I’m all for a tremendously solid episode of The Middle — which this definitely was — but I’d like to dissuade anyone who might be under the impression that Brick’s birth day story is “the coolest ever.” Maybe it’s more exciting than Axl’s and/or Sue’s, but coolest? No. (I don’t have a better one, but the word “cool” puts a positive spin on it that shouldn’t be there.)
That being said, it was awesome … in, you know, a horrifying sort of way. I was actually prepared for a big letdown after all the to-do everyone was making to keep the story a secret (can you believe Sue locked Brick in her closet?). Then, after the fake story about Mike missing his birth while looking for a parking meter, I thought the episode was going to head in a different direction — namely Mike being upset that Brick wasn’t bothered by Mike’s absence at Brick’s birth. I accepted that the story could be as simple as that.
Then we learned that it was all a lie. So instead I extrapolated from the new story — Frankie and Mike pretended to be the Fergusons, and they stole their birthing suite. What did I imagine came next? Some horrible altercation with the real Fergusons, and maybe the Hecks being kicked out of the hospital, with Brick being born in the parking lot, the car, or at home. Or maybe in the Ferguson’s pool.
But no. Instead it was fantastic and fantastical … Frankie and Mike took home Blake Ferguson, and didn’t wake up to that mistake for a month (and even then they only realized after presumably the Fergusons called the authorities). That’s awesome (in that horrifying sort of way). Smart move by Brick using it to slide on his own “mistakes,” as well as putting together an extra long birthday present list. Smart kid.
Of course I also wouldn’t have objected to seeing how waiting too long would have manifested itself in this case. With Sue and unicorns, it resulted in Sue doing a science project on unicorns, discussing their eating habits — clouds and rainbows. How old did she look to you? Ten? Eleven? Yikes.
Brick’s party was also great. I loved Frankie entreating Brick to cut one kid from his invite list, because there were 25 kids and everything comes in packs of 24. Then to the partry itself — the fun kicked off with quiet reading time at home, Sue passing books around the table, and then carried on to the library where the revelry was shushed by the librarian. That was so much fun! (Probably not for the kids, but definitely for us.)
Brick’s reaction to his gift was funny too (“Cool! A manual!”) but I wonder what Mike was thinking buying the robot in the first place. They could have just combed through their house looking for all their old manuals. That would set them up for birthday gifts for Brick for years to come.
I was proud of Axl and the way in which he ultimately responded to his new boss Casey. Mike had a good point about smart becoming more important than hot one day. And I like that they had that real talk, regardless of how brief it was.
Another great episode of The Middle.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Nov 04, 2010 @ 16:00 EST5EDT
