Talk about successfully picking up a thread and running with it! Last night’s episode of The Middle opened on a play date Brick was having with Arlo (Nick Shafer), last seen in “Friends, Lies, and Videotape.” For those who don’t remember, Arlo was the friend that Brick picked up after Frankie spent an entire episode trying to ensure that Brick wouldn’t go through life friendless. It was great that Arlo turned out to be a kid who was too much for even Brick … I hope we see more of him!
Axl’s story was cute, although I wish we knew who either of the girls were that he was talking about. And while his theory about asking girls to prom (eerily) made sense, I didn’t follow why the theory precluded someone from asking a “floor seat” girl earlier than the fifteenth. Wouldn’t getting in early give you a better shot? And I think a consequence might have been fun; once Axl discovered that he’d asked the wrong girl, I expected some feedback from his friends, school, etc. I guess we’ll have to wait for the episode “Prom” for that.
Sue’s indecision at the gift shop was also funny. And I loved her explanation for why she bought the octopus with the hat. I feel a lot more comfortable with these kinds of stories for Sue, as opposed to the ones that just predictably publicly humiliate her. I can’t wait for it to be cross country season again!
Leave it to Frankie to make Mother’s Day so complicated. Mike gave her the gift that all mothers would admit to wanting (after some serious prodding and assurances of anonymity): peace and quiet. It’s actually pretty easy to lazy around for a day; I’m not sure why Frankie got sucked into so many projects. But it was perfect that Mike and the kids spent a day doing things that Frankie’s been begging him to do forever, especially considering the fact that only maybe Sue would have been interested in going to the fair in the first place.
And I enjoyed how badly everything worked out on do-over Mother’s Day. But I have to ask: if the fair, the food, and everything in between was special for Mother’s Day, why’d it take a week to start shutting things down? I know that’s logic getting in the way of comedy, and I don’t really care … actually, in a way I felt like it was somewhat funnier that the fair people seemed to have waited an entire week to close up the fun right in the faces of people who were waiting for their day off to come and enjoy Brown County. It was like they were reprimanding all the loser mothers whose families didn’t bring them on actual Mother’s Day to celebrate. Burn!
Anyway, it was all good, silly fun. I mean, just imagine Mike sticking his head in a volleyball net, screaming “Net Face!” … I think everyone was trying to rub Frankie’s nose in her choosing not to spend Mother’s Day with the people who made her a mother in the first place. Burn!
“This Sunday is Mother’s Day. And I’ve got a real soft spot when it comes to moms. So Frances, you’re going to need to work so the boys here can spend the day with theirs.” – Mr. Ehlert
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 05, 2011 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
Frankie is a bitch.
Honestly, she is really starting to bring down the whole show.