A Million Little Things Season 5 Episode 9 Review: Father's Day
Jasmine Blu
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Delilah returned. Yay, or not.
Not only did we get the return of Delilah on A Million Little Things Season 5 Episode 9, but after some ping-ponging with the potential future for Eddie's love life and brace yourselves, we might be getting an Eddie and Delilah endgame to close.
Between the speculation about Eddie's judgmental professor, Nicole, the woman who paralyzed him, and Delilah, who speaks for herself, Eddie's love choices have ranged from bad ... worse and the absolute worst.
It was a relatively slow but simple hour with little stakes as the series continues to plod along to a conclusion.
Any momentum and excitement about Charlie in the hospital died down not too long into the hour as we learned that she had a severe ear infection that required surgery before the infection spread to her brain.
But all of this was revealed so nonchalantly that it didn't have any stakes or feel too nerve-wracking. It didn't even bring about the entire squad of the friend group, who typically will all show up when someone has a hangnail.
It may reflect how distant Charlie has been from everything that's gone on over the years. Hell, even Sophie didn't seem worried or even knowledgeable of her sister's condition or acknowledge anything until she got home.
Eddie: How dare you come in here and tell me what's best for Charlie?
Delilah: Eddie, put yourself in my shoes. One minute I'm on an airplane, and the next minute my daughter is in surgery. Eddie: Your daughter; that's the problem, she's our daughter, D. The second Charlie was born you acted like you were the mom, and I was the babysitter.
Delilah: That's so unfair.
Eddie: Yes, it is unfair, because I'm her dad and if I need to make a medical decision based on the opinion of a qualified doctor and the fact that our daughter is in pain, that's exactly what I'm going to do.
In true fashion, Delilah came in like a wrecking ball of colossal suck and contributed to an awkward scene in the waiting room that likely amused all the other patrons.
You know what? Good for Eddie. She had such a poor attitude about Eddie daring to make a life-saving medical decision about his sick child without running it by her first.
She looked rightly humbled when she learned that had Charlie not had that surgery when she did, the infection would've spread to her brain and gotten worse.
But in that hospital scene, at least Eddie finally got to blow up on Delilah and get some things off his chest about how she treats him like a glorified babysitter with no rights to their child.
And while it still wasn't a quarter of what the woman deserved, it was another to sate those of us who have been frothing at the mouth for this woman to get called out on her behavior just a little bit.
And by the end of the hour, we needed that satisfying moment to cling to when they slapped us in the face with the utter poppycock that is Eddie having feelings for Delilah and potentially wanting to rekindle things because the timing might be right this time.
It's like the writers know how to read the room a bit, and then suddenly they can't see; they don't know. Is anyone out there actually rooting for Eddie and Delilah to rekindle their relationship?
They were awful together. They were terrible to everyone around them. But worst yet, even we can set aside the clusterf*ck of ick that is their relationship and its history; they didn't earn this.
By now, Eddie has actually earned his redemption arc. He's grown and developed. We've seen his evolution from A Million Little Things Season 1 until now, and it's been a bumpy ride.
It hasn't been perfect by any means, but it's been substantial enough that by now, it feels like Eddie has reached a place he deserves and has earned a happy ending with someone nice.
At this point of the story, Eddie actually deserves better than Delilah. Delilah has had zero growth. She's still a selfish, self-absorbed woman who takes those around her for granted and treats them horribly.
She's still a woman who does whatever she pleases with limited consequences. Everyone's lives have gone on and headed in a million different directions even since she's been gone. Her re-entering the equation now when she remains such a stagnant character is disappointing.
Eddie: She just made a mistake.
Delilah: A terrible one.
Eddie: Yeah, and if anyone knows anything about that, it's us. All the hurt we caused, all the people we loved. How could I expect to get forgiveness if I couldn't give it to someone else?
Charlie's medical emergency was a way to bring Delilah back and reintroduce the prospect of her and Eddie finding the time to be together this time around.
Eddie spent most of the hour oscillating between Delilah and Nicole as both women made a case for the other, noticing that Eddie has developed feelings for them.
Eddie and Nicole's friendship has had an air that implied they could be headed somewhere romantic. The confusing part about this installment was that, in a roundabout way, both indicated that they were sending the other mixed messages and weren't interested in something romantic because it would be too complicated.
They sent us mixed messages too. That was the point -- Nicole got to serve as a red herring so they could guide us back to Eddie and Delilah, presumably for the full-circle nostalgia of it all.
And it probably would have worked because many people, myself included, felt some kind of way about the prospect of Eddie falling in love with the woman who ran him down and paralyzed him.
But if the alternative is Delilah, it's not much better. The attempt to bait and switch with one of the series' most consistently loathsome characters doesn't make us grateful.
Eddie and Delilah made up with each other, which became one of those instances where you wondered why exactly Eddie had to apologize for anything. Delilah can only acknowledge her wrong if it's a group effort.
And Delilah actively encouraged Eddie to be with Nicole after he rather maturely explained how he could be friends with this woman after what she did to him.
Nicole: Can I ask you something?
Eddie: Of course.
Nicole: Why didn't things work out between you and Delilah?
Eddie: Well, I think for us, the timing was never right.
Nicole: Well, for what it's worth, I can tell how much you care about her, so if your timing ever does work out, don't run away from that.
Eddie: Well, thanks to you, I really can't.
Nicole: I walked right into that.
Eddie: Walk? Well, now you're just being mean.
It's that one conversation of Eddie talking about forgiveness and how he can't expect the grace he can't extend someone else who makes mistakes. It truly highlights one of many reasons why they're not in a proper place to be compatible anymore.
But after Eddie's conversation with Nicole, it seems that they're steering Eddie to Delilah. The allure of them being some happy family together is tempting, and it's undoubtedly something Eddie would crave.
And Delilah would probably be open to it as well. It would bring the series full circle but not in a fun or compelling way.
In other romantic news, we got a Tyrell and Sophie hookup. They did the bulk of the work building up the romantic aspect of this pairing during this installment as they bonded like crazy in fun and cute ways during their multiple-day road trip home.
It's one of those things you can't help but feel indifferent about, as both Tyrell and Sophie are great characters, and there's nothing wrong with the prospect of them, even if it feels like they're pairing the spares.
One of the strongest scenes of the hour was when we got that flashback of what it was like for Sophie when she learned that Jon had died.
With Father's Day, it felt right that they managed to insert a flashback like that into the series, as Jon would be heavily on her mind. It also showed how Father's Day could affect someone like Tyrell, who never knew his, versus Sophie, who lost hers tragically.
Her vulnerable state may be why she and Tyrell had sex, and she sought comfort in him. It's a massive step for Sophie, her first sexual encounter she felt comfortable initiating after what happened to her.
But she doesn't want anyone to know about it, and it's hard to understand why. In some ways, it feels like she harbors some feelings about Tyrell's closeness to the Howards, and maybe it's because Gina knows her issues as a sexual assault survivor.
Tyrell seems content with Sophie but confused by her behavior, and now doesn't know how to feel about her actions post-sex. It'll likely be something they'll have to work through, but they probably will.
Rome's arc with Walter has elicited a host of emotions all season, but hopefully, now that Walter is content in this high-quality facility, we can put some of the back and forth of that to bed.
It was a bit monotonous when Walter hated the tour of the facility, though I can't blame him since that place had no life. And then Maddox and his father gave Rome the biggest opportunity, and Walter got placed in the best position possible.
Rome: What are you doing? If you keep that up, they won't let you in.
Walter: Oh, no. Does that mean I'll miss Mervin the Magnificent?
But then Walter was back to expressing how terrible Rome made him feel for wanting to get rid of him.
Rome's guilt had him once again, considering that he needed to pull Walter out of the facility he had just moved him into under the guise that they could somehow take care of him in some way they couldn't manage to do while he was there.
It went from a mix of heartbreaking and heartwarming to redundant and annoying.
Fortunately, Walter is content and has found his new home there. It was great that he got to reconnect with old friends from high school, and it's obviously a better fit for him, and he gets to have a better social life.
I wish Rome had taken more time with Maddox for a special moment. Maddox was eager to express how much Rome changed his life after graduation, but Rome was too distracted by his phone call.
And while Maddox and Clark expressing themselves at Rome's door were great, it lacked some of the emotional impact.
Gary's Father's Day was a nice blend of comedic and emotional, which was true to form for him, and we got the dynamic duo that is Gary and Danny, which is always a win.
It made sense that Javier was heavy on his mind on his first Father's Day without him. His dream was a reminder of that, and for once, it was endearing that Maggie spent much of the hour trying to get Gary to appreciate everything as a sign that his father was sending him love.
Maggie: Alright, nobody come into the bedroom for the next 15 seconds.
Gary: Mommy's either wrapping Father's Day presents or pretty obviously cheating on daddy; what do you think? Hey, if it's Eddie, use protection. Friend group can't afford another love child.
Gary and Maggie have always clashed regarding these matters, but Christopher Lloyd's cameo put him over the edge and opened his heart to accept that his father was trying to show him some love.
I love AMLT surprise cameos, and you can't beat a legend like Lloyd.
Danny and Gary, both playing the dead dad card to get a booth at a restaurant, was a great scene and classic shenanigans for the two of them.
I loved that on Father's Day, Gary got to spend it with his pseudo-son, and Danny got the opportunity to spend it with his favorite uncle, who has helped him through everything since Jon died.
Over to you, AMLT Fanatics. Would you like to see Delilah and Eddie reunited romantically? What do you think about Gary's first Father's Day? Sound off below in the comments!
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.
