Thoughts on A Million Little Things (with spoilers at the end)

Photo from abc.go.com

Last fall, I kept promising myself I wouldn't watch any new shows. Then my friend told me I should be watching A Million Little Things. She explained the premise and I was curious enough to check out the first episode. Then I kept watching until I was caught up and could just check in on a weekly basis. It's marketed for fans of This is Us and it has all the feels like that show does. The cast, aside from Ron Livingston, was a bunch of unknown or vaguely familiar actors, as far as I was concerned. Fast forward a few months and I got a thrill from one of them replying to my tweet recently.

The premise from Wikipedia doesn't tell much, as to avoid spoilers:
Set in Boston, a tight-knit circle of friends is shocked after a member of the group dies from suicide unexpectedly. Each friend realizes that they need to finally start living life as they cope with their loss. The title is a reference to the saying "Friendship isn't a big thing – it's a million little things."

My take (no spoilers):
The series started out with Rome (Romany Malco) standing in his kitchen trying to kill himself with a combination of pills. Then he gets a call that his friend Jon actually killed himself and spits them into the sink. However, he doesn't get rid of his note, which causes problems later on. We learn about Jon through the eyes of his widow, children, friends, and people who are keeping his secrets. Ron Livingston plays Jon and we see him during flashback scenes. Jon's friend Gary (James Roday), who is in remission from breast cancer (yes, men can get it too), meets Maggie (Allison Miller, who looks like a cross between Drew Barrymore and Katharine Heigl) at a cancer support group meeting. He then brings her to Jon's funeral where she instantly becomes friends with Delilah (Jon's widow, played by Stéphanie Szostak) and Regina (Rome's wife, played by Christina Moses). Jon's friend Eddie (David Giuntoli) is having problems connecting with his workaholic wife Katherine (Grace Park), which leads him to seek affection elsewhere.

The initial thing that brought all four men together is that they were trapped in an elevator and started bonding. Jon made a promise to look after all of them and asked them to do the same for him. (At least that's what I remember.) There are other complications on the show, such as Jon's assistant Ashley (Christina Ochoa) keeping secrets for him, Maggie refusing to get chemo for her breast cancer, Eddie and Katherine separating, Delilah and Regina trying to open a restaurant, Rome struggling with depression, etc. I don't want to say any more as to not spoil it. There are some joyful moments as well as some heartbreaking ones. All in all, it's worth a binge-watch, if you haven't seen it yet.

Check out the trailer:

Spoilers below...







Not too late to turn back...








Last chance!


I wanted to share some thoughts with other fans, as well as say who my top five favorite characters are.

Favorite characters:
1. Katherine--At first I didn't know what to expect from her. She seemed quiet and closed off. Then when she started showing more emotion, she really stood out and I started to like her the most. She even helps Delilah, after everything that happened with the affair. I really hope she and Eddie can work things out, as I like them together the more I see glimpses from the past.
2. Regina--She's a very powerful and emotionally charged character and I enjoyed seeing her succeed with the restaurant.
3. Gary--He's another one who grew on me after a while. At first I was annoyed at him for pressuring Maggie into getting chemo, but there are so many things about him to love. Especially how he treats kids and dogs. And, of course, how devoted he is to Maggie.
4. Danny--It's nice to see a pre-teen boy trying to figure things out for himself in regards to being gay. He just seems like a sweet kid.
5. Maggie--She is complex and has a lot of layers, but she's just instantly likable. I love when she was teaching Sophie how to drive. I just find it annoying that everyone treats her like a therapist because that's her job. It's like they take advantage of her friendship to resolve their emotional issues.

I wouldn't say I hate anyone on the show, aside from Regina's uncle, but there are some characters I take issue with. Eddie and Delilah for not only having an affair but also being dishonest about who the baby's father is. Eddie is attractive, so it's hard to stay mad at him. I was also annoyed that even though he was the one who strayed from his marriage, he was also the one saying that he and Katherine should get divorced. And now that things are good between them, he wants to start telling the truth about fathering Delilah's baby. If he had been up front to begin with, it's something they also could have worked on. Now that Delilah is about to have the baby, this is going to ruin things with Katherine all over again. Also, I thought it was impulsive and a bit selfish of him to go off touring with his band. He's a father with responsibilities!

Delilah also annoys me with how she acts all helpless one moment and then all strong and independent the next. She comes off as "cutesy" in a way that's hard to explain.

Then there's Ashley, who has been shifty and secretive while also trying to help Jon's family. The letter Jon wrote was nothing that needed to be hidden for so long.

Everyone else is in a neutral, but good place for me, i.e. Rome, Theo, Sophie, and Jon.

The final episode of the season revealed some interesting information, such as Jon's connection with Barbara Morgan and the revelation that P.J. (Rome's new friend, if we call him that....there's more of a father figure thing going on) is Barbara's son, whom she was most likely pregnant with before she met Mitch. Also that Regina is adamant about not wanting kids, which I hope won't cause a rift between her and Rome.

What are your thoughts? What do you think is in store for season two?