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Warning: This post contains spoilers for A Million Little Things‘ Season 5 premiere.
Just when you thought A Million Little Things might’ve exhausted its supply of “bittersweet plot twists,” along comes Wednesday’s Season 5 premiere, which revels in the upcoming birth of Gary and Maggie’s baby but also reveals that Gary’s cancer is never going to go into remission.
The news, while gutting, is not as immediately dire as it first seems — we’ll get to that in a moment. First, here’s a rundown of the other major plot points in “The Last Dance:”
* The Friends of Jon let Gary and Maggie in on the fact that they know about Gary’s illness. Everyone hugs and cries. Later, they also accompany him to his doctor’s appointment, where they all learn that Gary’s cancer will be around for the rest of his life. Maggie gamely points out that they’ll have to do as much as they can to make his life as long as possible. Then Gary slips and refers to the baby as a “he,” and Maggie confirms it: They’re having a boy.
* At some point during a seven-month time jump, Gary’s father, Javier, dies. From the way the post-funeral reception is shot, it seems for a minute like Gary might have died. But he didn’t! Related: Maggie is very pregnant. Gary and Danny find Gene, the guy who loved Douglas, Javier’s war buddy who died. They share stories about their loved ones who have passed. At one point, Gary starts sobbing. Danny thanks Gene for paving the way for him as a gay man. Once again, everyone cries.
* Anna is released from prison. Instead of moving in with Eddie, like he wants, she decides to make a fresh start by moving to her sister’s place in a different city. They part on good, if sad, terms.
* Rome’s father, Walter, is starting to forget things. His girlfriend, Florence, tearfully tells Rome that she’s going to end the relationship, because her husband suffered from dementia, and “I can’t take this journey with him.” Later, Rome starts to see signs that Florence’s fears about Walter may be accurate.
* Regina offers Sophie a job at the food truck, and Sophie accepts.
OK, back to Gary. TVLine chatted with James Roday Rodriguez about what his character will face in the ABC drama’s final season and how the latest diagnosis affects the father-to-be’s outlook on life. Read on to see what he had to say!
TVLINE | Gary gets some news at the end of the premiere: His cancer’s not advancing, but it is also not ever going to go away. Take us inside his head as to how he’s going to deal with that as the episode ends and through the season.
I say this bearing the responsibility of a dramatization of something that so many people have actually had to deal with for real, which affects families and loved ones and everything: I do think that there is a bizarre, perhaps somewhat macabre level of security in just knowing that I don’t have to cross my fingers and hope for an all-clear every six months. Because I think that, in itself, can create so much anxiety in a human being.
So, the diagnosis that, “Hey, this is the deal,” it is what it is, you know? It gives Gary permission to start living for every moment, not knowing how many he’ll have left. As opposed to that, “You know what? I can be one of those people that just beats it,” and the energy that goes into that.
TVLINE | Before Maggie got pregnant, do you think Gary realized how much he wanted to be a dad? How much it would mean to him?
I think Gary has played a father-like figure to so many characters on this show that, even if he hadn’t looked in the mirror and said “I want to be a dad,” it’s sort of second nature to him. Being a father to a child whose mother is Maggie is probably the thing he didn’t realize could be so good. I think she was the missing piece of that equation for him.
TVLINE | Talk about how Gary’s dad’s death hits him at the beginning of the season and how that evolves throughout the season.
Well, I think the theme of appreciating life while you have it is certainly supplemented by the death of his father. Gary probably has regrets about times that he could’ve spent with his father, but he didn’t because of petty stuff that didn’t even need to be there. And I think that lesson, that reality, “Wow, I really, really miss my dad, and I really wish I could’ve been around him more,” both inspires him and drives him to make sure that the same thing doesn’t happen with him and his son.
TVLINE | There’s a little fake out in the post-funeral scene in the premiere: We think maybe Gary’s died, but it’s his dad. Can we anticipate any other card-flips, as [series creator] DJ Nash calls them, during the season?
DJ Nash is a bottomless fountain of card flips, and you can expect as many card flips as 13 episodes can deliver.
TVLINE | There’s a very significant time jump, seven months, in the premiere. It seems like we might see Gary and Maggie’s son arrive sooner rather than later. Is that anything you can confirm?
What I can confirm is that, to the best of my knowledge, we are going with a traditional nine-month human gestation period for this child. So, if the jump is seven months, then I think using just basic arithmetic, you can assume that our child is not special in that way.
TVLINE | Any more time jumps in this final season, beyond that one?
I would expect so. It’s always been a part of the DNA of the show, whether it’s forward or backwards.
TVLINE | Is the season fully shot? Are you done?
We’re not. We still have four or five left. But I think we’ll continue to play with time. I think there’s also an expectation from fans that we continue to sort of do all the same things that This is Us did. And I think they did time jumps in their last season.
TVLINE | Your and Maggie’s kid is going to be a singer in the year 2073.
That’s right. Get ready for the big fire episode, everyone. — With reporting by Matt Webb Mitovich
Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the premiere? Grade it via the poll below, then hit the comments!
I love Roday so much…when he broke down at the table, I started sobbing.
Conversely, though, when the previews showed him about to deliver the baby, I thought, “after what he did when Marlowe had her baby?” and then laughed hysterically.
Bonus points to anyone who recognized one of the show’s producers, David Marshall Grant, as Gene Grant, the man they went to visit.
Thanks. I’ll take those bonus points as I recognized him immediately. Plus, I just saw him in “Spoiler Alert”, which is superb, by the way. I highly recommend it.
Why is Anna leaving? Are they planning on introducing and developing a new romantic interest for Eddie on the last season?
Or not. Not everyone has a SO in their life, it wouldn’t be out of the question to just leave him single.
– Who is in charge of Katherine’s hair? Gotta be one of the worst wigs on TV this year
– Theo written off finally, hopefully
– Did that kid really say “thank you for your service” comparing WWI trauma with being a closeted gay man trauma? LOL
– Gary being on palliative care basically confirms he’ll die in the series finale. Sucks
– Doesn’t look like we’ll get to see Eddie out of the wheelchair. I was hoping to see him walk before the series ended
Theo wasn’t written out. He was shown in the season preview and the actor is still credited.
Gary isn’t on palliative care – he’s getting chemo (active treatment). That said, I’m afraid I agree with you on his demise.
I love this show but I thought this was a weak opening episode especially after so long a hiatus. It also feels like every humankind story is getting thrown at the proverbial wall. Birth, dementia, gay wedding, straight wedding, death. All occurring in the remaining 12 episodes.
People can live for years with cancer…my father is a shining example. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer almost 13 years ago (they removed 1/2 of it back then), it’s since moved to liver, prostate, tumors on spine. But by the grace of God he’s still with us. Sure he has some bad days, but when he has a good one it’s like he doesn’t have that awful disease. Gary doesn’t have to die in the end…millions of people live with cancer and lead mostly good lives. I hope they don’t kill him, show people there are meds that can help, and death isn’t always imminent!! My dads knee bothers him more than the cancer at this point, knee was blown out in the war.
Same with my SIL. Stage 4 metastasized endometrial cancer and in remission for over 5 years. She looks and feels very healthy. I hope they take this route with Gary too.
Ditto. I’ve had mine for more than 10 years. It’s not all sunshine and roses but keep your appointments, get your scans, listen to your body and live your life.
Am I the only one who was crying midway during this show?
It got me early, lol. When the ladies showed up at Maggie’s door in the beginning I got emotional. But I really lost it when Gary was telling the snowball story and then fell apart. Both of my parents are gone and my mother had dementia so there were a lot of triggers.
I started really early. This episode plus the rest of the season is going to get us all with the feels. I really don’t want to say goodbye to this group of friends. Every family/group of friends, needs a Gary in it.
No, you’re not. Gary made me cry.
The show was great as usual, but I felt like they rushed everything. There was so much crammed into this episode. I could hardly catch my breath and when it was over I was exhausted. Slow down please, even if you have to add another season (hint hint)
Well, I’m so happy this is gonna end soon. Everything has to be overdramatized in this series. And this Gary thing really make me mad: it’s a way to say “it’s there, but it’s not there”, so it will be there when it’s needed, it won’t be there when it’s needed. Writing Javier off only for that little scene where it seems that Gary died… oh my dear.
Just such a depressing episode! I may just quit watching.
Bye now.
here’s hoping katherine and eddie somehow have a reunion!
People can live a very long time with cancer especially when they are younger when diagnosed. I was diagnosed 20 years ago and have MRIs every 6 months to check the status of the inoperable brain tumor that turned cancerous. I also thought I wouldn’t see my son grow up but he’s 23 now and about to graduate college and start graduate degree (more college)!
It’s one thing to get emotional when watching a show but this opening episode was just depressing all throughout . While I realize the premise of the show is about the suicide of a dear friend, followed up by 2 people having cancer, one becoming a paraplegic, sexual exploitation, marriage breakups and death after death. It is just too depressing for me and I may not continue watching this season since it just looks bad. I need a little more uplifting to stay engaged.
It may be a bit dramatic, but like life- we do get cancer, have to deal with it. I respect that they showed not everyone is lucky enough to be cured.
People hurt each other and life has tragedies, like the irony of Eddie getting clean then crippled in an accident. You may want to watch situation comedies where the issue is typically solved by the end of the show. I wish my friends were always as supportive! Seeing all of them in the oncologist’s office was a stretch. “Hey everyone, please accompany me to my diagnosis.” 😌
FYI: Remission and cure are very different. The doc didn’t say he wouldn’t have a remission, he said there wouldn’t be a cure.
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Frankly, I thought the “gotcha” post-funeral scene was a cheap trick.
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Anna had to go – she’s cast in another show!
Internet hugs to all of the commenters who are living with cancer.
I think making this the last season for A Million Little Things is wrong…It’s had a great variety of stories that kept going in different directions, & especially it was hitting what was going on in our real world. They say their canceling it why it has great ratings. That’s stupid to me.Maybe they’ll change their minds once they hear from us to keep it going more seasons…I hope so, I dislike all those realistic TV shows, I won’t watch them…Who’s with me on trying to get them.to change their minds???
Am I the only one wondering why in the world Gary and Maggie didn’t have genetic testing done before getting pregnant??