'A Million Little Things' Season 2 Episode 12: Gary's meeting with his mother helps him move on a little
This story contains major spoilers for Season 2 Episode 12 of 'A Million Little Things' titled 'Guilty'
Some wounds never heal themselves while for others it threatens to be their undoing. When Gary Mendez's (James Roday) mother left him at the tender age of seven, every day for weeks he would ask his father about her return. Weeks turned to months and eventually, Gary stopped asking his clueless father about his mother's return because he realized it tore him apart.
And so, Gary went on with his life but never once forgetting or forgiving the betrayal of his mother Alice (a guest appearance by Marcia Gay Harden). By Season 2 Episode 12, however, it had become inevitable for Gary to talk to his mother. He may have retired to the anger and animosity he feels for her but Gary must resolve issues of his past before they consume him altogether. As Delilah Dixon (Stephanie Szostak) points out, it is not about what his mother would have to say for herself, but what he has to tell her.
After an intervention from his friends, Gary decides it is time to confront his mother. Gary travels with Delilah and Rome Howard (Romany Malco), who has other business there, from Boston to New York to meet her after one of her stage performances. The meeting, needless to say, doesn't go well as Alice had some very lame explanations for her choices. At the age of 18 when Alice got pregnant with Gary, she realized it was a mistake. Her dreams of becoming an actress were then put on hold for seven years, after which she decided she just had to leave once and for all if she wanted to pursue her dreams.
But here is the thing that hurt Gary the most. According to her own admission, a year after she abandoned Gary and his father, she returned to check on her son. She watches Gary play hockey with his friends and...that's it, just watches him from the car without getting out to talk to him. She sees him share a laugh or two and just decides for herself that somehow, without her, "he had made himself whole again".
Gary, like us, cannot understand how he made himself whole again without his mother. How he could have replaced the void his mother left him by playing hockey with some boys?
The strenuous conversation is interrupted by someone from Alice's team. When she invites Gary for dinner after the show, he declines the offer. But shows up later hoping to catch a meal with his mother. But once again, for the sake of her career, Alice and Gary never end up going for that dinner.
It may have not had the best of conclusions, but Gary meeting his mother did help him move on a little. That is proved when he meets Maggie Bloom (Allison Miller) and apologizes for the way he handled Eric's (Jason Ritter) intrusion in their lives and more importantly, Maggie's need for closure for her brother's death.
'A Million Little Things' airs on Thursdays at 10/ 9c on ABC.