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The Middle – The car wash bit still isn’t funny

The joke on 'The Middle' has always been that "cooking dinner" means picking up takeout. Even so I would never have guessed that the Heck’s oven might as well not be functional.

- Season 2, Episode 8 - "Errand Boy"

For everyone who dreamed that it was true, I have the answer — yes, www.beardguru.com is real. Not only that, but you can visit it regularly for fun new beard facts.

Of course, the lack of content on the site couldn’t have helped Axl in his futile attempt at growing a beard on last night’s episode of The Middle. And for what sport is he currently in the playoff hunt? Football? I’d think it would be a bit early … and also not exactly the same as growing a playoff beard for a sport with multiple game series in every round. Football’s instant elimination. But as far as our enjoyment is concerned, I loved the pathetic beard.

I had mixed feelings about Mike and Sue’s plot. It was significant that Mike was finally taking an interest in his daughter — I’m not saying it was the first time he’s ever acted to protect her, but you know what I mean — but kids really do need to experience pain in order to grow. I was just talking to a pediatrician who said that kids need to experience roughly 50 infections before their immune system fully develops. We hate to see our kids sick, but it’s more important that they be properly equipped to deal with serious illnesses in the future.

So too with the pain of rejection that Mike tried to shield Sue from. Although, excuse my insensitivity, but is it news to her that she’s left out of things? Regardless, both Frankie and Shannon’s father were right in advising Mike that there was nothing to be done. Boys inflict physical scars, girls inflict emotional ones, and in the end we’re all stronger for bearing those marks. But I did enjoy Mike’s attempts at being involved (both the comical and the serious).

The headliners, of course, were Frankie and Brick. I’ve always avoided the comparison to Malcolm in the Middle, and I honestly still don’t see any similarities between the shows. However, what I do see is a resemblance between the Frankie/Brick relationship and the Lois/Malcolm one. The main parallel between the two is how enjoyable the pairs are to watch.

Unlike with Malcolm, Brick’s not the Heck family’s only hope — I don’t think Frankie and Mike rest their hopes on anyone — but Frankie and Brick play off one another so well. I loved the arguments over how mature Brick was, and the ensuing disaster with the oven. I’m willing to bet that, had he just held out a bit longer at the aunts’ house, he could have beaten Frankie that way.

What I marveled at was the amount of trouble Brick managed to get into in only 24 minutes. I would have thought it would have taken him longer than that to put on the tin foil outfit alone, but I guess kids are industrious like that.

At the same time, I think it’s going to be a little sad for us — and for Frankie, of course — to watch Brick get older. He’s going to be different as an older kid. Remember Ally (Madylin Sweeten) on Everybody Loves Raymond? She went from a little kid screaming “Stella!” to being a babysitter. Can you imagine Brick being responsible for someone else? Frightening.

“Microwave is for pizza rolls. The oven is for bulky storage.” – Frankie to Brick

Photo Credit: ABC

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