Allison Miller’s directorial debut on the series delivered an installment firing on all cylinders.
So much of A Million Little Things Season 4 Episode 17 explored the things we’ve come to love most about this series, and every last one of the storylines kept you interested or provoked some emotion.
The restrained touch to the drama provided an installment that had you rooting for all the characters, old and new.
We’ve gotten so many wonderfully paternal scenes from Rome and Tyrell that sometimes it feels like Gina is on the outskirts.
But the hour centered on the special bond that Tyrell has with Gina too, when he spent some time with her and Val operating the food truck and put his charm, compassion, and intuitive nature to good use to bring Val and Vallie together.
Tyrell is such a good kid, and he has a natural ability to provide sound advice and leave a lasting impact on those he surrounds himself with on the series.
He wordlessly witnessed the tension between Val and her estranged daughter, and he took a risk because of his genuine care for Gina and Val and his understanding of Vallie.
He knows what it’s like for a parent to do something technically wrong and for the repercussions to affect the relationship.
And he’d give anything to have his mother still around and this second chance to be happy and healthy with her. Tyrell could get through to Vallie so that no one else could because of that.
Tyrell: My mom broke the law, but she’s not a bad person. You may not see that right now, but it’s the same thing with your mom. She may have made a mistake, but she’s a good person. I’ve seen it firsthand.
Vallie: It’s not the same thing.
Tyrell: You’re right about that, it’s not, because my mom can never come back here again. I don’t get a second chance with her, at least not in this country. I’d give anything for that.
All Val needed was a shot at reconnecting with her daughter. It was hurtful when Vallie stated that she told everyone that her mother was dead, but it would’ve been worse if she went the rest of her life icing her mother out and lost her without reconnecting.
It was beautiful that Vallie gave her that opportunity. It has always felt as if Vallie never knew the whole story about her mother’s past and had a rigid understanding of right and wrong, and her grandmother influenced her perspective of her mom.
Hopefully, the two of them will get to reconnect and form a bond on who Val is now, something that feels real and fair.
And Gina couldn’t contain the pride she had in Tyrell over how he helped. It was a rare glimpse of how much Tyrell’s presence has impacted her life and how much she values and loves him as this child that she couldn’t have.
Things never worked out for the Howards on the baby and adoption front, and there’s always a bit of sadness about that, but they’ve genuinely formed a family of their own with Tyrell, and that’s been beautiful. Thankfully, Tyrell reassured Gina that even though he’s going off to college, that bond they have will never change.
Meanwhile, Rome is already making lasting impressions and positive influences on his students. He had a rocky start on his first day, and part of that was him focusing so much on trying to be a legitimate teacher when he lacked that experience.
But Rome’s best asset has always been his raw vulnerability and honesty with those around him. It’s how he connects with people in person and through film.
Once he cast all that structure aside and leveled with the kids by being himself, he made the breakthrough. And you could see the shift in the students and how they regarded him.
Gina: For 35 years of my life, I was so sure I didn’t want to have kids, and now I don’t know what my life would be without you, and the crazy thing is in a couple of months you’re going off to college and I’m going to lose you.
Tyrell: Please, I may be going off the college, but you’re never going to lose me.
Of course, “Madison” was the one who stood out most. During Rome’s admission that the school influenced him and maybe even contributed to his depression, you could see the wheels turning in “Madison’s” head and that what Rome was saying touched them.
And the second “Madison” said that they wanted to interview someone other than a family member, but a person still close, you could sense that they would be having their very own “Meet Yourself in the Mirror” moment.
But the scene in action with Maddox introducing himself to Rome carried the most emotional weight. How can such a brief scene pack such a punch and bring a person to tears?
Ash Spencer delivered such an impactful and poignant performance with that video, and you could see how much it affected Rome to witness it.
It touched him to know that he both inspired and created this special safe space for this student he had only just met to share such a vulnerable truth.
Maddox trusts Rome, and on day one, Rome has already exhibited that quality that makes the best teachers.
Maybe Maddox will come out and live in his truth one day, and perhaps he won’t. But he took a significant step with that first assignment with Rome, and it was emotional to witness and one of the most touching moments of the hour.
The installment also gets credit for not dragging out any drama and miscommunication with Eddie, Katherine, and Greta.
Do you believe that you have a story to tell?
Rome
Under other circumstances, they would’ve drawn out the differences and failed to give any characters the space to stand in their actions and words without getting forced into a “wrong” or “right” category.
Eddie got blindsided by Greta living with Theo and Katherine, cooking in the kitchen, and wearing matching pajamas with his son. It was never about whether he liked Greta or not, but the principle of him having the right to know these big changes that have happened in his child’s life.
I loved that he and Katherine discussed it, and Katherine immediately recognized her error and also acknowledged that she would’ve felt the same way if the roles were reversed.
We all know Katherine, who just inserted herself into the situation with Anna out of concern, would’ve been livid if Eddie did the same. And Katherine went further and chose to discuss everything there is to know about Greta in a healthy way.
It sucked that Theo was eavesdropping, but Katherine and Eddie were having a healthy and civil conversation and worked through that issue well.
Eddie had a right to know about Greta’s bipolar, too. She was within reason to feel uncomfortable about that, mainly because it prompted Theo to ask her about it, and she was ill-prepared.
But Katherine didn’t do anything wrong in telling Eddie something he should know about Greta when she’s staying with them, and she didn’t have anything to apologize about in that regard.
And thankfully, once Greta cooled down, she recognized that. The same goes for her getting upset when Katherine was honest about her being afraid of Greta’s bipolar.
Greta: Does my being bipolar scare you?
Katherine: Yes. I lost a friend to suicide, and the statistics for people with bipolar are really scary.
It’s a perfectly sensible reaction, and Katherine did well explaining her perspective as someone new to dealing with someone with Bipolar who also lost a friend to mental illness.
Bipolar is scary, and there’s nothing wrong with saying that it is; the only wrong is treating people as monsters or flawed because of this imbalance in their brains.
Katherine and Greta’s relationship has been such a whirlwind that they haven’t talked about all these types of things, and now the honeymoon phase is over, and they can get into the serious discussions they need to have.
I love that Greta owned up to where she faltered. She was afraid that if they discussed her bipolar in detail, she’d scare Katherine away, which was a perfectly human sentiment for Greta.
Theo: Can I ask you a question?
Greta: Sure, anything.
Theo; What does Bipolar mean?
But it was important that she discuss the things with her new partner so she could dispel any misconceptions about her disorder, clear the air, and educate.
The scene of her talking to Theo and Katherine, explaining her disorder to them, and how she manages it was such a great moment. It normalizes these types of discussions.
We can destigmatize mental illness and encourage mental health if we just talk openly about these things more.
I also love that Eddie’s portion of this arc ended when it needed to, and he learned about Greta living there, expressed why he should’ve known, and that was it.
He was only involved in this storyline as much as he was needed, and it pertained to him, then he shifted to his own issues.
It still speaks to the imbalance that sometimes happens in the Eddie/Katherine dynamic that Theo hasn’t met Anna yet even though he’s living with Greta now.
But Eddie took the necessary precautions in holding off before introducing them, and he even called off their plans after he got that visit from Detective Saunders.
Eddie’s maturity this season is one of the highlights.
He had no other choice but to cover for Anna when Saunders questioned him. And they should stick to that story; even though if Saunders wants to, he could pull up surveillance at that convention and see that Anna was nowhere around.
But Anna should’ve told him the truth about what she did that day, and she sure as hell needed to give him a heads up about using him as an alibi.
It tracks based on everything we learned about Anna, that she’s terrified of losing Eddie, and that’s why she’s hiding her drinking from him.
They seemed to have muddied the waters by recognizing if Anna believes she has a drinking problem or if she’s only admitting that she got drunk because of the Peter news.
Eddie is taking it as a drinking problem that he wants to help her with, and that’s what it appears to be. However, something tells me that Anna only saw her drinking and passing out after the Peter incident as a one-time thing.
Regardless, Anna has a problem and needs help. I can’t help but think they wouldn’t introduce Anna’s constant drinking and Greta’s mental illness if they didn’t intend to show Eddie and Katherine dealing with these things with their current partners.
And I don’t know how to feel about them both ending up in relationships with, for lack of a more sensitive term, more baggage when they’ve just climbed from beneath their own.
On the Eddie front, it would likely aid in showcasing how much Eddie had grown and evolved, placing him in the stable, caretaking role in this relationship when he was often the one who needed all of that in his previous one. I get the appeal in showing that side of Eddie, but I’m still on the fence about all of this.
Eddie: Anna, where were you the day that Peter died?
Anna: What? I was home all day, you saw me.
Edde: Then why did you tell the detective you were at the convention with me? He came by to check your alibi, I didn’t correct him because I wanted to talk to you first. Is there something I need to know?
Anna: Eddie, I had nothing to do with what happened to Peter.
Eddie: Then why did you lie?
Anna: Because I panicked.
The Peter death investigation may never die now that Sophie posted her podcast about him on his memorial page.
Sophie chose violence with that one, and honestly, it made sense that she would want to put her truth out there again when he’s gone and can’t fight it, and she no longer has to worry about incriminating Gary.
Of course, it could still backfire in other ways. People will likely challenge her releasing it when Peter can’t refute it, but Sophie’s need for other people to know the truth about this man that everyone is praising is understandable.
Sophie was back to being that girl that we love best when she had her moments with Gary in that car. I’m glad that they’ve gotten past that awful tension between them because the familial moments between Gary and the Dixon children are often the series at its best.
And here, Sophie got to be there for Gary. She also expressed in more detail and with more heart how terrified she was of the prospect of losing him.
It dovetailed nicely with what was happening with Tyrell, Gina, Val, and Vallie.
Sophie would’ve never forgiven herself if Gary’s cancer came back and she lost him while she was holding a grudge against him for loving her so much that he tried to protect her in his warped way.
Gary has frequently expressed doubts and fears about being a father, namely because of how things backfired with Sophie. Others have reassured him since, but he needed to hear from Sophie specifically that he’s a good dad.
And if her words weren’t enough, her actions, racing with the longest six minutes ever, to get his sperm to the bank in time solidified that.
Gary and Maggie’s fertility antics have been lighthearted even when facing challenges.
Under normal circumstances, it would be appalling that Maggie’s doctor shared her previous pregnancy with Gary, assuming it was with him. It led to a classic Gary joke that was amusing.
And the two of them having some fun in the bathroom at home because Gary refused to beat the meat in the clinic with used videos and magazines as inspiration was on-brand for these two.
Dr.: Unfortunately, you guys aren’t pregnant. I’m sorry. I know it’s disappointing, but I’m not worried, and you shouldn’t be either. These things take time, and we know you guys can do it because you guys got pregnant last year.
Maggie: Um, technically, we didn’t get pregnant last year. There’s a very fertile guy across the pond who’s responsible for that while we were broken up.
Gary: Brings a whole new meaning to British Invasion.
The comedic elements of Gary racing to get to the clinic in 60 minutes and facing every problem on the way made things funny and entertaining. And the heart of it all came when he was willing to sacrifice that and put Sophie first because it only confirmed how cut out he is for fatherhood.
But we all could guess that they would face some more challenges in their path toward parenthood. It’s not surprising that Gary’s sperm count is low and that this is their next obstacle.
It wouldn’t be A Million Little Things if they didn’t have these issues. One can only guess that it’ll take some work, but the two of them will find out they’re expecting by the finale.
Until then, we’ll have to brace ourselves for a rocky ride.
Over to you, AMLT Fanatics.
What did you think of this installment? Do you still think Anna did something to Peter? Will this go away or will Sophie releasing that podcast again cause more drama?
Did you expect another obstacle in Maggie and Gary’s journey toward parenthood? Sound off below!
You can watch A Million Little Things online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
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