfect.
Doesn't it seem like the show is on the cusp of revealing that Jon was far from the saint he's painted as being and that Delilah is trying to avoid bursting everyone's bubble when it comes to how they view him? It's like she doesn't want to tarnish his memory.
If that's the case, that is going to be rough.
Everyone makes mistakes, and good people do crappy things. Yup, get all of that, but there is this thing that keeps happening where to soften the blow and ensure that people don't stay mad at characters like Delilah and Eddie, there are these somewhat tolerable explanations as to why they made the choices they made.
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Delilah had an affair with Jon's best friend because he gave so much of himself to other people that he neglected her, so "poor Delilah."
Eddie fell in love with his best friend's wife because he's in a crappy marriage and having some internal battle with himself because he isn't happy and probably depressed himself, so "poor Eddie."
Listen, Eddie. People have affairs all the time. People find out about them. They don't kill themselves. Even if it was part of it, it wasn't the whole thing. You can take that from me. It wasn't one thing. It was probably a million things.
Rome
It's not a pleasant situation for anyone involved in this mess. Neither Eddie nor Delilah should feel the crushing weight of guilt and Jon's suicide on them. No one deserves that at all because like Rome said, someone taking their life is so much more than one isolated thing. In that sense, my heart aches for both of them.
It also sucks that in the wake of Jon's death, most of them aren't allowed to sit in their feelings. Katherine can be hurt and livid, but she couldn't lash out at Delilah the way she wanted to because the woman's husband is dead.
Regina feels pissed, hurt, and betrayed, but she can't experience the full breadth of that without feeling guilty too because Delilah's guilt is palpable, she lost her husband, and Regina still feels compelled to support her friend.
Gary is angry, but he directs most of his ire at Eddie for violating the "guy code," whereas he's compelled to sympathize with a neglected, grieving Delilah.
Being married to someone like Jon must be difficult. He gave so much of himself to his job, children, and friends, and there was little left for Delilah in the end. When you give that much of yourself, something pays the price, and it was his marriage.
You know what's funny? That makes Jon more sympathetic than Delilah, sorry not sorry. He gave so much of himself that there wasn't much left over for her, but wouldn't that mean there was even less for himself? Jon was the ultimate gardener.
Gary: Why wasn't he enough? He was enough for me
Delilah: Yeah. That's just it Gary. He was there for everybody. He was everything for everyone, which is great, except that I just got forgotten.
Gary: I really hate my birthday.
Delilah: I know.
I only feel for Delilah when it comes to the situation with the letter. Ashley's motivations are a mystery, but it's sickening that she robbed Delilah (and the others) of some form of closure. How can she look Delilah in the face and see her suffering like that and not mention anything about the letter?
No, still not sympathizing with Eddie when it comes to the affair. The way in which the truth came out was brutal. Obviously, we want the group of friends to get past this.
It had to be an ugly fallout, however. There was no getting around that. Neither Rome nor Gary handled the news in the best manner, but is there a proper way to handle something like that?
Rome wanted to deflect in true Rome fashion. He felt it was best to bury his feelings and act like everything was OK, but that's unhealthy and has proven to be dangerous for him.
Meanwhile, Gary was so angry that he was impulsive and cruel. Gary was running hot with his emotions, and it was like everything that had been building up he unleashed on Eddie. It was ugly, messy, and far from ideal, but it was realistic.
So far, Gary and Regina are the ones the most visibly and viscerally enraged about this. It's not pretty, but they're entitled to their feelings, and it's perfectly OK for them to process and sit in them for a bit before they take the necessary steps to cope with the situation.
Gary: Eddie slept with one of his best friend's wives, Rome. Why don't you call Regina and see what he did to her?
Rome: Dude, there you go. That's good.
Gary: Oh my joke about Eddie sleeping with your wife, that's inappropriate?
Rome: This sucks. I get it. But we have to push through somehow. You and me are going to get in this car, and we're going to have a great day.
Gary: How can you say that? How are we going to have a great day? Are we going to go to the garden and pretend like nothing happened?
Rome: Yeah ... that's what I do Gary. That's how I get through every day. C'mon man I can't lose another friend. Let's go.
Gary didn't make things easy on Eddie, but Eddie didn't make things easy on himself. He kept trying to explain, but his explanations have this way of coming across as justifications, and that can set anyone off.
Maybe if he slept with Delilah once, it would be easier to accept, but it was a full-blown affair, and he loves her. He expresses guilt but keeps adding the caveat that he fell in love with Delilah. He says it was a mistake, but then it isn't if he loves her and they kept doing it. Regina was right about that.
In their case, it was no longer a mistake; it was a choice.
Regina: I just called Rome to see how the day is going. How could you?
Maggie: Maybe I should leave because.
Regina: No. Don't. Let's just do this.
Where Eddie is sympathetic is realizing that he blew up his marriage and permanently damaged his friendships for someone who doesn't appear to share the same feelings.
It's clear now. Eddie is a hopeless romantic. He's operating under the belief that love conquers all in the end, or like the end (he and Delilah being in love and happy) justifies the means (their affair and hurting their loved ones).
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I feel for the guy here because this love he has for Delilah feels one-sided. He's head over heels for her and couldn't even deny it to Katherine, but Delilah doesn't feel the same way. She has never given any indication that their affair was more than that.
Other tidbits:
- Is Ashley the only one working at Jon's company now? Why is she always there, and who was she speaking to on the phone about liquidation? Why is the subway station so important?
- It's very frustrating that Ashley hangs around and imposes on Jon's loved ones all the while lying to their faces and keeping things from them.
- I love Maggie, but she doesn't need to be around for every little thing. Delilah was barely receptive to Regina's company, so why add Maggie who they've known for four days and who didn't know Jon at all into the mix?
- Neither Maggie nor Ashley should've been there to find out that Delilah was cheating on Jon with Eddie. It didn't concern them and should've been between Delilah and Regina without their input or interference. It wasn't their business.
- Rome and Eddie finally spoke one-on-one, and it was Rome reassuring Eddie. I'm disappointed but not surprised.
- Larry, the driver, deserved a raise for putting up with the guys.
- James Vincent McMorrow's rendition of Higher Love at the top of the hour was touching and a great choice. The closing song was as well. I love the music in this series.
It was an intense hour. If you'd like to experience it again, you can watch A Million Little Things online here via TV Fanatic. In the meantime, hit the comments with all of your feels!
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.
