A Million Little Things‘ Gary and Maggie, Take 2? James Roday Rodriguez Weighs In on That Fall Finale Ending
Are one of A Million Little Things‘ original couples on the road to getting together again? Wednesday’s fall finale certainly made it seem like that’s a possibility.
The episode focused on Gary, whose therapist prompted him to reckon with his romantic past. Of course, as Gary was filling a box with reminders of his relationship with Darcy, that was the exact moment that Liam — Darcy’s young son — showed up at Gary’s apartment and said he wanted to live there for good. Realizing that Liam was feeling sidelined by his parents’ reunion and the imminent birth of his sibling, Gary called Darcy to let her know the boy was with him. But it was Stephen, Darcy’s ex-husband, who showed up to retrieve the boy. And Gary’s growth over the course of this season allowed him to be gracious to Stephen and to help patch things up between Liam and his dad.
Before the kid left, Gary gifted him his prized Bruins cap. “Wherever you go, whether we’re together or not, when you wear this, I’m with you,” Gary said, hugging him.
Then, at the end of the episode, Gary accepted Maggie’s impromptu invitation to accompany her to Albany to talk with her stalker, who turned out to be the grieving and angry mother of a former therapy client who’d killed himself. (And did we mention that, when he was tossing all previous relationship mementos, he wound up keeping the “I’m in” Post-It from Maggie?)
Even though Maggie seems happily enmeshed with Cam, with whom she exchanged “I love yous” earlier in the episode… might we be on the precipice of a Gary/Maggie reunion? That was one of several topics of conversation when TVLine got on the phone with James Roday Rodriguez to chat about the episode.
TVLINE | This episode feels like a bit of a turning point for Gary. Do you think that that’s overstating it?
Well, I think there’s an opportunity being presented for closure, for an opportunity to sort of clean the slate and move on, and maybe let other doors open. I think if he was a healthier person, he might be able to recognize that the best version of that is probably something new, something that he has yet to see, someone that he’s yet to meet. But because he’s Gary [Laughs] and he’s a part of this group of humans, I suspect that he will choose to recognize that that door leads him back to a familiar place.
TVLINE | I’m torn, because I was very into Gary and Maggie at the beginning of the series, but you all did such a nice job of breaking them off and getting them into these other healthy relationships. So what do you way to the Gary/Maggie ‘shippers who’ve been carrying that torch all this time? What should they read into this?
Well, I would say on the one hand, I understand why Gary and Maggie ‘shippers exist, because they were a pretty integral, sort of architectural element of the show and where it began and why it felt like maybe we were doing something worth watching, right? On the flip side, I think [Gary and Maggie are] two incredibly dysfunctional people who may only be able to achieve a facsimile of function with one another. Now, maybe that’s not the most romantic reason for the two of them to get back together, but I do think we’ve seen enough of them away from each other to wonder if it’s possible for them to not sabotage any other thing that they’re a part of. [Laughs]
So maybe there is just this sort of invisible line that exists between the two of them, and it’s kind of futile to fight against it, and the sooner they stop fighting, maybe, you know, the happier they’ll be — in their own twisted, dysfunctional way.
TVLINE | When you spoke with my colleague, Matt Mitovich, you mentioned that the Gary/Darcy storyline was maybe not as done as it seemed. Anything to add now?
I was referring to this episode, as there was still maybe one more epilogue to come.
TVLINE | Got it.
Yeah. I mean, she’s carrying the other dude’s baby. Like, that’s a game over, right? Game, set, match, dude. You’re out. You’re out. He’s back in. That’s it. Even on our show. Even on this show, it has to be it. [Laughs]
TVLINE | Sophie seems in a really forgiving mood now, and in a much better place —except when it comes to Gary. What can you tease about that relationship and its possible repair as the season progresses?
I think the issue with Sophie and Gary is that she trusted him in a way that she hasn’t trusted any of the other adults on this show, including her own mother, since Jon passed. So, I think the degree of disappointment in Gary dwarfs anything that she has experienced. I mean, yes, she came around with Eddie eventually, but also, like, who was Eddie to her, really?
I think this was a great betrayal… and I think it’s fair, frankly, that she would say, “Get out of my life forever.” There has to be consequences when you make decisions like this, and the truth is, he got lucky by not having to go to jail. So everything doesn’t come up roses when you break into some dude’s house and bag his head and he ends up clinging to life in a hospital bed. Like, you’ve got to pay the piper at some point, and I think that’s what Gary is doing with Sophie. That’s, like, the worst punishment he could have gotten, honestly. That’s worse, I think, than going to jail.
What do you think, A Million Little Things fans? Hit the comments with your thoughts on the fall finale!
I think they know this is the last season and Gary and Maggie have always been endgame.
Agreed – the show seems to have run its course and I’ll be very surprised if it gets renewed.
Although it doesn’t do well in live ratings, it does quite well over course of the week with play-back; something like tripling the live audience viewership. So it might have a chance of renewal depending on how the network views playback numbers.
Agreed. If anything, I think this episode proved that it might have more life in it than another half-season. It was a great episode, perhaps the best since the first season.
I am, maybe I was, such a fan of the show, but it feels like they’re going round in circles going nowhere. What you wrote, Lisa, it really stuck in my head. Cos it feels so right. The ratings are bad cos the show is bad. Don’t know what DJ Nash is thinking, but the show is bad. atlerast not as good as season 1. Carachters don’t know what to do.
Rome depression is back… Rome trying to end his life and the other friends saving him could be the last episode.
The showrunner spent S2 and S3 getting the carachters into worse situations every episode, they got worse and worse and ythen something at the end saved the situation, but in the next episode thing got worse again. He thinks this is the heart of the show. He thinks this is where the good ratings came from. He is so wrong !
AMillion Little Things is my favorite show. I certainly hope it continues. I love all the characters except Katherine, she is one that needs to move abroad. I love the depth of the characters. We’ll see I guess.
I do like that Ryan Hansen is not acting like Dick on VM for a change… But it’s clear he’s going to get pushed aside… I agree they are trying to figure out what to do… This show was pretty trendy in a way in that they were one of the first shows to kill of a known lead actor in first episode and have been trying to figure everything else out since…
I think maybe Dorsey’s baby may end up being Gary’s. Hopefully, Eddie and Anna make.it work next season.
I just love ” A million little things”❤
I thought that Gary was going to end up finding a pregnancy test that Darcy had taken while they were together, meaning that her baby is Gary’s.
My husband thinks that Maggie/Gary is a bad idea and proclaimed them both stupid at the end of the show. A part of me was kind of hoping for them to grow up and work it out, until Cam showed up. Ryan Hansen is just so charming and doesn’t seem likely to self-destruct or drop a bomb into the relationship.
No No No No No. I love Gary and I like Maggie. I don’t like Gary and Maggie, lol. I’ve enjoyed Maggie much more with her other partners. But I’m guessing along with others here that it won’t matter. Betting this is the last season. If it isn’t I can totally see Gary and Maggie getting back together and then finding out that the Dorsey baby is Gary’s. Although I’m not sure if the timing would work on that.
I was a huge fan of Gary and Maggie, but I have been loving their friendship and I’m a HUGE fan of Cam/Ryan Hansen. I really hope they don’t move on too fast from him!
Also, was I the only one crying when Rome broke down to Regina about his depression bring back? Romany Malco is an extremely talented actor.
Shelly nope. Me too!!!
I’m loving Maggie with Cam/Ryan. I always loved Gary and Maggie but rooting for Cam now
Please do not put Gary and Maggie back together
I loved Gary with Darcy and am hoping the baby is really his
I would hope the same. Don’t care for Gary at all, and certainly not with Maggie. Think the show has gone downhill, and there isn’t much more to say at this point.
Agree
I have loved this show, but this season they’ve been having the characters do and say really stupid things. I just shake my head with every episode. I hate it when writers dumb down characters and ruin them to create conflict, etc. Having Gary physically attack Sophie’s abuser is a prime example of what I’m taking about.
Hope Gary and Maggie are picking up Colin for the road trip – he derserves it!
I couldn’t tell if he was joking or being serious when he implied in the interview that Eddie wasn’t as important to Sophie as Gary was. All the adults are. She loved and trusted Eddie. He taught her to play guitar and they had been very close, so finding out he’d slept with her mom and betrayed her father was just as deep a hurt at the time…
I don’t want this show to end. I loved watching every episode ❤
Gary and Maggie belong back together. They have chemistry that none of their other relationships had. They just click on the screen unlike other pairings they’ve had. That last fall episode gave me hope that they’ll find their way back to each other. They’re like Luke and Laura on GH; there’s nothing like it!
Definitely”Team Gary and Maggie!” A bit ironic when he discovered the “I’m In” post-it and then she calls needing his help! I hope they reconnect!
How did Gary not go to jail for attacking Peter?