A Million Little Things recap: Jon's plans for Gary's birthday go horribly awry
It’s Gary’s 35th birthday, guys! We know this because everyone is receiving text reminders that Jon set up before his death — very Jon of him. Gary himself gets the reminder while he’s in bed with Maggie. He’s bragging about being the best sex she’s ever had when the message to celebrate his day of birth pings, and that shuts him up — apparently, he hates his annual celebration. Changing the subject, he quizzes Maggie about her unpacked boxes until she snaps and tells him to stay out of her stuff. Yikes.
Later, when she’s out running, Maggie bumps into Rome. The dude’s low-key stalking her. Rome hasn’t called Dr. Heller yet like he promised her he would and Maggie reminds him she still can’t be his therapist. He explains he doesn’t have the courage to talk to anyone else, so she relents a little, agreeing to have lunch with him on Fridays as a friend, but tells him he has to call Dr. Heller.
Meanwhile, Eddie shows up at Gary’s place with decorations and hats to celebrate. Gary is not into it even when Rome also appears singing. Gary tells the others he’s not doing whatever Jon had planned, but just then a driver shows up asking for the birthday boy. It transpires that Jon had set it up that the guys would attend a Bruins fantasy camp. At first, the guys protest that it doesn’t feel right celebrating without Jon, but soon decide that he would’ve wanted them to go.
On the way to the camp, Eddie needs to make a stop at home for his lucky skates/to ask his wife’s permission. Gary is mad about it. When they get there, Eddie explains to his wife Katherine what Jon had planned and asks if she’ll get their son Theo from swim class instead of him. She’s okay with it, and the guys head out in a hurry, during which Eddie leaves his phone behind on the table, and of course, it promptly rings. Thinking it’s her own, Katherine picks it. Outside, Eddie realizes he’s forgotten it and runs back in to retrieve it but it’s too late, Katherine’s already heard from a hotel manager that they couldn’t find the necklace he lost in his room. Katherine realizes he’s having an affair and asks who the woman is. “Trust me I’m an attorney I can find out who it is by lunch,” she informs her husband. So he confesses it’s Delilah. Katherine feels humiliated, and as Eddie’s assuring her no one knows, Gary walks in and overhears. Katherine tells Eddie to get out, so he runs after Gary, who tells Rome what’s happening. Eddie wants to explain, but Rome says he can’t explain that. Rome thinks they have to push through and have a great day and pretend like nothing happened, which he’s good at because he does it every day. Ugh, poor Rome. Gary and Rome head to camp without Eddie.
Over on the female front, Gina is trying to keep D busy to keep her mind off of her grief. They make a quick stop by the under-renovation restaurant, but Delilah is distracted. She really doesn’t get why Jon left a bunch of things for everyone, but no note. She just wants to go to her late husband’s office to clear out his things, so the girls tag along with her to help. When they get to the office, Ashley is on phone telling someone not to liquidate anything yet, but promptly hangs up and hides the file in front of her when the others arrive.
Eddie is trying to calls Delilah to give her a heads up, but she declines it. They get to work clearing through Jon’s things, but when Delilah gets upset and goes to the bathroom to wash her face, the others receive a call from the guys and find out about the affair. Gina is judgy and mad at her friend, who is clearly already distraught with guilt. Delilah starts frantically searching for the note needing to know if the affair led to Jon’s suicide, while Ashley (who actually has said-note) tries to stop her. Ashley tells Delilah she doesn’t think Jon knew. How about you just show us the note, Ash?
The game tied and the next goal wins. The bros get all gooey-eyed looking at the stands where Jon sat with them just a couple of weeks before. “Let’s thank him for your birthday present,” says Rome. They really mean business now. Eddie sets up Gary for the winning shot and all is forgiven? The power of hockey, man! Not so fast. Gary is not about to forget what Eddie has done that quickly. He tells them this is real life, not a movie and nothing is healed between them just because they beat the other guys. What he did is unforgivable. Luckily, Rome is a little more understanding and tells Eddie that people have affairs all the time, and people find out about them, but they don’t kill themselves. Even if it was part of it, it wasn’t the whole thing. It’s more than one thing; it’s (WAIT FOR IT) a million little things.
While the guys are bonding or not bonding, Katherine drives over to Delilah’s place, where she flashes back to showing up there one day and seeing her husband’s car parked outside. She’s now realizing D and Eddie’s “he’s here to teach Sophie guitar” excuse was probably bullsh–. She’s still outside D’s house when Delilah gets home. Delilah apologizes to Katherine, explaining she was in a bad place in her marriage and in her life but shouldn’t have complicated things. She knows she’s hurt everyone. In turn, Katherine explains that she felt so alone when she found out about the affair and wanted to call the one person who understood her and why she works so hard and isn’t always home, but that person was Jon. She delivers a little speech about working hard, not because she wants to, but because she’s making a sacrifice for her family and Jon understood that. She came to Delilah to yell at her but can’t, because she realizes D’s already paid the ultimate price. Damn.
When Eddie gets home, he tells Katherine that it’s over between him and Delilah and he’ll do whatever she wants. Katherine asks her husband if he loves D. His hesitation is enough to answer his question and she slaps him across the face. Later, Eddie calls Jon’s phone just wanting to hear his friend’s voice. Delilah picks up, so he tells her about the voicemail and how Jon said to “love each other” — which doesn’t necessarily mean he knew since he could’ve been talking about all of them loving one another.
Elsewhere, Maggie goes to see Gary to cheer him up, but he’s annoyed she hasn’t told him anything about her. She’s all, this is just supposed to be fun. But he tells her right now it’s not. Maggie goes home and unpacks.
And Gary goes to see Delilah to ask why Jon wasn’t enough for her when he was enough for him. She explains he was there for everybody, he was everything to everyone, and she got forgotten. Gary goes off topic, saying he really hates his birthday. He didn’t use to, he even remembers a party he had as a kid with a magician when he was seven that he enjoyed, until his parents got into a huge fight and all the kids overheard. That was the day he knew his parents’ marriage was over, and when he blew out his candles, he didn’t wish for them to be together, just for them to be happy. He promised himself at that moment he’d never get married, but then Delilah and Jon made him believe in it all over again. Delilah tells Gary that they were that amazing couple and then they weren’t, but it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t try and have that for himself. She says if she could fall in love with Jon all over again, she would. Then she takes him inside to show him a cake Jon had delivered assuming the guys would end the night there. While a female rendition of Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” (a little too close to home, no?) plays, Gary blows out the candles wishing for the same thing he’s been wishing for since he was seven: happiness.
Doesn’t seem like something we’re going to see much of on this show, but I’ve been wrong before! Let’s find out next week.
