Wow! Ed Asner seriously gave it to Mike and Frankie on this week’s The Middle. He even called them out for throwing their money at all their problems: “You rich people make me sick.” If only he knew. I really enjoyed that, but as great as the scene was, a part of me wished we’d gotten to see him trying to yell at Brick. Scenes from Up are probably coloring my imagination here, but then wouldn’t that be awesome?
Brick’s plot itself had a similar shortcoming. It would have been exponentially greater to watch Brick deliver newspapers for four days (I loved how Frankie said Brick’s “too young, too everything” to work for the Orson Herald. Might she have meant to say “Too Brick?”) If you think about it, all we actually saw of Brick the paper boy were three or four brief shots of him delivering newspapers. The joke could have been that much bigger, but for whatever reason the writers decided not to go there. Missed opportunity.
Instead Mike and Frankie taking over for Brick opened the door to their battery argument. To be honest it was kind of weak, and I think they were both right and both wrong. Brick struggling to complete his paper route every morning would have worked better.
Pulling back for a second, I did love what led Brick to get the job, which was his desire for night vision goggles so he could read in the dark (ever hear of a flashlight?) Mike’s point that you have to make your own money to spend it frivolously was a great lesson, but Frankie’s clarification that that’s true “until you get a credit card” was hilarious. Terrible life lesson, but hilarious. I love how Brick “wastes” all of his money on books, and kudos to him for how quickly he thought of a way to make money: “Might either of you be interested in buying some used books?”
Meanwhile, Sue struggled with Matt’s sudden move away from Orson. His reasoning for not telling her sooner, because “I was hoping my dad would get fired or something. He’s not the most reliable worker” was very funny, but why tell her right after you win a wrestling match and she’s cheering for you? I guess he’s always been rather awkward.
I couldn’t understand much of what Sue was saying with that headgear on, but even so I could tell how tone deaf she was being to what was going on with Matt and his new friend. Sue was surprisingly funny with a boyfriend — prior to this episode — so I’m surprised at the decision to end the relationship. Axl thinking Matt’s PG-13 texts were for him was funny, but isn’t Sue a bit young for that?
I’ll make a note not to have teenage girls.
“Nancy’s looking for volunteers to pack lunches for the poor. I do that every morning.” – Frankie
“He threw up.” – Mike, about Brick
“Was it hard to clean up?” – Frankie
“You’ll let me know.” – Mike
“…We really should get a dog.” – Frankie, on the clean-up problem
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 16, 2012 @ 17:54 EST5EDT
