Everyone Struggles to Move Forward on ‘A Million Little Things’ (RECAP)

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 3, Episode 2 of A Million Little Things, “writings on the wall.”]

In A Million Little Things‘ December 3 episode, moving forward isn’t easy for anyone.

Eddie (David Giuntoli) is adjusting to being in a wheelchair after getting hit by a car. Katherine (Grace Park) is worried about returning to work and leaving him home alone. Rome (Romany Malco) and Regina (Christina Moses) have different ways of dealing with the adoption falling through and then her deciding getting another baby the same day wasn’t a healthy option.

Gary (James Roday Rodriguez) has a new relationship, with Darcy (Floriana Lima), and is trying to maintain a friendship with ex-girlfriend Maggie (Allison Miller) over FaceTime while she’s in England. And Delilah (Stephanie Szostak) and Sophie (Lizzy Greene) still find it difficult to move forward without Jon.

But is there a bright light at the end of the tunnel for any of them?

A Little Help From Friends

Eddie brushes aside Katherine’s concerns and insists she return to work in the office (he can even get mugs from high shelves, using a spatula), and since she has an important meeting, there’s only so much time she has to argue with him. Look at the résumés for a home health care worker, she urges on her way out.

But in their rush to leave, neither Katherine nor Theo (Tristan Byon) notice that the latter left Eddie’s wheelchair and phone on the other side of the room (after timing how quickly he can move around). When Gary brings Theo home to change into his “power suit” before heading to join his mom at the office, Eddie quickly and quietly enlists his friend’s help; he couldn’t make it to the bathroom and doesn’t want his son to see. Gary “accidentally” spills water on his lap to help and cleans up while Eddie changes.

He didn’t want his family to see him on the floor if he couldn’t pull himself up onto the chair, Eddie explains, admitting, “I don’t know how much longer I can keep putting on a happy face for everyone.” Furthermore, he thinks he got what he “deserved … for all of the stupid choices” he’s made.

He’s not the only one struggling; Katherine shares with her son that it was overwhelming to be home for the past month, and he in turns opens up that he felt like he did when she “went to the Grand Canyon” (aka when she left when her and Eddie’s marriage was really on the rocks).

Gary turns to Darcy in hopes she can help Eddie, but the physical therapist says she’s booked. And she’s not exactly eager to make room in her schedule because she was the only one there for Katherine when Eddie cheated. “She wasn’t eating, she wasn’t sleeping,” she tells her boyfriend.

So, Gary and Rome take it upon themselves to force Eddie to participate in the usual Friday game of basketball and keep fighting. He does, thanking Gary after. But once home, he finds that Katherine has discovered his pants in the laundry and regrets returning to work so soon. Though against it earlier, he agrees to hire a health care worker.

And Darcy, over for dinner with Gary, sees what this is doing for her friend and volunteers to take Eddie on as a client. “I’m not doing it for him,” she makes clear to Gary after. “I’m doing it for Katherine.”

And it’s good there’s one less thing for Katherine to be worried about, because Reverend Stewart (Gerard Plunkett), the father of the girl whose death Eddie holds himself responsible, shows up at the house. When Theo answers, he says he has the wrong address, leaving Katherine with, “You’ve got a nice kid there. Make sure you enjoy every moment.”

Real Life vs. Fiction

There’s an obvious disconnect between Rome and Regina as they struggle to move on without a baby. He’s focused on work and his script; a notable actress may be playing Regina. She’s taking peeks at Eve’s social media and seeing the baby that could’ve been theirs.

The actress, Shanice (Nikiva Dionne), loves the script, but does have a few notes, as Rome had heard she would. She doesn’t like that the friend who was being cheated on said she didn’t realize the funeral would be an all-day thing because it made her unlikeable. (Eventually that friend will be the best character in the entire thing.) “That’s sort of the point. This whole thing explores the idea that in life, just when you think you know someone, you don’t,” Rome explains.

What Shanice does love is the way he portrays Regina and her relationship with Rome. “It’s perfect,” she says of the way that’s written. “You’re the couple everyone roots for.” Ouch.

After, Regina tries to talk to him because “I don’t want that to be fiction,” but he instead confronts her about throwing out all the baby stuff they had without talking to him. He leaves before she can respond, so it’s not until later that she’s able to tell him she put everything in their storage locker. She’s still grieving, she confirms, and it’s taking her longer to do so because she feels like she’s doing it alone.

Roommate Bonding

Honestly? Most of the 4.5 rating for this episode is due to how fun Allison Miller and Chris Geere are as roommates Maggie and Jamie in this episode. Jamie’s eavesdropping on her video chats home because she’s taking them in the living room without headphones and offering some advice, namely by noting that she hasn’t really done anything since she arrived at Oxford.

But the two begin bonding. The best part of the episode is when they realize the trunk sitting in the living room belongs to the guy she replaced (after he’d dropped out of the program). She wants to try to return it, he decides they should open it. “Why did you beat cancer if you’re not going to live?” Jamie asks. She thinks the trunk being locked is a sign. “We need more tools,” he counters.

And then he’s utterly horrified when she brings him tea. “You never drink tea with a tea bag still in it. It’s so uncouth,” he explains. “Let me put it in terms you’d understand. It’s like putting jelly on a hot dog.”

Maggie’s the one to open the trunk (handcuffs! a beret! a bucket hat! headphones! microphones!), and soon the two are playing auctioneer, rapping, and bonding. Seriously, we could watch an entire episode of just the two of them and never be bored. The breakthroughs come when she pretends to host a podcast. He shares why he doesn’t like therapists — one broke privilege and shared what he’d said about his father in a session as a teen — and she tells him that wasn’t OK. And she gets an idea about what she could do next…

Treading Carefully

Gary and Darcy’s relationship seems to be going great. He’s staying over, Colin seems comfortable (though the dog is destroying her exercise bands), and she’s cool with him being friends with his ex…especially since she lives on a different continent. But it gets awkward when Maggie FaceTimes him and sees he’s at Darcy’s and has Colin there.

Maggie’s worried about how Rome’s handling the adoption stuff, and Gary notes that Regina was right that it wasn’t the healthiest idea to replace one baby with another. “Diving into something new just to forget the old thing is not always the best idea,” Maggie agrees, adding, “though Colin seems fine with it.” He hangs up when he realizes she thinks he and Darcy are moving too fast.

But it gets him thinking, because he decides to head home that night. “I want to make sure that we’re not moving too fast because I think you’re amazing,” he tells Darcy. “I really want this to work.”

Right Timing

Sophie heads off to her father’s alma mater (dressed for it, in a Harvard sweatshirt, even though she hasn’t even applied yet), and it’s harder than she expected. Her friend shares a memory she can’t recall, and Sophie admits, “It’s like the longer he’s gone, the more things I forget about him.” And after she sees where her father left his mark, with his name on the wall along with all the other residents’, she returns home early.

But she doesn’t interrupt her mother’s date with Miles because Delilah canceled. While cleaning up, she’d noticed the photo of herself and Jon on the nightstand and put it in a drawer. Then she’d remembered being with him.

For the two Dixons, both their plans were perfect on paper. ButSophie realizes that going to Harvard won’t make her feel closer to her father. And Delilah isn’t ready to have Miles in the house she shared with Jon. Both wish they’d had more time with him. (Does it feel like A Million Little Things is trying to pretend sometimes that Eddie and Delilah never had an affair, other than the fact their baby exists? It’s a good thing, because that was one of the weakest parts of the series.)

Maybe Delilah can find some happiness in spending time with her father. After an earlier conversation over the phone in which she had to remind him who she was (not his nurse), she calls him near the end of the episode to make plans for a trip to France together.

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