“Austin” is about messages. Sent, not sent, and mixed. It was about what the characters were saying, or at least trying to say. While last week found them drowning, this week found them coping.
Katherine’s message in “Austin” was mixed. By allowing Eddie to look through her Ipad, she gave him the opportunity to view her search history. Was she expecting that? Or did she think that by some slight chance Eddie wouldn’t notice her research regarding a new place to live? The action itself seems to be a passive-aggressive message.
It’s not hard to understand why Katherine would want to move. Things haven’t been easy for her. Her family nearly broke up, and she’s still working things through with Eddie. She’s trying to navigate, all the while faced with gossip and whispers behind her back by others analyzing and criticizing her personal life. Not to mention Delilah is still in town. Katherine is in a never-ending whirlwind, always facing the onslaught of others’ opinions. It’s no wonder she wants to leave and get a fresh start.
Eddie does the right thing and supports her, even though he initially fears Katherine’s wishes. His gesture of taking her to the open house and providing them with different identities is a very thoughtful one. He gave her the escapism she sought. It may not be her ultimate paradise, but it was a compromise and it fulfilled Katherine’s needs, if only for the moment.
“Austin” sees them communicating far better than they ever were, and though Katherine wishes to leave with her family, she understands they need to stay in Boston, for Eddie’s daughter, and so they can face their demons together – demons which may include the idea of expanding their family. Theo innocently throws in a name suggestion for future siblings, but it seems Katherine’s against the idea more so than Eddie, who covers for her. Charlie’s birth inflicted irreversible damage that may mean the end of any family plans Katherine and Eddie once had. Who’s to say what kind of consequences this could incur?
Given everything that’s gone down, the two aren’t anywhere near the family planning stages. However, if this is going to be a future issue, perhaps Eddie and Katherine should be discussing their goals now? If something doesn’t line up, they certainly don’t want to waste any more time.
Maggie was full of mixed messages herself in “Austin”. She hasn’t exactly made the best of decisions lately. Her relationships with her mother and especially Gary are suffering because of it. It seems her main struggles these days are life after cancer, and her reemerging emotions regarding Chad’s untimely death.
There seemed to be hope for her when she confided in Delilah, bonding over their lost loved ones. Though they may have suffered different losses, they could relate to one another through their mutual pain. Maggie should be sticking closer to home when it comes to confidantes, but she threw that away when she wound up at Eric’s music store, sobbing uncontrollably in his arms. It’s a good thing Gary wasn’t witness to that.
Eric pushes her to be who she once was, but this is something Gary should be encouraging. Maggie keeps insisting she’s not ready, but the truth is, she’s not ready to face reality with those closest to her. Sometimes it’s easier to confide in a stranger, because they don’t know you or your family. However, it can also mean trouble. For Maggie, that means alienating the people she loves.
She and Gary share a sweet moment that could have patched things up for them, but Maggie walks away, telling Gary she has to face life after cancer without him. While she may need her space, it was the wrong call. Gary was offering her all the support she needs and she just rejects it, and him. She’s keeping too many secrets. I can’t imagine Gary will stand for that much longer. It’s becoming inevitable that there will be some kind of fallout with them – hopefully they’re strong enough to survive it.
Gary takes a new route to decipher the messages he can’t understand, namely the mixed messages Maggie’s been sending. His breast cancer support group may provide helpful insight, but Gary needs more initiative. He tried to reach Maggie, but he may have to learn that sometimes you can’t reach someone unless they allow you to. Gary’s not one to give up, and he’s famous for fixing things. It could be an impossible lesson for Gary to learn, let alone accept.
Maggie may not be sending clear or wanted messages to Gary, but she did send the right message to Delilah, who was struggling with her family unit in “Austin”. Maggie relating her experience with her family to Delilah’s current familial status was helpful because it helped Delilah conclude something that her family needed to help them stick together and keep moving forward.
Elsewhere, “Austin” sees Sophie and Danny with wildly different opinions when it comes to their new family photo, which was meant to be Charlie’s birth announcement. Sophie pushes for a photo while Danny does everything he can to avoid it. It appears that Sophie wants the photo so she can still feel like she’s a part of some semblance of a family. Sophie seems to crave the feeling that comes from a family picture: a sense of togetherness.
Danny, however, doesn’t want to take a picture without his father. He doesn’t want to forget his father, he doesn’t want to dishonor Jon’s memory – there’s plenty of reasons for his reluctance. He receives the direction he needs to happily take a family photo, but I didn’t care for the way Sophie and Delilah kept disregarding him.
Sophie was so focused on what she wanted that she ignored her brother and became frustrated. Delilah was initially more invested in Charlie’s needs than Danny’s. They totally overlooked why the wallet meant so much to Danny, who just wanted to include Jon somewhere in their photo.
Their family photo turned out beautifully, but the sneaky factor of Eddie being there was totally influenced by Delilah’s belief that Eddie be included given Charlie’s parentage. Though not outright stating his significance to Charlie for Sophie and Danny’s sake, it was a nice touch for the occasion. The whole gang of friends, who have all supported Delilah and her kids since Jon’s loss, were a perfect addition to the family photo. They may not be the conventional family, but they’re still a family nonetheless.
Rome had some strong messages that unfortunately Regina caught wind of when she watched him conduct his commercial. It’s personal, because he took a moment out of their life and put it on display for everyone – plus, the actors being lookalikes of Rome and Regina made it just plain freaky. No wonder Regina walked out.
The thing is, Rome may not have realized he was sending such messages, or that Regina would take it so personally. Rome was just directing a commercial. Or was he? Was he doing his job or was he somehow working something out in his personal life by artistic means? It wouldn’t be the first time.
Rome’s desire for children clashes with Regina’s plans in a big way. In last week’s “The Perfect Storm”, Rome spent the day babysitting Charlie alongside Eddie. Could that experience have possibly evoked Rome’s paternal instincts, hence the commercial?
He and Regina didn’t get the chance to really work things out in “Austin”, because the truth is, they don’t know how. Not to mention Rome’s parents got in their way by making Rome and Regina deal with their problems, which was totally unfair. Rome’s father was being ridiculous most of the episode, complaining and making Regina feel worthless because of the things she doesn’t give Rome, albeit unintentionally to make a point about himself in the process. That wasn’t okay, and he should have apologized not only to his wife, but to his son and daughter-in-law as well.
Still, Rome’s parents and their fighting, on their fiftieth wedding anniversary of all days, brings about a realization for Rome and Regina. Do they want to keep ignoring their problems or put everything on the table and work things out for the best? Sometimes lessons arrive when you need them the most, even if the timing feels like the most inconvenient moment in the world. Messages exist in many forms, but the basis of any message is that you understand it, and take some kind of action from it, especially if you can learn something from it.
Catch up on our previous A Million Little Things reviews here.
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