Oh, you thought A Million Little Things‘ Gary had resolved all of his complicated feelings about his family after driving to Brooklyn to see his estranged mom’s play and talking about his name change with his dad? Think again!
This week’s episode finds Gary awaiting the arrival of his father’s sister, Inez. Gary grouses to Maggie that he doesn’t want his aunt meeting her or baby Javier, and that she’s only stopping by to pick up a box of things his father had been holding for her. Gary’s big beef: After his parents’ divorce, Inez should’ve been the person who provided a maternal presence in young Gary’s life. But instead, she kinda disappeared.
So while Javi naps and Maggie goes for a run with Claire — which, if she’s cleared for exercise, means at least six weeks or so have passed since the previous episode — Inez swings by their place. She’s mad that Gary didn’t invite her to his dad’s funeral, but she wants to put all those bad feelings behind them and start over. “This isn’t about reconciling,” he tells her coldly. “This is about closet space.”
She’s about to leave when she says that she asks if he knows what the disagreement between her and Javier Sr. was all about. Gary doesn’t, so she tells him: It was about Javier allowing Gary to change his name, a decision with which she vehemently disagreed. She informs Gary that his father thought similarly, but wanted to support his son in a tough time. “He told me to either get on board or leave, so I left,” she says.
Just then, Javi starts to cry, and she easily calms him when Gary is unable to. They talk more. She’s proud to learn that Gary named his son Javier. She gives him a book of children’s stories in Spanish and assures him that, even though he doesn’t have to speak Spanish to be Mexican, he can learn the language any time he likes. No longer carrying his grudge, Gary apologizes and invites Inez back another time to meet Maggie.
Meanwhile, here’s what’s happening with the other Friends of Jon:
* Charlie is living with Eddie for a month. Nicole helps him out by watching the little girl when her daycare center, which Nicole’s son also attends, unexpectedly closes. When she later invites him and Theo over for dinner, they stay — but Eddie makes it clear that she doesn’t have to keep going overboard in doing nice things for him, because he knows she’s trying to make amends for the car accident that paralyzed him. She says she does feel bad, but that she’d like to be friends, and things ease between them. (Are we getting romance-in-the-making vibes here?)
* During their afternoon together, Claire started leaking breastmilk through her shirt. Though she was embarrassed, Maggie admitted that she was a little jealous: She’s unable to nurse because of her history with breast cancer, and through tears, she said she felt like she was missing out on crucial bonding with her son.
* Regina is elated when a city councilwoman champions her idea to feed the homeless. But she’s annoyed when the politician pulls her support as soon as a television news crew has aired its glowing report.
* Walter takes Regina’s keys and car and goes missing. He winds up at the school where Rome teaches — and also attended, back in the day — thinking that it’s decades earlier and he’s got to drive Rome home. When he mentions how much he’s had to pee that day, Maddox mentions that Walter may have a urinary tract infection, which can cause confusion in older people. After Rome takes Sophie’s advice and just goes with his dad’s altered reality — and the two men have a touching moment in the hallway — Walter comes back to himself and they go home. (And yup, somewhere along the way, Walter gets diagnosed with a UTI and receives a prescription for antibiotics.) After dinner, Rome and Regina discuss how it’s no longer safe to have Walter living with them, and that an assisted living situation is likely their next step.
Now it’s your turn! What did you think of the episode? Did I miss the part where Charlie’s sudden appearance at Eddie’s was explained? Sound off in the comments!