How A Million Little Things ‘Jumped The Gun’ On Romance Ahead Of Season

Maggie and Gary fight in A Million Little Things

Spoilers for last season of A Million Little Things can be found in this article. Hope you’re caught up!

Last season, A Million Little Things really put fans through the paces, from pregnancies to cheating scandals, a mystery surrounding a suicide, oh yeah, and Maggie’s cancer coming back. For a huge chunk of the season, the character refused to treat her cancer and it meant her relationship with Gary “jumped the gun” quite a bit.

Which brings us to Season 2. Ultimately, Maggie did decide to fight her cancer with Gary by her side. Heading into the latest set of episodes, Maggie will have beat her cancer and Gary will be in a better place after feeling emotionally unable to cope with Jon’s suicide and subsequent secrets during Season 1. However, James Roday, who plays Gary, now says this will actually mean there could be some trouble on the romantic front between Maggie and Gary. He said:

I think these two probably don’t know each other as well as they think they do. How could they? The relationship was defined exclusively by keeping her alive. But once you beat something like that, there’s a euphoria where you feel like, ‘We can conquer anything because we just conquered cancer.’ So yeah, they probably jumped the gun. And now they’re having to reverse-engineer all of the steps in a relationship that got skipped.

Speaking to TV Line, James Roday detailed what we already know about Maggie and Gary’s relationship – that it’s been filled with turmoil since the very beginning. If you take away the turmoil, what’s left are two people who, yes, have some things in common and who both have fought cancer, but who ultimately don’t really know each other as well as they probably think they do.

Allison Miller, who plays Maggie, also said the fact the couple will really have to actually get to know one another as people will create "a lot of pressure," explaining more about the place Maggie and Gary will be in at the start of Season 2 of A Million Little Things.

[I]t’s kind of like they are meeting two different people now. And they are instantly in each other’s space, just on top of each other in a brand new courtship. So that’s a lot of pressure.

Ultimately, A Million Little Things thrives in a nuanced TV space featuring tons of drama between characters but relationships that feel authentic and memorable too. It's likely how A Million Little Things resonated with fans and nabbed that Season 2 renewal in the first place. Of course, Maggie and Gary's struggles have been all about cancer previously. So, when there's no cancer to worry about, what's left? Do they still like each other on a romantic level? Do they want to push their relationship further?

It's weird to think that a couple might figure out they aren't the best fit (or are the best) only after they've gone to some crazy emotional places many couples are never forced to explore, but that seems to be the direction the show is taking.

(Another direction the show is taking? Yes, it plans to kill off another character in Season 2.)

We'll have to wait and see how it all pans out. On the bright side, we won't be waiting much longer. A Million Little Things returns to ABC's schedule next week, as part of the fall TV kickoff. You can catch Season 2 starting on Thursday, September 26 at 9 p.m. ET. For more on fall premiere dates, CinemaBlend has you covered with a full guide.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.