A Million Little Things recap: Shows, swipes, and scars
We pick back up right where we left A Million Little Things in the winter finale with Sophie trashing all of Eddie’s guitars after Delilah told her that she and Eddie had an affair while Jon was alive. The poor kid is so hurt that they could’ve deceived her dad like that and is really taking it out on Eddie’s instruments. Unfortunately, little Theo sees the whole thing.
Somehow they must manage to contain her rage because next we see Katherine (the saint!) is driving Sophie home. When they get there, Sophie won’t talk to Delilah other than to tell her she killed her dad. Things don’t get better as Sophie starts flouting her curfew, coming home late after her shifts at the restaurant (where she’s being forced to work to pay for Eddie’s replacement guitars, which seems a little unfair?), and refusing to eat breakfast with the family. Maybe Danny’s first night performing in his school’s rendition of Grease will bring them all back together? Maybe not, since Sophie’s refusing to go. Danny’s bummed his sister might not be there but more preoccupied that his first kiss is about to happen on a stage — and with a girl.
Gary — who’s dealing with his breakup with Maggie by sleeping around and therefore getting tested for STDs — is painting the stage for the show, so is at the school and overhears the other kids asking Danny if he’s nervous about the big kiss scene. When Danny then walks in on Gary getting close to one of his teachers, the latter asks the former about the upcoming kiss. Danny admits he wishes it was with Elliot because kisses are supposed to mean something. He’s also just upset about his parents and the whole messy situation.
Over at Rome and Gina’s place, they’re showing an adoption agent around their home and hanging out with her ridiculously cute kid too, since she couldn’t get a sitter. They’re all set and the lady seems impressed and then Gina mentions she filled out their medical records too. Rome hesitates and once the agent leaves, he asks Gina if she disclosed his depression on the forms. She says she didn’t because there’s such stigma around mental health and she’s worried it might damage their chances. Rome feels weird about this so goes and sees his therapist and ultimately comes to the decision that he needs to be honest about it because he can’t start his life as a dad with a lie.
Elsewhere, Eddie’s sister sends a gift for the new baby, prompting Theo to ask why he’s never met his aunt. Eddie decides to tell Theo the truth: she has a problem with alcohol and it’s not a good idea for them to be around her until she gets better. Theo wants to know how they can help her and Eddie tells him they can’t until she wants them to. He then admits to his son that he, too, has a problem with alcohol. Theo is proud of him.
While Gary walks around angry at the world and hooking up with everyone, Maggie (now with grown-back-in short hair) has coffee with Eric as they try to decide what to put on their dating app profiles. They find it hilarious when the barista thinks they’re dating, but it’s also enough to make Maggie start swiping and, of course, she sees Gary on there.
It’s showtime! Somehow Gina has managed to talk Sophie into attending, but once there she completely avoids her mom and Eddie, even forcing Gary to sit next to Maggie so she doesn’t need to be near Delilah. As the performance starts, baby Charlie starts to cry so Katherine (again, the saint!), says she’ll take her out so D doesn’t miss Danny. Backstage, Danny and Elliot are stealing glances at each other. Finally, Danny tells Elliot that he really hurt his feelings not talking to him all through rehearsals. He’s sick of people hiding their feelings and tells Elliot he’s about to have his first kiss and wishes it could be with him. And then!!! Elliot kisses him!! And ABC kinda-almost shows it. Cute!
At the interval, Maggie tries to talk to Gary, telling him they can’t keep avoiding each other. She’s worried about him. He tells her she doesn’t get to have an opinion about his life anymore. He’s annoyed about Eric and that she probably went straight to him when they broke up. She says she did, but because he was her only friend that wasn’t also his friend and, at that point, she was hoping he’d change his mind about them ending things. She walks off, telling him she doesn’t feel that way anymore. Gary watches the next half of the show from the back.
Then it’s the moment we’ve all (totally not) been waiting for! Danny and the girl playing Sandy’s big kiss. The little girl tells Danny she’s nervous and Danny, the new kissing pro, assures her it’s going to be fine, he’s done it before. They share a very age-appropriate, chaste kiss and Danny turns round to smile at Elliot. Later, Danny tells Gary about his real first kiss and says when Gary’s ready to tell him he’s still in love with Maggie, he’s ready to hear it.
As they leave, D tries to talk to Sophie one more time, but her daughter tells her nothing she says can changes anything and that she can’t live at home anymore. She goes to stay with Rome and Gina. While Sophie’s getting ready for bed, Gina tells Rome she’s worried his depression will return and she won’t recognize the signs if it comes back. But she is proud of him for everything he’s done to get help and that, she believes, is a testament to how ready he is to be a father, so she’s revised the application to include his depression.
Eddie’s feeling bad about Soph and the way she was there for her brother makes him think he wants to reach out to Lyndsay. Just then, Theo comes down the stairs, unable to sleep because he’s worried Eddie’s problem might come back. Eddie tells his son it’s going to be okay because now he admits it’s a problem and has people who believe in him, so he can do anything.
While walking home, Gary is mindlessly swiping on his dating app and comes across Maggie (apparently online dating isn’t oversaturated in Boston). He’s mad and takes it out on a car that runs a stop sign, nearly hitting him. When the dude gets out of the car to face off with Gary, Gary thinks he can take him until the other guy pulls a gun on him. Luckily he drives off without using it, but Gary is clearly shaken up.
Maggie’s still annoyed about her conversation with Gary, so she and Eric go for a run to blow off steam. Once they get back to his place, he takes off his sweater and is quick to make sure his t-shirt doesn’t ride up and show his scar. Maggie asks what he does when he’s intimate with someone and he says he hasn’t been with anyone since Chloe (his late ex). Maggie kisses him and he reciprocates at first before ultimately pulling away. Maggie is super embarrassed, apologizes and leaves hastily. Once she’s gone, Eric takes off his shirt and DUMDUMDUM there’s no scar on his chest! Meaning he can’t be the recipient of her brother’s heart. He stares at his unscarred chest in the mirror for a good few seconds just so we can all let this sink in.
And that’s it for this week. What is Eric’s deal? How did he wind up getting involved in Maggie’s mom’s life? Maybe we’ll find out next week…or maybe we’ll find out in 5-7 episodes time. Who can say!
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