Reparation seems to be the main message to come from ‘Daisy’. After much drama and angst, Delilah and Sophie, as well as Gary and Maggie, seem to be on the path to reuniting and working things out. That is, if things keep going well.
Sophie and Delilah’s performances in ‘Daisy’ were direct and solid. They begin as they’ve tended to lately, at odds, with Sophie as angry with her mother as ever. Though, it seems that this anger is dying out, as they managed to be in the same room together without yelling, which is an accomplishment according to Regina. She’s right, it is progress.
They do have some intense friction when Delilah catches her daughter making out at the restaurant with an older boy, and Sophie criticizes her mother for passing judgment on her relationship. All of that changes when Delilah’s father, who suffers from dementia, goes missing.
Their attitudes instantly changed as they united to find him, and I loved that Sophie was there for her mother when she needed her the most. Sophie is even the one to figure out where her grandfather is, and that turns out to be incredibly important, especially when it comes to perspective. Her grandfather mistakes Sophie for Delilah, and tells Sophie to talk to Jon about their marriage. It is in this conversation that offers Sophie another viewpoint on her parents, giving her a chance to understand why Delilah strayed and made the choices she did. It’s a hard thing to hear, but Jon wasn’t perfect. He was a good dad, but husband-wise, he could’ve used some work.
The grandfather realizes who Sophie truly is only as Delilah meets them in the car, and he looks sheepish. I’m willing to bet that his case of mistaken identity did more good than harm, given that Sophie is actually willing to spend the night with her mother afterwards, apparently giving Delilah a break. Sophie doesn’t tell Delilah about her conversation with her grandfather, which I think is suiting.
Sometimes you need a new perspective from someone else, and Sophie was granted that with her grandfather. Family drama was the key to Sophie’s undoing, but it may also be the very same thing that puts Sophie back together. The most touching scene of ‘Daisy’ was Sophie telling her baby sister the story of the “Young Sergeant”, which is really the story of how their grandfather met and ended up with their grandmother. It’s a story about never giving up, and given how everything has been going lately, it’s a message the Dixon family needs to hear.
Delilah’s struggle with her father having dementia is yet another universal topic the show has conquered, and it’s only Season 2. It’s impressive the way the show integrates real-life problems into their storylines, giving people something to relate to, from all walks of life. It’s incredibly hard to see someone you love forget things, or as Delilah mentions, watching pieces of them disappear. Sometimes it’s comforting to know you’re not the only one going through it.
Meanwhile, Katherine and Eddie were tackling unspoken issues in their own home regarding change. Katherine takes Theo to a therapist, hoping he’ll open up. I found it odd that Eddie didn’t accompany them. Maybe it’s because he’s the one that brought Charlie into their lives and brought about the massive change they’re all adjusting to. Katherine and Theo were innocent bystanders, so from that perspective I can understand why they went to the therapist without Eddie.
Theo is reluctant to go, but does so when Katherine asks him to go to support her, though she’s really hoping that while she’s talking, Theo will be comfortable enough to say something too. Theo’s performance was well-timed and subtle, but still important. The saddest part of their visit to the therapist was when the therapist asked Theo if he knew he deserved to be happy, to which he replied that he didn’t know.
Theo is wise beyond his years, but seems too somber and grown-up for a child. It seems to be the core of his issues. He’s happy to have Charlie around, but he’s pretending like everything is okay so he doesn’t cause chaos on top of mayhem. Theo’s answers instigate an epiphany within Katherine that perhaps she’s been teaching Theo to bottle things up, so a trip to the therapist turned out to be an important visit for mother and son. Now that they’re aware of their behaviors, they can change and make things better. They do just that with an impromptu food fight in the middle of dinner. I appreciated the “It Takes Two” reference as Katherine gets a spoonful of macaroni in the face right after she utters, “You wouldn’t dare” to her husband. The Steve Guttenberg and Kirstie Alley moment perfectly suited the scene, and the episode.
Rome and Regina were definitely an example of couples’ goals in ‘Daisy’. They are contacted by, and get to meet, a potential birth mother named Eve. All seems well until she hesitates to tell them further information about the birth father. Regina wants to back out but Rome doesn’t.
The way they handled their divided viewpoints was impressive and made for strong performances. They’ve more than shown that they are the strongest couple on the show, and how they handled things in “Daisy” further illustrates that. Rome needs closure to move on with Regina, so Regina compromises and allows another chance with Eve to happen. It turns out to be a good decision, as they get the truth from Eve and decide to move forward with adopting the baby after all, following a tearful embrace between Regina and Eve that nearly had me in tears.
All that matters at the end of the day is that they want to be a family, and Eve can give them their dream life. It was too adorable how nervous Rome and Regina were when they were first meeting Eve, and frightening when Eve’s former boyfriend called her at the episode’s conclusion, insinuating trouble is right around the corner.
Gary and Maggie may be on the path to getting back together, but it looks like it’ll take a while. They show up together at a friend’s cancer remission party, awkwardly making small talk and randomly catching up. There was even a false moment where it looked like Gary was telling Maggie how he really felt, but it turns out to be Gary’s imagination, which makes things that much more painful. Why didn’t Gary just take his shot in the elevator and confess what he was feeling to Maggie? It’s even more complicated now, given that once they were off the elevator Maggie expressed her desire to just be friends. They may care about one another, but they’re never on the same page.
However, I did find their performances in ‘Daisy’ uplifting and inspiring when they came together to comfort their crying friend, Elena (Carla Jimenez) as she struggled to break open the piñata, which was a symbol of her beating cancer. When she fails to break it after a few times, she begins to sob and fear her cancer will return. Maggie assures her not to be paralyzed by fear, while Gary offers that everyone present will be there to support her. The performances between Gary, Maggie and Elena were intense but heartfelt, providing a special moment not just about beating cancer but also about Gary and Maggie uniting to help Elena.
Maggie has her good moments, but she tends to annoy me these days. While she’s supposed to be supporting Regina, who’s nervous about meeting Eve, she delves into her issues and makes it all about her. Maggie often tends to be selfish and more concerned with what’s going on in her life over everyone else’s, so I’ve cared for her less and less over time. I get that she’s been through a lot and is on a journey of figuring out who she is without cancer, but there has to be a point where she puts others before herself, at least from time to time.
‘Daisy’ had a lot of different storylines going on. You could get whiplash switching between each of them given there was a lot of ground to cover, but it wasn’t totally disconcerting. My only regret is not seeing more of everything. Like what Delilah was doing while Sophie had gone to find her grandfather, or a clear explanation as to why Eddie missed going to the therapist and what he was doing while his wife and son were there. Granted there’s only so much time in one episode, but if there’s going to be various storylines like those in ‘Daisy’, they need to be spaced out, especially if they’re important enough to require further exploration.
Catch up on our previous A Million Little Things reviews here.
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