Consequences. Every action has them. They could be few or they could be infinite. It depends on what the action was to begin with. In “Ten Years”, everyone is facing the repercussions of their decisions, albeit in very different ways.
Things between Katherine, Eddie and Delilah have come to a stalemate. That’s not shocking news. It didn’t start out at an impasse, but in “Ten Years”, it ended at one. Katherine managed to sway Eddie’s stance regarding whether or not the children should be privy to his and Delilah’s affair. Eddie’s change in stance has Delilah feeling like she’s being cornered into telling a truth she doesn’t want to tell.
Delilah was clearly panicking from minute one. She didn’t want to face Katherine after their conversation in “Unleashed”, and clearly, she had a reason to fear. Katherine seems to be influencing the opinions of everyone around them.
Though seemingly innocent, this could be quite manipulative on Katherine’s part, as it further corners Delilah. Not to mention the fact that Katherine was playing the part of passive-aggressive a little too well throughout Theo’s party, starting with a completely fake greeting, which Delilah returned in an equally false tone.
Given Delilah’s circumstances, it’s easy to side with her. She feels ganged up on with nowhere and no one to turn to. Even Regina, her best friend, seems to be siding with Katherine. That’s scary, especially when you have everything to lose. The thing is, I couldn’t help but think that, if she was so terrified of how the consequences would affect her family, then she should have never engaged in the affair to begin with. It may have felt good in the moment, but she certainly didn’t want to live with any repercussions. At least, she wasn’t at all prepared for any serious ramifications to come of it.
At the same time, she kept using her children as a defense. The first few times it seemed logical. Then, I began to wonder if she was reasoning the need for secrecy for her children, or for herself. It seems Delilah’s more afraid of consequences for her rather than her children at times.
I wouldn’t say it’s always like that, because she does genuinely want to protect them from any further pain, but I believe the thing Delilah’s most afraid of is the reaction Sophie and Danny would have should they find out the truth. She’s terrified of losing her children, and for that reason it’s clear to see why she’s so intent on keeping her secret.
“Ten Years” saw Delilah vehemently standing up against Katherine, declaring she wouldn’t let Katherine hurt her children. In Katherine’s case, she believes it’s hurting the children to keep it a secret. She has good points for her need to reveal the secret, as she doesn’t want alcoholism to be a problem again, and she believes lying will lead to that.
Not to mention the fact that Eddie and Delilah decided to keep everything a secret, and Katherine never had a say. That’s problematic. I understood that reasoning, but Katherine’s practically making the same mistake as Delilah to a certain degree. She wants to tell the kids the truth, and one of those reasons is because she doesn’t want to lie like she once had to.
Again, Katherine feels strongly about revealing the truth for that reason. Yet, telling the truth could be a selfish move on her end. She’s trying to protect herself much in the same way Delilah is, just in a different manner. She doesn’t want to revert to a life she worked so hard to get out of. She may insist it’s for the benefit of Theo and Charlie, but it would also be a significant benefit for her.
Gary faced some serious internal conflict in “Ten Years.” In the previous episode, Gary was faced with the devastating news that his dog Colin already belonged to someone else, and he had to decide what to do with that information. The most heartbreaking moment of the episode was Gary crying as bid Colin farewell, with Maggie pulling Colin away. Doing the right thing is usually taxing-in Gary’s case, severely so.
Shockingly, however, Maggie makes a deceptive move and substitutes Colin with a dog from the pound for the previous owner that had been looking for him, and keeps Colin for Gary. It may be wrong, but it was done for the right reasons. In the end, both parties get what they wanted. For Gary, Colin was part of the lifeline that helped him through Jon’s death. For the elderly woman, the substituted dog was a companion she desperately needed following the loss of her husband. Everyone wins.
I couldn’t help but think that Maggie’s scheme is part of a need inside of her to make it up to Gary following the whole Eric thing. She finally recognizes all the things Gary has done for her, so she returns the favor in a big way. She even overcomes her fear of driving (deriving from her brother’s fatal car accident) to help Gary, which means a lot, especially given her shabby treatment of Gary over the last few episodes.
Rome and Regina wrestled with the PJ ordeal quite messily in “Ten Years”, given that Sophie nearly kissed her potential brother. Anyone else having a flashback to Marty and Lorraine in the parked car in “Back to the Future”? Yikes. Rome and Regina were trying to keep PJ away, at least until the test results were determined. Instead PJ kept showing up everywhere, happily so. While he wants to know more about Jon and his potential heritage, PJ seems too eager.
How could he so easily distance himself from the only family he’s ever known? What does his mother and her husband, the man that’s raised PJ, think PJ is up to? What will the fallout be from all this?
Clearly, fallout is yet to come. “Ten Years” dropped several hints that PJ was Jon’s son. From Delilah feeling as though she’d met PJ somewhere before and the bromance Gary seems to be developing with him, it was obvious what the results were going to say. Regina struggled with not telling her best friend about PJ, what will she tell Delilah now? Especially when Delilah’s already got a lot on her plate thanks to Katherine and Eddie?
What will Sophie feel? She was absolutely embarrassed when she tried to kiss PJ and he rejected her (for obvious reasons). So embarrassed that she got in a minor car accident on the day she finally received her license – in the car her deceased father bought the year she was born and intended to give her, no less. She’s had a rough day as it is, from embarrassment to guilt over the car’s condition. Rome and Regina really should have said something if only to keep that unnecessary incident from occurring.
With everybody reeling from the consequences of their actions, I couldn’t help but think they were taking time and energy away from Theo, who was celebrating a special birthday. The adults were too wrapped up in their own problems to really celebrate Theo’s birthday, and it somewhat overshadowed it. Eddie kept insisting they focus on Theo, but with all the chaos the focus kept shifting. At least Theo didn’t seem to notice – he was just happy his wish came true and his parents were back together.
The kids – Sophie, Danny, Theo and Charlie – should be the primary focus. It shouldn’t matter how it will affect the adults so much as the kids. Sophie, Danny and Charlie were all in bed with their mother in the episode’s end, needing that familial connection after Sophie’s accident and Delilah’s pending reverberations, which Sophie’s accident ironically saved her from having that difficult conversation with Katherine and Eddie. Delilah doesn’t think her family can handle any more bombshells – yet that’s exactly what it seems like they’ll have soon regardless of whether they’re ready for them.
Catch up on our previous A Million Little Things reviews here.
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.
