A Million Little Things Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Austin
Jasmine Blu
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A universal truth of life is there are no real -- or right -- answers for everything.
We saw a great deal of that on A Million Little Things Season 2 Episode 5. What's the right way to grieve the head of the family? Everyone does it differently.
How can you help someone learn to live their life again? Sometimes, no matter what you do and how supportive you are, you can't.
It was another one of those quieter hours of the series that focused on, well, the little things. The paternity mysteries and such hit the backburner, and the gang was trying to make it through another day.
Delilah was putting together Charlie's birth announcement. It wasn't until she contacted Seymour that it hit her that everyone doesn't know Jon is dead.
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Jon died, and Charlie was born within the year. What an eventful year for the Dixon family, and if you were only loosely attached to them, one or both events escaped you.
Sophie returned with more screentime after being mostly missing since the A Million Little Things Season 2 Episode 1. She is coming along in her adaption to Jon's absence.
It's hard on her, but she has placed a lot of her energy into baby Charlie. It's setting the groundwork for a tremendous fallout out when the truth gets revealed. Sophie has lost herself in Charlie to get through the grief.
After last year, whenever the kids and I think of family, we really do think of you. All of you. We couldn't imagine taking this photo of Charlie's birth announcement without all of you.
Delilah
Charlie is the light that came from the darkness for Sophie, and she has taken a more upbeat tone in her attempts to move past her father's death. She doesn't want to be sad anymore, and Charlie's existence makes her less unhappy.
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It's a contrast to how Delilah and Danny are getting through the days in Jon's absence. Delilah, most of the time, doesn't openly show her grief like the others, although she's much better at seeming to care than she was during A Million Little Things Season 1.
But when Sophie bounded into the kitchen and said Charlie's birth announcement should be a family photo in traditional form, I wanted Delilah to tell her no.
Delilah didn't want it, and Danny was visibly uncomfortable at the suggestion; he grew more agitated leading up to the picture.
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It wasn't what either of them wanted to do, nor was it conducive to what was best for them or cathartic, so why did they need to sacrifice that to appease Sophie?
It maybe wouldn't have been a stark issue if Sophie weren't so forceful with it and willing to pitch a fit when it wasn't happening.
At no point did either woman look to Danny to confer with him on what he wanted, and if they had, then maybe Sophie would've realized something else was necessary for all of their benefit.
Danny couldn't consider taking a family photo in the manner they used to without Jon. Sophie felt it was the best way to keep his memory alive.
But Delilah knows the truth about Charlie's birth father, so it made the situation difficult. The haste to accommodate Sophie consisted of phoning the family photographer.
Guest-star Richard Kind was a delightful appearance, and it was sad when he didn't know Jon had passed away. He was willing to drop what he was doing to take the photo for Delilah, though, which was sweet.
We haven't seen the remaining Dixons speak about their grief or check in with one another in some time. Gathering together for a little chat was important.
Grief subsides, but it doesn't go away, and with kids and teens, it's compounded with everything else they're enduring as they're figuring out life and coming into their own.
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They needed to find a middle ground. The solution was ideal and embodied everything we're discovering about the series. The group is a blend of people with different paths, but they're all a family.
It was also the best way to get Eddie into the picture with his daughter. It was a way around it without tipping off the other kids. It remains unfortunate that it has to be this way, though.
Delilah and Maggie's exchange while staging Maggie's apartment was another quaint moment between the two friends, but it also felt like there was a missed opportunity.
Between Maggie's recent experiences with Patricia and her career as a therapist, it seemed like she could've presented the notion of how lying to Delilah's children could be inadvisable in the long run.
Maggie: Do you remember when the psychic said a part of Chad still lives on?
Delilah: Yes. Of course.
Maggie: Do you think he meant my brother's heart? Do you think he meant Eric?
They were on the topic, and there is no real nuance to the decision Delilah (and Eddie) made because no one is offering an alternative viewpoint.
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No one can tell Delilah and Eddie what they can and cannot do with their child, but it's natural for the others to have an opinion on it and express as much. They're friends; they're family.
Maggie spiraled a bit after learning the truth years later about what happened to Chad. It's not the same as what's happening to Delilah, Eddie, Charlie, and their other children, but it's something worth exploring.
As a therapist, her advice to anyone else would've been to consider the ramifications of keeping silent for so long. As a friend, she can come at it from the perspective of not wanting to see Delilah get hurt in the long-run.
As an adult who found out years later the extent of what her mother kept from her, it has led to her not speaking to her mom, for the time being, so that you would think she'd have a strong feeling about the situation.
She also has the benefit of not being as close to Delilah as the others. Their conversation would've been stronger if they had touched on it a bit.
Of course, Maggie is sorting through her grief and trying to discover who she is without cancer.
After last year, whenever the kids and I think of family, we really do think of you. All of you. We couldn't imagine taking this photo of Charlie's birth announcement without all of you.
Delilah
The true test of Maggie and Gary's relationship is what happens to them now. For once, Gary is at a point in his life where he's not openly afraid all the time of his cancer returning, and he's hopeful about Maggie's, too.
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Maggie is cancer-free, and it has put a bright spotlight on how they fast-forwarded through most of their relationship. They jumped into the serious stuff because Maggie was dying.
Now she isn't dying, and she doesn't know what her life looks like since she's not living day-to-day. She doesn't know what life looks like for her now that she is living instead of merely existing.
It could be a beautiful journey for her, but it's not going to happen without some problems.
Gary and poor Colin are rubbing Maggie the wrong way without realizing it.
Gary feels disconnected from Maggie. She's right about him not being able to help her figure out what's next. Some things a person has to figure out by themselves, and it's OK.
He was there for her entire journey fighting cancer the second time, and it's reasonable for her to want some space from him in that aspect of her life.
Maggie: Since I met you dying I really want to get back to living. But I don't know how to do that
Gary: Let me help you figure it out. That's why I'm here.
Maggie: Gary, I love you. This is something I need to do myself.
They can't be each other's everything.
And Gary often has to realize, much like Sophie needed to, that what works for them doesn't for everyone else.
Gary found solace in his support group. The support group scenes were touching, and knowing that the women there are real-life survivors made it all the more special, especially during Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Maggie wants to move on and not dwell on it. The support group is a painful reminder, and so was looking at her funeral arrangments.
She's within her rights to explore what life has in store for her now. She needs to communicate better with Gary, though. He has to give her space, and she needs to talk to him about what she needs out of him and stop pulling away.
He was right about how distant she is. She's not giving him much to work with, and he's bending over backward trying to help her.
Nine years ago, I sat here as a breast cancer survivor. Today, I'm sitting here as someone who is in love with a breast cancer survivor. So I gotta ask. How do you support someone when their cancer is gone?
Gary
She's finding kinship with Eric, and while it doesn't feel romantic at all, it does have the potential to drive a wedge between her and Gary if she can communicate and confide in Eric more than her live-in boyfriend.
Right now, she connects to Eric. They're in a similar place in their lives. They're both standing on the cusp of the past and the present, and they don't know how to move forward.
Eric is not a musician, but he runs his late fiancee's music store. It's where they met and fell in love. He can't let it go.
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It's melancholic and dispiriting. The good part? He and Maggie can support each other and push one another to get in a better place.
Their friendship by itself may be pleasant even if it causes some tension.
They're playing it well. It was a nail-biter when it seemed like Maggie went to the open-mic night and performed with Eric watching her.
It was bad enough she didn't share it with Gary, and she knows how insecure he's feeling about her burgeoning relationship.
Is that the actress playing the character who is loosely based on Regina because if Regina commits a crime, that woman gets stopped for questioning.
Gary
However, she went to her old apartment and performed for herself. It's what she needed. She sounded lovely, too.
Gary wondered if Katherine and Eddie were the most stable relationship in the group at the moment, but the pair have a lot to work on.
Eddie was fearful of Katie leaving when he found the information on Austin. It should have given him some comfort knowing she was looking into a place with a great music scene.
She wasn't leaving him, but she wanted to escape the situation. Her reasoning for it made sense. Everyone is in their business all of the time, and she feels exposed.
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She had a moment of considering what her options could be, but she never planned on leaving. She knows that Eddie has to be there for Charlie.
Eddie: I was afraid to ask then, but now I need to know. Do you want to move to Austin?
Katherine: Yeah, I do. But I want you and Theo to come with me. It's so hard to do this, Eddie, but it's been harder with everyone knowing our business. Sometimes I wondered what it would be like if we had a fresh start. We still have to deal with all of our stuff, but at least it would be us dealing with it. But a bunch of people wondering how we're doing, and why we're doing it. I've never been to Austin, but I wish we live there. But I know we can't because you have to be here for Charlie.
She's left making do with what they have now. Fortunately, Eddie got his head on straight and didn't simply run and tell the guys what was happening without speaking to Katherine.
Communication is key.
Taking Katherine to an open-house and pretending to be another couple was cute, even if it didn't seem like a solution or distraction from her need to move.
They're in a cute and fun stage. Katherine had a rough time at Delilah's taking pictures with the baby and seeing Theo with Charlie, but Eddie swooped in to put her at ease and make out a bit in front of everyone.
Theo: See, this book is full of lies. I don't know what to believe anymore.
Eddie: Yeah, neither do I.
They're blissful, and everything with the group was peaceful. They fooled around in a closet at the open house, and they treated the day like a first-date.
Eddie confessed his love for her, and they parted ways for the evening. Is it wrong for me not to trust it? When it comes to Katherine and Eddie, despite their strides, it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Renee and Walter were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. It's a hell of a milestone. My late great-aunt and uncle celebrated 75 years of marriage before they passed away a year apart.
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It's incredible to see anyone married for that long.
Rome, I want to be married for as long as your parents have, but I don't want to be like them where they don't talk about stuff. So I don't want you to resent me, and I don't want to resent you.
Regina
However, one only hopes their arguments weren't as childish as their dispute over Walter's lack of excitement about taking Renee on a cruise.
To be fair, Renee badgered him about the Alaskan cruise forever, and then she wanted to make sure he had the right one or else she would've been disappointed.
It took the fun out of giving it to her. But then she wanted him to feign excitement, too? Come on, Renee!
He didn't need to blow up the way he did, but I felt for the guy. He made up for it by dressing up in his old uniform, and it was sweet.
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The situation made Rome and Regina think about their relationship. The dispute they had at the top of the hour was silly, too.
Rome didn't need to put his life into a commercial, and he cast people who looked just like them. Other than that, it wasn't like people had to know it was them, and Regina knows he's dealing with a lot, and it might have been his way to process something they haven't moved past.
They need to talk to each other; they're at an impasse in their relationship, but I don't know what they can do to get through this.
Regina doesn't want a baby, and Rome Does. If Renee and Walter were the examples for them, then someone has to compromise.
How do you compromise on a child?
Regina suggested finding a middle ground so that they can both win, but how can they do that?
Over to you, AMLT Fanatics!
Let's dissect this episode further in the comments below!
You can watch A Million Little Things online here via TV Fanatic.
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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.
