A MILLION LITTLE THINGS EPs Tease a New Mystery

A MILLION LITTLE THINGS is finally back for its second season, with secrets revealed, a new baby, and challenges for the friend group.

“We redefine what it means to be family,” creator DJ Nash teases.

And while season 1 was spent introducing the characters and revealing what led to Jon’s (Ron Livingston) suicide, season 2 will dive deeper into the relationships and uncover another mystery.

Series creator DJ Nash and executive producer David Marshall Grant share a few teases about the second season…

When we spoke immediately post-finale, you mentioned you had an idea for a Colin episode. Did that end up coming to fruition?
DJ Nash: It’s actually two episodes that will break your heart. The first episode came from this idea that if the baby is Eddie’s, I want to get the baby in Katherine’s arms as quickly as possible. Because if I learned anything the first season, it is when Grace Park is hurting, that’s good TV. There’s so much humanity that just seeps through. So I wanted to find how do we get that baby in Katherine’s arms as fast as possible? And that’s what happens. And she’s incredible. Grace Park is a gift.

Now that you’re a bit deeper into it, what has you excited for fans to see in season 2?
Nash: Over the hiatus, I called DMG. And I said, “What do you think about this?” which was a mystery for the first half of season 2. And he was like, “Oh, my God.”
David Marshall Grant: It was, “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.”
Nash: There is a person from Patricia’s past who comes into our world that changes everything [for her and] Maggie.

Maggie and Gary, they met at a cancer support group, they had what seemed like dirty but turned out to be beautiful sex in a bathroom. Their whole life, everything they’ve done, has been about triage. And then we get in full remission. Their life, at the end of season one, is the perfect ending…until something happens to shake up their world. And for an individual who is in remission, when you were prepared to die, figuring out what your life is after cancer, that’s challenging enough. To be half of a relationship where the plan changes, what is our life post-cancer? That is their initial struggle. And then Patricia comes in, and the person from her past changes everything.

Was that the season 2 mystery you previously teased?
Nash: It is.

Delilah has been a mother before, but the circustances around this birth are very different. How will she be handling it this go-round?
Nash: Being a single mom is challenging. But to be a single mom while you’re while you’re having a horrific event going on is challenging. And then add to it fact that Delilah has made a very selfless choice…We will see in 2×01 when she has the baby, a nurse asks her, “Is there anything different about this pregnancy?” And we realize just how true that statement is. And you know, Delilah’s strength, her humanity all shine.

The difference between season 1 and season 2 is something that I read in Dr. Jennifer Ashton’s, from GOOD MORNING AMERICA, books—she’s actually going to be on our show, playing herself—the first year we deal with the loss, whether it’s suicide or any death. It’s obviously hard. The first Christmas without them, that first Valentine’s Day without your significant other. But in some ways, the second year is even harder, because all the safety nets, all of the people who are looking out for you, think that you’re okay, and you’re not.

Given the timeline of season 1, they haven’t really reached the anniversary of Jon’s death. Will that be tackled this season?
Nash: DMG and I love the idea of focusing on that day because I think it is an important milestone. The interesting thing about our show is most episodes take place over about a 24 hour period. When you’re 17 episodes in, it could be 17 days. By the time we get to the one year anniversary of Jon’s passing…when we do get to there, finally, we will acknowledge it. A lot of people think this is a show about my one friend dying, but it’s show about several friends of mine who are living. And in a similar way as they celebrate and remember Jon, it will be about all the gifts that he inadvertently gave them in the last year.
Grant: There are lots of milestones, too, before we [reach that]: Theo’s birthday…
Nash: Getting your license is a milestone when you’re 16 year old girl or Maggie, too.

If I can hijack this interview for a second, we’re here with David Marshall Grant. And last season, David Marshall Grant wrote one of our most celebrated episodes, the one dealing with Regina’s history of child sexual assault. I want to ask you, you’ve been doing this for a while now, there probably isn’t a storyline haven’t done. What was it like to tell that story?
Grant: That was certainly an emotional struggle for a lot of people, it turns out. It ended up being cathartic for people in ways that were unexpected. A lot of people contacted me about [it] pushing buttons or memories or things that they didn’t necessarily want to talk about in their lives. And there’s great ways that we can continue that in new and different ways in season 2. It doesn’t just go away. It goes into other stories; it turned out to be a very important part of her character.

A MILLION LITTLE THINGS, Season Premiere, Thursday, September 26, 9/8c, ABC

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