A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Friday Night Dinner
Jasmine Blu
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Everyone is invited to pizza night!
On A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 4, there were flashbacks, Gary accidentally found out Maggie's secret, and the gang set their differences aside to break pizza dough at their weekly "framily" dinner.
There were also lots of feels, but what else is new? This show is a total feels fest with each hour.
There are a lot of tidbits that came out during this hour that piqued my curiosity. As much time as we spend with this group of friends, there is still so much that we don't know or understand about them. It makes me antsy and eager for more details to piece together this puzzle.
This hour may have given us our first glimpse of the issues that Delilah and Jon may have had in their relationship. On A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 3, Delilah told Gary that she felt neglected by Jon who was a workaholic and devoted so much of himself to others.
Related: A Million Little Things Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Save the Date
She broke down and told Regina the same thing and elaborated on it a bit. Thanks to the flashbacks to the various pizza nights over the years, we saw the tension between the two, and it was the first time Jon came close to being shown in a negative light.
This is ridiculous, you won't even look at me? I know you're angry. What I did, what we did was wrong, but there are things about our marriage you didn't know. Jon was working all the time, but even when he was home he wasn't there, and he was really distant for the last two years. I felt invisible, and Eddie saw me.
Delilah
Was it so negative that it elicited sympathy from viewers for Delilah? For me, no, but you guys will have to answer that in the comments. Jon's treatment of Lenny, Delilah's father, was where Jon came across the most problematic.
Lenny was in the early stages of Dementia at the time, and Jon had a tendency of talking about him as if he weren't in the room. Many of his comments he made were little attempts to test Lenny's memory and confirm or point out the fact that Lenny was struggling.
You could either see it as Jon, a fixer, addressing the problem while lacking tact or see it as Jon belittling and demeaning the guy. We have already been speculating that Jon isn't as perfect as he seems. That's not an indictment against him, but rather pointing out that he was human and flawed like everyone else in this series.
Jon was short-tempered when Lenny attempted to pour Eddie some wine. While it's in poor taste to offer an alcoholic a drink, it was an honest mistake in addition to being a sign of his failing memory. Jon's reaction was too strong.
Eddie was sitting in the backyard with tons of people drinking. If the others weren't drinking themselves, there wouldn't be alcohol to offer anyone. Katherine enjoys a glass of wine herself, so it's not anyone else's job to make sure Eddie stays sober. It's Eddie's job to do that.
Related: A Million Little Things Round Table: Can the Friendships Ever be Mended?
He's a grown man capable of making decisions for himself and probably declined alcohol regularly, so Jon's reaction was unnecessary. It also seemed a bit like Jon babied Eddie.
That's not a slight against Eddie, but more about how Jon viewed him. Jon helped Eddie get sober, so maybe he felt responsible for him. It would be interesting if that's the type of relationship they had, but it would explain a lot of things too.
Gerald McRaney is an incredible actor, and it was a treat witnessing his performance during this hour. His performance was subtle because he was in the background the majority of the time, but he nailed the portrayal of someone suffering from Alzheimers.
The show is often compared to This is Us, but the way A Million Little Things tackles real-life, everyday issues in such an organic fashion, it reminds me of the late Parenthood. A parent suffering from that in addition to everything else happening is so real. It's one more thing because, well, you know.
Lenny's final word at an otherwise joyous dinner table about Jon being at work was soul-crushing.
Katherine: To Jon.
Lenny: Why the hell are we toasting him? He's still at work.
The harmony was unusual. The general idea was that Sophie wanted to have their dinners again because it's what Jon would have done, and it was her way of remembering her father.
Sophie is oblivious to all the adult issues that happened, but the way they kept talking about them within earshot made it surprising that she didn't put anything together yet.
If and when she ever learns the truth, it will be a mess because she already was taking things out on Delilah. There is a chance she would stop speaking to her mother altogether if she found out the truth. She didn't know the way, but she picked up on Delilah wanting to "forget Jon.
Kids are very perceptive and intuitive that way. She felt that Delilah didn't want to remember Jon, but Delilah didn't realize that she needed to do and say things to remember her father. That was important to her.
The dinner was important to her. In that sense, it's cool that everyone was able to (temporarily?) forgive each other, play nice, and have dinner together like a happy family. They wanted to do it for the kids.
On the other hand, it was happening too fast. It was only a week since the others found out about the affair, and by the end of the hour, everyone moved on. That's idealistic, not realistic.
It was strange that Rome and Gary were working so hard to get Regina and Delilah to be friends again. When Gary wanted to hold a grudge and lash out at Eddie, he was allowed to do it, so why couldn't Regina take her time processing and dealing with everything?
Regina said that part of the reason she was taking her time was she didn't want to say something regrettable. That's fair, so why not give her space instead of advocating on Delilah's behalf?
Gary of all people wanted to push Regina to forgive Delilah or whatever, but he was still not talking to Eddie. That's complete and utter bullcrap and hypocritical as hell.
It is frustrating that all is seemingly well at the moment, but it's possible that there will still be struggles down the road. However, it's irritating that Delilah gets a pass, Eddie doesn't, and when someone is annoyed with Delilah, she's pestered into forgiving her.
Gary: How are you doing?
Eddie: That depends. How are we doing?
Gary: We've been better, but we can try and get back there.
It took two people to have this affair. If Eddie had to face the ire, then Delilah should have too. The fact that she barely did is absurd.
It's almost as absurd as everyone coming together for that meal with not a hint of awkwardness whatsoever. There would be so much awkwardness!
Katherine is so mature, poised, and graceful. She had no issue admitting that their marriage was on the rocks for some time. She's receptive to whatever role she played in it.
It seems like they could maybe work things out, or rather Eddie may want to work things out, which is unusual since he felt strongly about being with Delilah not too long ago. He was touched when he overheard Katherine and Sophie talking about faking the strength.
It's not easy being the strong one, the responsible one, but I promise you, everything your mom does, she does out of love. And sometimes putting on a brave face and pretending everything is fine, that's the hardest job of all.
Katherine
Was he that out of the loop during his marriage that he took Katherine's strength for granted or didn't see past it? That conversation was one of the best of the hour, and Katherine is a standout character.
However, what was with her relationship with Jon? I'm not suggesting it was romantic, but she keeps talking about how he was the only one who made her feel welcome, and it's an odd thing to keep saying. I hope we learn more about that.
Gary learned more about Maggie in the worst possible way. Tom is the worst! Why does he keep violating Maggie's privacy?
It was offputting enough when he showed up after her doctor (who he was on a first name basis with) violated HIPPA and told him that she was sick again. Then he went and told Gary that Maggie was sick. Gary is a stranger as far as he's concerned, so who does that?
Maggie and Gary are in denial about their relationship. They have real feelings for one another, but they have reasons to fight them. Maggie is dying, and she refuses to do the treatment because everyone on this darn show is in a competition over who can make the worst decisions.
Gary has his own reasons for not engaging in a serious relationship, but they are made for one another. It took a lot for Gary to show her his scar, but he also did it because he hoped she would open up about her diagnosis. He wants her to open up to him, but she's not ready to do that yet.
Rome is making strides opening up to Regina, but I still need him to tell her about his depression. At least he knows that she'll be supportive when that time comes because she was so open and happy for him when he told her he wanted to quit his job and pursue his dream.
All of the relationships on this series are messy, but Rome and Regina's relationship is the strongest. It would be the healthiest too if Rome told his wife the truth. I'm so happy they had more screen time as a couple. Sometimes it feels like they fall by the wayside.
Rome: I hate my job. I hate it! I hate myself for doing it. I hate the people that I work with. It's soul-crushing. I want to quit my job, and I want to make my movie.
Regina: That's what you should do then.
Rome: What about money, Gina?
Regina: We don't have kids. We can sell this place, get something cheaper. We'll figure it out.
Rome: Yeah.
Regina: Yeah. I didn't realize it was this bad. I'm sorry I didn't see it. I should have seen it.
I would love it if the show shifted to Rome a bit more and his current battle with his depression. The affair took up the bulk of the previous installments, but Romany is incredible in this role, and his storyline is such an important one that deserves more focus.
He and Maggie, and their unofficial therapy sessions have some of the best scenes of the series without a shadow of a doubt. They also have the best quotes between the two of them too.
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Maggie has the best lines, and she always says something so profound that it hits you at your core, and you find yourself letting it sink in for a moment.
One of the survivors that they interviewed said something that I have been thinking about, uh, a lot lately. She said, "It's not that I don't want to live, it's that I don't want to live like this."
Maggie
Over to you, my friends. Has your perspective of Jon shifted? How about Delilah and Eddie?
Can Gary convince Maggie to take the treatment? How long before Regina finds out the truth about Rome?
Did the fallout from the affair blow over too fast? Hit the comments below.
If you missed it, 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.
