A Million Little Previews of ‘A Million Little Things’ Season 3

A Million Little Things left millions of fans freaking out with last season’s fateful finale and now, after a delayed start due to COVID shutdowns, Season 3 of the drama is finally here. Opening seconds after Eddie (David Giuntoli) was run down by a speeding car while on the phone with wife Katherine (Grace Park), the March cliffhanger will be quickly resolved, says showrunner DJ Nash promises. “Whether or not Eddie is actively part of [his loved ones’] lives going forward is what our premiere is all about,” he says.

Meanwhile, Rome (Romany Malco) and Regina (Christina Moses) were reeling from their surrogate’s decision to keep the baby they hoped to adopt, and Maggie (Allison Miller) had left town for a fellowship in England after being rejected by former beau and fellow cancer survivor Gary (James Roday Rodriguez). But, teases Nash, “you’ll see how we keep her an integral part of our friend group.” Here, he shares even more tidbits about what’s to come.

I have to ask, but I don’t want to know. You have said in previous interviews that Katherine and Theo’s lives will never be the same. What news can you give us as far as Eddie’s fate?

DJ Nash: I think the quote is exactly right. Katherine and Theo’s life will never be the same. If you’re looking for me to give hints one way or the other about whether or not he thinks it, I will say that Allison Miller had a birthday party and there was a photo of a bunch of the cast coming together to celebrate with her. My sister was very mad and very quick to point out that she did not see David Giuntoli in those pictures. I said to her, “Well, maybe he took the photo,” and then she said, “Oh, okay,” and then texted me 90 seconds later to say “It’s a selfie…I’m very mad at you.” [Laughs]

Oh, no.

In terms of what happens, what I will say is David is incredible and he is our family. Jon (Ron Livingston) died in the cold open up the pilot and Ron is still an active part of our series. We couldn’t imagine saying goodbye to David Giuntoli. Whether or not Eddie is actively part of their friends lives going forward is what our premiere’s all about.

How early in the premiere do we find out definitively what has happened?

I think you find out definitively what’s happened halfway through.

How close to the finale are you picking up the action?

Seconds. We’re picking up with Katherine on that phone call. There was a phone that’s knocked out of her husband’s hands and someone picks up the other end of that call.

Is this the mystery of who hit him?

It’s unclear who hit him. Yeah. Whether or not it was an accident is what you’re saying? I’m not saying that someone targeted him, but that is certainly possible.

And you have said it is someone we have seen already.

Who hit him? Oh. We shall see. We shall see who hit him.

Now Regina and Rome, heartbreaking. I loved Eve. That actress was fantastic.

Ebboney Wilson’s amazing.

So where is this going to spin them? I’ve seen in real life people whose adoptions fall through suddenly find themselves pregnant.

Oh, that’s interesting. I have a very, very close friends who got as far as being in the delivery room only to have the birth mother change her mind. It’s not exactly the story we’re telling, but certainly it influenced the authenticity hopefully of what we’re telling.

And I think this is a turning point for Regina. She’s really hurting and she’s mad at everybody responsible for her hurting. And right now, she sees Rome as one of those people. For Regina, the loss of this baby is very much like if a child had died and different than if the child died, where you’re allowed to have a funeral and mourn than that loss. A part of her is supposed to be happy for Eve that she’s able to take care of her child.

And so, in some ways, Regina is struggling with having feelings that she’s not really given the opportunity to process and this will be a challenge because for Regina and Rome. This is the first thing that threatens to pull them apart.

If she’s also resentful towards Rome, Delilah and Eve — the people she was closest with —that sort of emotional isolation can lead somebody to form new relationships with people who aren’t healthy.

I’d love to have you in the writer’s room. The fact is Rome, Delilah, Maggie, who’s gone to England, and Eve were the people who would normally support her through this, and they’re not there or she does not have access to them the same way. Because you’re right. Delilah has three kids and is dealing with possible resentment towards that. Eve is someone who’s not in her life suddenly and you have Maggie who’s left to her year at Oxford. And now with Rome, because she feels like he made her want this, she is feeling very isolated and we’ll see how that affects Regina.

Speaking of Maggie. How long will we have this international situation?

A while. She goes to Oxford. She follows her dreams and you’ll see how that affects things and how we keep her a integral part of our friend group. But she goes this journey to find herself.

Which allows you to keep Darcy in the picture, which I love because I love Floriana Lima. And I know that James has actually credited you with helping him reclaim his name.

I saw that. I saw that and just to comment on that, I assume it’s true because he’s a truthful person, but that’s a very generous way to see that. I will say our friendship that has come out of this show is just really phenomenal. I think we’ve had incredible conversations in the last couple of years, especially in the last six months as our country is hurting so much for so many reasons. And one of the things we talked about was, is there a story in our show that mirrors what he’s experienced in life?

There’s a number of stories we’ve told, I will leave it for the actors to identify them, that have come from real experiences they’ve had or I should say parallel real experiences they’ve had. And the authenticity they bring, because some of that hurt and pain is real for them, is what makes our show special. That cast, every time the writers put them to a test, they pass it and it’s just I’m very excited about where this season takes them into and how that plays out.

Will Gary be looking at his heritage?

Yeah.

Nice. And will Darcy be connected to that in any way?

Oh, sure. Yeah. I think how could someone have so much self-reflection and not involve their significant other? For sure.

And how does Darcy sit in with the new crowd? She’s friends with Katherine, but she’s replacing a beloved member who is not there right now.

You’re absolutely right. She was friends with Katherine first. That was by design in a way to have her have a reason for being part of the friend group that wasn’t replacing Maggie. And I think when Gary said at the airport, “I can’t lose another friend right now,” to Maggie, first of all, he didn’t realize how ironic those words would be with what was happening on the other side of town with Eddie. But also, I think it really showed his commitment to finding a way to forge a relationship with Darcy while maintaining his friendship with Maggie.  We will see that challenge and is it tough. It really is tough. It brings out the best and worst in everyone.

And Delilah, she’s been through the ringer. She has suffered for two seasons and you give her this wonderful young hot EMT in Parker Young…but EMTs have very dangerous jobs, especially at this time.

Especially during COVID. Our show lives in authenticity. The first day of the writer’s room we all got together and we were discussing “Is COVID part of our storyline? Are we doing that?” And I think hearing all of the writers talk about how much their lives have been affected by these things, if you think about what our show deals with, depression, suicide, breast cancers, chemical dependency, domestic violence…

Things that have all become very acute during this time.

Exactly. People feeling isolated, people having medical problems, having financial problems. Those are all intensified by what’s going on now. It seemed that, while it’s a horrific thing that we’re going through as a country, there was an opportunity for us to show the optimism and the hope that this group of friends rely on to get through this. We’re definitely telling that story.

And what does that do for Delilah and Miles? Because if he enters their pod, that can accelerate a relationship or it need to be put it on pause if he’s got to maintain a physical distance because of the people he’s treating.

We will see. This friend group has to decide who’s in their bubble. That’s certainly a part of the real world that we all face right now and this group of friends will face that, too. Also, we will discover that Delilah, in trying to pursue this relationship with Miles, is met with the memory of Jon and figuring out how those two can coexist. How do you date someone while you’re living in a house where you’re raising kids without your husband and his photos are still on the wall.

With all of this, there have been so many beautiful moments of these friends and families celebrating parts of life. What do you have on the agenda to bring them together and actually give them some sunlight?

Oh, that’s really amazing. That’s a great question. There are a bunch of things that are coming up. Rome’s movie…I’m trying to think of which ones I’m willing to share right now. There’s a bunch of things that pull our group together. I will concede that because of COVID, the big group scenes don’t happen every episode because they take much longer to shoot and you have to shoot differently. But we do have our whole gang coming together.

A Million Little Things, Season Premiere 10/9c, ABC