Spoilers ahead for the two-hour Season 3 finale of A Million Little Things on ABC.
The third season of A Million Little Things has come to an end with a finale that wasn't quite as life-or-death as the Season 2 finale, but nevertheless leaves me wondering if the show didn't go a little bit too far with a certain twist. After an episode of Gary getting bad news on top of bad news on top of the guilt of what happened to Sophie and anger that Peter wouldn't pay a price for it, Gary snapped in a big way. He crossed a line that can't really be uncrossed, and the consequences might be a bit much for this show.
Stewing over Delilah's announcement that she intends to move back to France with all three of the kids, Darcy saying that she doesn't want to have any more kids after he agreed to move with her, and torturing himself over Sophie not getting any justice for what Peter did to her, Gary decided that he would make Peter pay in his own way.
The episode ended with Gary showing up at Peter's house, ringing the bell, tricking Peter into stepping out of his doorway, and then throwing a bag over his head, dragging him back into the house, and whispering "Shhhh" before throwing him aside and slamming the door behind them. As somebody who was expecting Gary to throw a punch at worst, I was completely shocked at the twist, although series creator DJ Nash shared with TVLine that there were clues along the way that Gary was capable of something like this:
We’ve seen bits of it throughout the series, whether it’s him smashing the painting with Jon or him punching the car and having that guy pull a gun on him. It probably goes back to the anger he feels about his mom leaving him. He definitely wants the world to be just, and it’s not, and I think he tries to line up justice wherever it’s askew.
Of course, Gary showing some anger issues every once in a while isn't news, and Peter isn't exactly the most sympathetic character, but Gary staging a home invasion of sorts on Peter was above and beyond what I could have imagined actually happening on A Million Little Things. Plus, everything about his decision to do what he did indicates that he was in his right mind, not drunk or caught up in the heat of the moment or anything else. It was carefully premeditated, with Gary setting up an alibi with his dad.
Even if Gary does manage to avoid getting into trouble for what he's done (and may not be quite done doing), I think this twist has changed how fans are going to view him forever. It is worth noting that Gary managed to slip the bag over Peter's head from behind, and he was only whispering to Peter as he dragged him inside. Peter truly might not know that Gary is the one who set him up, so it's possible that he could avoid trouble with the law.
And I really find myself considering that this might have been too much, and arguably too out of the blue. A Million Little Things can't unring this bell or take Gary back to the man viewers knew (or thoughts they knew), and it feels to me like the show went too far if it intends to keep James Roday Rodriguez around. For better or worse, I won't see him the way I did before the Season 3 finale for sure, although I'll admit that I'm quite invested in seeing how this storyline plays out.
Do you think A Million Little Things went too far with Gary's big decision? Be sure to vote in our poll below to let us know, and be ready to return to NBC in the fall for episodes of A Million Little Things Season 4. In the meantime, our 2021 summer TV premiere schedule is packed with viewing options for now and the not-too-distant future.
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