‘A Million Little Things’ Season 2, Episode 9 ‘Time Stands Still’ Review: Revelations

That was intense! A Million Little Things has just left us with one hell of a midseason finale. And it has quickly topped the list of my favorite episodes. But now, I think I’ll go crawl under the covers to process everything while the show goes on hiatus. Feelings aside though, this was the most poignant episode of the season. Every issue that has been built up from the season’s premiere has just come to a head. And the outcomes have really turned the tide of events in A Million Little Things. 

The episode title ‘Time Stands Still’ really encapsulates everything that happened at this point. And although the second season of A Million Little Things dragged its key plot points out, this midseason finale really pulled things together. There were plenty of powerful moments in the episode that really resonates. And in addition to that, we also witnessed some applause-worthy performances from the likes of Chandler Riggs, Romany Malco, and James Roday. Now, I’m really interested to see how the show will spin out the outcomes of this part of the narrative. I have a feeling it’s gonna get messier than it is now. Before we get away with ourselves, let’s dive into this week’s episode of A Million Little Things.

Welcoming a New Member of the Family

Picking up right where we left off last week, Regina (Christina Moses) tells Delilah (Stephanie Szostak) the truth about PJ (Chandler Riggs) including the part where he’s Jon’s son. The next morning, PJ lands at Delilah’s doorstep after a night away from home. And Delilah welcomes him with open arms. She shows him pictures of Jon, she tells PJ about him, and she even gives PJ Jon’s old watch. After all that, she encourages PJ to talk to his parents about it. The problem is, PJ thinks they’re the reason Jon never reached out to him.

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Just in time, Rome (Romany Malco) arrives to pick up PJ. He takes him home and like Delilah, he advises him to talk to his parents. And that’s just what PJ does. Upset, he charges inside and comes face to face with his worried dad. Backed into a corner, Mitch (Rhys Coiro) finally tells PJ the truth. But, imagine his surprise when his son tells him that Jon is his real father and shoves the DNA results in his face to prove it. Thinking that Barbara (Drea de Matteo) lied to them both, PJ storms out again and pleads for Rome to just drive away.

Meanwhile, in Gary’s apartment, Gary (James Roday) is continuing to hype up Maggie’s (Allison Miller) Oxford thing through his hilarious British/ Irish accent and a heap of English breakfast. For all his hyping though, Maggie can’t find seem to find the thing that’ll get her to Oxford if she does get accepted, her passport. When Gary leaves for the day to pretend to go to work, Maggie continues to search. But, she stumbles upon something far from what she expected – a ring. How’s that for an early A Million Little Things surprise?

Lawyers and Advice From An Old Lady

As it turns out, while Gary was pretending to go to work, he was actually spending time with Enid (Jenny O’Hara), the real owner of Gary’s dog. He’s been doing housework for her and it seems that they’ve grown quite close. He even somehow vents out to her. When “Wesley” comes into the room, Gary fidgets. But, he tries to play it smoothly. As it turns out, however, Enid knows it’s not Wesley. But, she loves him just as much. Helping Gary with his frustrations over the sudden shifts in his life,  Enid tells him “Sometimes, change can be good.”

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Meanwhile, Eddie (David Giuntoli) and Katherine (Grace Park) have finally availed the services of a lawyer. However, after hearing their case out, the lawyer urges them to try to talk it again lest it becomes one messy affair. Taking his advice, Eddie calls up Gary and asks him to talk to Delilah for them since Delilah clearly can’t see eye to eye with them. But, as Gary points it out, it’s quite unfair to him to have to choose between his best friends. So, instead of being the mediator, Gary tells Eddie, Katherine, and Delilah to meet him at Regina’s restaurant without telling both sides about the other.

Taking Back The Relief of the Truth

On the other hand, after finding the ring, Maggie heads to Regina’s restaurant to vent. As Maggie skirts around the topic, Regina thinks Gary finally told her about losing his job. Unfortunately, Maggie blurts out what she found before Regina can say anything making it a whole lot worse. Regina steels herself though and is about to tell Maggie about Gary’s job but, Delilah arrives. And she’s still not pleased with Regina. Sensing the tension, Maggie shows herself out to let the two women talk.

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Elsewhere, Rome takes PJ back to his place and allows him to help fix their stuff on the rooftop. And the kid’s happy. As Rome notes, PJ’s taking it a lot better than he thought he would. It’s understandable why. As PJ explains, the truth’s finally out. And even though he didn’t get to know Jon, he feels him which is more than he can say about Mitch.

Sadly for PJ, that relief isn’t going to last long. When Barbara gets home, Mitch confronts her with the DNA test. But, when Mitch hands her the Harvard jacket, Barbara explains the truth. Then, they rush to Rome’s apartment. There, Barbara explains Jon and her ex-boyfriend Dave’s relationship. But, PJ refuses to believe it. When she tells him that the sweater was Dave’s and shows a picture of him wearing it though, the realization finally settles on PJ. With the truth ripped out from under him again, PJ rushes out. And Rome volunteers to talk to him.

Gary Snaps

Back at the restaurant, Gary, Katherine, and Eddie arrive just in time to see Regina and Delilah burst out of the kitchen already in a heated argument. Seeing the Sevilles, Delilah feels more betrayed than ever thinking that Regina was siding with them as well. When Gary reveals that Eddie and Katherine are planning to take legal action, everything just gets worse. Before anybody could start grabbing each other’s throats though, Gary steps in.

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Everybody’s doing the best for their families. He knows that. But, what about their family? What they’re doing is ripping it apart. This whole season of A Million Little Things, Gary has been the glue of their group. As Gary reminds them, ever since Jon died, he’s been trying his damned hardest to keep them together because that’s his promise. And through helping people with cancer, divorce, and kids, Gary lost his job. Even then, it’s okay for Gary because he can get another job. But, he can’t get another family.

Gesturing to the restaurant, Gary reminds them that it’s Jon’s last gift to them. “You think this is the someday he imagined?” he asks. “It’s not! It’s not the one I imagined either.” And with that, he leaves everyone to deal with the hard truth of his words.

‘We Are All Here For You’

At Rome’s, Rome finds PJ at the rooftop where the kid’s trying to process the entirety of his life. For so long, he felt so guilty that he’s not more like Mitch. Then, when he found out about Jon and his depression, he found relief and a reason for everything even why he’s the way he is. He even found belongingness with the Dixons. And he finally felt like he had a family. Now, with the truth, everything has come crashing down and he’s never felt so alone.

Seeing the clogs working in PJ’s mind as he gazes down the rooftop, Rome subtly calls Regina. At the same time, Regine, Maggie, and Delilah arrive at their apartment to find Barbara and Mitch. After realizing how dire the situation is, everybody rushes up. But, at the stairwell, Maggie stops them all and asks them to put their trust in Rome since PJ trusts him. Seeing them all can exacerbate the situation.

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Outside, Rome tells PJ that he does have a family – him, Gary, Eddie, and all the others. Rome reminds him that he helped him bury his mom. And that’s what family does. Family is also their fathers who sometimes don’t show up as they want them to but still tries their very best to love them. But, it’s not enough.

With hopelessness washing over him, PJ steps onto the ledge. Determined, Rome steps up beside him. Then, he recounts the same situation he went through a year ago. He tells PJ that there are some dark days but, there’s also tomorrow. “And I’m here for you!” Rome cries. “We are all here for you.” Determinedly insisting that he’s not going to lose him, Rome watches as PJ finally steps down and engulfs him in a fierce embrace.

Roles Reversed

After the incident, everyone goes their own ways. And like an eye-opener, it helps a lot of them come to terms with decisions they must make, decisions that will alter everyone’s lives in A Million Little Things. Unfortunately, it’s not all that happy.

After the events of the day, Gary comes home to Maggie. Then, she confronts him about the ring. As it turns out, Gary got her the ring when she was sick, when they didn’t know whether she’d pull through. After all, Maggie did tell him that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him then. But, now, after seeing the relief on Maggie’s face after he cleared up the air, Gary is hurt. It’s like their roles have been reversed and it’s Maggie who didn’t want to commit.

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Maggie explains that she’s not ready to because she hasn’t figured herself out without cancer and she thinks Gary still has a lot of baggage. But, as Gary points out, this is solely between the two of them at that moment. And as he realizes, maybe what they have at that point isn’t enough. “Is this really what you want, you want us to end this?” Maggie asks. With certainty, Gary answers “No. What I want is for you to want us the way you used to but, you don’t. So, go.”

Later that night, Gary doesn’t stop Maggie as she’s packing. Then, he takes himself out to a bar where he meets a woman who he leaves with. Maggie, on the other hand, takes up Eric’s (Jason Ritter) help to move her things. But, as he’s helping her move back to her old apartment, someone calls him. And he urgently tells the caller that he hasn’t told Maggie yet, whatever the secret he’s keeping, and quickly drops the call before Maggie sees.

As the Dust Settles in A Million Little Things

Meanwhile, after the incident with PJ, Barbara and Mitch finally tell him the whole story starting out with the day Dave died. When they met, Barbara lost Dave and Mitch lost his squad at ground zero. So, they bonded, fell in love, and Mitch adopted PJ. Now that the whole story is out, it seems that they can move on as a family.

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On the other hand, after Rome’s heroic actions that day, Regina sees something that changes her mind about having kids. As she explains, part of why she doesn’t want kids is because she didn’t think she’d be a good mom since she didn’t virtually have one growing up. But, seeing Rome, and how much his mom had an impact on him makes her want to do that for someone else. To Rome’s disbelief, Regina tells him that she wants to adopt a baby.

Elsewhere, Delilah finally signs the forms that correct Charlie’s birth certificate and hands them over to Eddie and Katherine. Then, back home, she sits down with Sophie and Danny and tells them the truth. It’s catastrophic, to say the least. And later that night, Sophie ends up in Eddie’s music shed tearing up everything, his instruments and every single piece of memory they had together.

A Million Little Things continues Thursday, January 16th, with “The Kiss” at 9/8c on ABC.