A Million Little Things has been on the air since 2018, but it was not until very recently that my wife, Krista, and I decided to start watching it. Now our to watch list is verging on ridiculous with various multi-season shows taking up spots, but on a whim Krista thought that A Million Little Things sounded like an interesting show and started watching. I joined her a few episodes in, which is often the case for shows we are binging, and the show turned into one of our go to watches. We just got caught up last week and are currently waiting for the most recent episode to drop, but I honestly could not wait anymore. I did not expect to be writing about this show, primarily because my focus has shifted to primarily books, but I absolutely could not resist highlighting Katherine from A Million Little Things, and not just because we share the same first name.

I don’t know if other people do this, but ultimately when Krista and I watch a show we rank our favorite characters and in A Million Little Things we both agreed that Katherine was our top choice. This isn’t uncommon and she immediately had two things going for her. One, literally the same name as me, and two, she is a lawyer. Now both of those things in one character meant she was basically a shoe in, but when the most recent season started I started wondering if they were going to give Katherine a story that would immediately cement her as my favorite forever. As a quick recap of the series for those who don’t know A Million Little Things focuses on a friend group coping with the death of their friend, Jon, who died by suicide. Much of the early plots examine the events around his death and we also see what was happening in the lives of his friends. Katherine, while part of the friend group, is not as close with the others. She is the wife of one of Jon’s core male friend group, Eddie, but the two have not been doing well for years. Eddie is a recovering addict and he fathered a child while having an affair with Jon’s wife. There are so many secrets and so much lost trust that Katherine seems like an outsider. As the seasons evolve she becomes closer with the core characters, but while she may not have the closest emotional ties to the group she constantly puts that aside to help them. This involves hours of free legal work, watching the child her husband had with another woman, and being ready to jump in at a moment’s notice.

Now I will say this next section is very spoiler filled if you aren’t caught up on the show so please be aware. After having tried to make things work with Eddie, when he becomes addicted to pain pills and lies to her about taking them, Katherine finally decides she can’t stay with him. The two ultimately file for divorce and she tries to start dating for the first time in years. Now she is not without a bit of fault and while still with Eddie briefly attempts to have an affair, but can’t bring herself to actually go through with it. She then waits and begins dating Alan, another attorney who has been helping her with a number of legal issues. While trying to date him Katherine realizes that because of Eddie she does not trust that Alan is solely committed to her and the two wind up breaking up. After that point Katherine’s story shifts a bit. Her paralegal, Carter, played by Sam Pancake, decides she needs to be on the apps and starts setting up profiles. She lets him run with it, but refuses to check it and never responds to any of the comments she receives. During her Divorce Party, she isn’t hosting, but is instead the guest of honor in a party thrown by the women of the evolved friend group, Katherine becomes exceedingly uncomfortable when the women jokingly say they should invite some of the men to her party. One guest at the party who is a new addition to the group is actor, Shanice Williamson, who was supposed to play Regina in Rome’s now shut down movie. She and Katherine spent some time together while their children were on a playdate and we learn that Katherine is Shanice’s biggest fan. She has basically an encyclopedic knowledge of all of her roles. During a game of never have I ever Katherine chides Shanice for not drinking when someone says “Never have I ever kissed a girl” because she knows Shanice kissed a woman in one of her roles.

The night continues and Katherine chooses to clean up instead of heading out to the bar with Regina and Darcy. While she and Shanice are the only two people left in Maggie’s lot we learn that Shanice was actually in a relationship with a woman, but chose to keep it private. During a dishwashing scene I was shouting that the two should kiss, but alas it didn’t happen. That is not until a later meeting with the two women. While Shanice is at Katherine’s the two seem flirty and it has a date like tone, until Katherine’s mother arrives. Once she leaves the two delve into a discussion about shoulds and living the life they are expected to live. After discussing it for some time, while again at a sink, the two women kiss. After that we see Katherine change her dating profile to show interest in men and women. Now sadly Shanice is out of Boston on a film shoot so I’m not sure if that particular relationship will evolve, but we finally got what I had been waiting for. You see there were so many hints I hoped they would actually commit and I was very glad that Carter’s passing line about Katherine not saying no to women would evolve into a more complex plot.

Katherine’s character is played so well by Grace Park who constantly showcases Katherine’s desire to help others and be the best her with the constant strain of living up to expectations. There is so much complexity to who she is and how she has tried to live up to what everyone expected her to be. Through her character there have been examinations of racism, growing up with the pressure of being first generation, and the desire to keep a certain life together for the sake of a child. This new story for Katherine shows her moving toward living the life she felt she never could with new avenues available to her. She is truly embracing who she is and letting herself feel love however it may find her. I am really hoping that we see more of her dating journey and that we are able to watch her grow into her new identity. Since they have not in the show provided a term for how Katherine identities as a Katherine I am going to roll with her being Bi, like me, for now, but if that changes I will definitely update this article. Thank you A Million Little Things for adding this to your storylines, though this is not their first foray into queer storytelling, and I look forward to seeing more of Katherine.

I also did choose to make this article part of The Bi Line series that I have sporadically updated on The Nerdy Girl Express. If you are interested in finding more queer media you can search The Bi Line on our site.

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