‘A Million Little Things’: Allison Miller on Maggie’s Big Decision About Gary

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for A Million Little Things Season 4, Episode 11 “Piece of Cake.”]

Maggie (Allison Miller) knows what she wants, and she goes after it in the latest A Million Little Things.

Following that surprise elevator kiss, Maggie and Gary (James Roday Rodriguez) keep trying to talk to one another, only to be interrupted — by her boyfriend, Cam (Ryan Hansen), Katherine (Grace Park) ending up in the hospital (she should be OK) — and then he seemingly closes the door on them. Yes, Gary kissed Maggie back (“You know how long I wanted to kiss you back?” he asks), but that doesn’t change things. She told him they couldn’t figure out what her life was without cancer together, he reminds her, and he can’t risk her getting caught up in the moment again like she did with the kiss.

“Do you have any idea how hard it was to go into a pawn shop and sell the ring I bought for the woman I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with? It’s taken everything in me to get to a place where I can be happy about us just being friends. I can’t go through that again. I won’t,” Gary explains.

However, in the final scene of the episode, he’s heading out to take Colin for a walk only to find Maggie walking up to his door. “I shouldn’t have kissed you in the elevator,” she tells him. “I should’ve waited until I broke up with Cam, which I just did, and it’s not because I turned 30, it’s not because I caught up in the moment, it’s because –” He kisses her.

ABC/Darko Sikman

Miller breaks down Maggie’s decisions and teases what’s ahead, including in the episode she’ll be directing.

Maggie makes two spur-of-the-moment decisions about Gary in one night. She says it’s not because she turned 30 or got caught up in the moment. What is driving her? Just love?

Allison Miller: The weight of this birthday forces Maggie to recognize that she’s living on borrowed time. When Gary tells her to show up for the rest of her life, everything snaps into focus and she sees that the rest of her life is with Gary.

ABC/Darko Sikman

There’s a lot of history, some of which Gary brings up with the ring. What’s next for Maggie and Gary? Are they together again? What can you preview about the conversations to come for them?

Once Maggie and Gary emerge from the whirlwind of the party night they’ll have to figure out what comes next. They’re committed to making it work this time and that means tying up loose ends with Camden and the other relationships that are important to them. I think the big questions are going to come into play now about serious commitment. Do we get married? Do we have children? Is Colin allowed on the furniture at Maggie’s place?

At the party, Maggie talks about realizing how fragile life is and there was a time she hadn’t thought she’d make it to 30. Now that she has, are we going to see anything different in Maggie when it comes to her life?

Maggie wants to make every moment sacred from this point on. She wants to be present with the people she loves and what she believes in which means standing up for those beliefs at work as well.

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Cam seemed like a great guy and maybe what Maggie needed at the time. Was it only her feelings for Gary that prompted her to break up with him or also that there are some things he can’t understand (like with her birthday)?

Cam got to see a lot of the best parts of Maggie and I think she was afraid to show him her messier side. Maggie was always keeping pieces of herself from him. He was such a perfect guy and I don’t think Maggie was ever fully able to let her walls down with him. Being seen and loved for who she truly is, mess and all, is a big part of Gary and Maggie’s love. Maybe if she had allowed Cam in, he would have been there for her in the same way! They both deserve people who can do that for them.

Congratulations on directing! Is there anything you can tease about that episode?

Thank you! Episode 17 is going to be incredibly fun! All sorts of new opportunities for our characters, a ridiculously fun road trip, and some really excellent new characters who will add layers of complexity.

A Million Little Things, Wednesdays, 10/9c, ABC