The Middle – The return of the former mother-in-law

Doris Roberts returned to The Middle last night as Brick’s teacher, Ms. Rinsky. I love seeing Roberts play against her old cast mate Patricia Heaton, especially since Roberts gets to infuse a lot of Marie Barone when playing opposite Heaton, nee Debra Barone. I can’t even count how many times we heard Marie intone the line Ms. Rinsky used on Frankie last night: “Dear, I blame myself.” It’s just too bad that Peter Boyle’s no longer alive to do his own drive-by.

Frankie’s and Mike’s skills at helping the kids with their homework were great; I would have loved to see a “memory” of Mike trying to work with Axl, too. Mike wants the kids to write everything down — which caused Sue to break down crying — while Frankie gets so fed up that she does everything herself. I loved that Brick’s third grade math thwarted Frankie’s ability to continue doing so.

Math class for parents was funny, even if it was no surprise that Frankie’s a kiss-up (“Narc!”) But what I really loved was the letter that Frankie emailed to Brick’s principal. I expected fragmented sentences and made-up words — based on Frankie’s lack of sleep and alcohol consumption — but I was pleasantly surprised by the accusations she flung at Ms. Rinsky: alcoholism and being a Nazi. Mike’s reaction to discovering that she’d signed his name to the email was priceless.

And the meeting in the principal’s office with Mike, Frankie, Ms. Rinsky, and the stenographer was great, too. It’s awesome that Frankie has her own office file, with infractions that, in addition to the latest harassing a teacher, include being over-reactive and mildly threatening (on separate occasions), demanding special attention, and that Frankie’s intimidating behavior creates a hostile learning environment. Not sure if the punishment fit the crime — do they really want Frankie around more? — but I’ll love to see how she fits all of that into her already ridiculous schedule.

And the fact that the second bad grade was all due to the fact that Brick only answered a handful of questions on the test so that he could get more free reading time was awesome.

I’ve never cared much for Aunt Edie (Jeanette Miller) or Aunt Ginny (Frances Bay). Not because I have anything against them; I’ve just never cared one way or another. They pop up often, but never in any significant fashion, though I loved when one went to work for Mike. So their latest inclusion didn’t really alert me to anything of interest happening, even when Edie said that she’d buried a time capsule somewhere.

The fact that she was thinking about a Nancy Drew book kind of figured, but the ride back in the car with Axl and Sue was nice. For some reason it made me finally see Edie as an active member of the family, instead of something on someone’s list of chores or errands. And the fact that she was able to interest two teenagers in something she had to say … not an easy feat. I’m sure it won’t change their ongoing relationship, but it was nice while it lasted.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 03, 2011 @ 15:20 EST5EDT