Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, I’m continuing my coverage of The Middle (2009-2018, ABC), which is currently available on DVD and streaming!
The Middle stars PATRICIA HEATON as Frankie, NEIL FLYNN as Mike, CHARLIE McDERMOTT as Axl, EDEN SHER as Sue, and ATTICUS SHAFFER as Brick.
The previous season of The Middle was a disappointment because it was a comedown in quality. And it explicitly aimed to focus on the series’ most memorable character, Sue, whose fawning narrative treatment only accentuated a decline, emphasizing the show’s minimizing situation and its diminishing character work. Fortunately, this year, The Middle’s seventh, isn’t as much of a letdown. This is in spite of the fact that it’s even less ideal than Six, with Sue going off to college and two of the three kids now out of the house. Naturally, the consequences of this development are as anticipated — it’s now even more difficult for the show to contrive excuses to get the entire family together, which means there’s a lot of scattered stories that don’t feature much inter-ensemble mingling. Accordingly, there are few episodes here able to fire on all cylinders, with all elements of the situation. Now, if that makes this a weaker season, I also wouldn’t say this year is bad. Actually, Seven’s rom-com developments aren’t as overbearing as they were in the most recent seasons or those directly ahead. And, frankly, the adults aren’t quite as peripheral this year. Everyone is more equal in terms of narrative prominence… they’re just, again, less often together. Also, the ideas are just growing even more tired, with less creative spark, and not as much specificity for these characters and the premised world in which they once uniquely inhabited. Indeed, this is a season where The Middle doesn’t reinforce the “middle” qualities that are foundational to its identity. Part of that stems from the college campus, which doesn’t favor those themes and is less effective than the Hecks’ middle-class, mid-west home at implying the intended situation. But this isn’t a problem that’s new to Seven. It’s been brewing for years, with Six taking the first major hit. Seven is just another year beyond the series’ best-by date, with nothing great… but nothing awful either.
01) Episode 145: “Not Your Brother’s Drop Off” (Aired: 09/23/15)
Sue wants her drop off at college to be as special as Axl’s was.
Written by Tim Hobert | Directed by Lee Shallat Chemel
Season Seven opens with the family taking an excited Sue to college. It’s a parallel to the premiere from two years ago where the Hecks drove Axl to school, and similarly, this one puts them on the road. Only here, there are two cars, as the family is split, united by walkie-talkie. Is this a metaphor for their increased separation this season? Not really, because their regular interaction and the singular focus of the plot keeps them together in a way that genuinely evokes The Middle of yore. And with smart self-awareness about the series’ continuity, plus a depiction of Sue Heck that is congruous both with her established characterization and the role she plays within the family, this is a better-than-baseline use of these characters.
02) Episode 146: “Cutting The Cord” (Aired: 09/30/15)
Sue struggles to adjust to life at college away from her parents.
Written by Rich Dahm | Directed by Danny Salles
The season’s sophomore excursion continues the series’ transition into its new status quo. Sue is now away at college and struggling to be without her folks, whom she continues to hound with texts. This difficult adjustment is familiar to many families, and The Middle does a good job balancing humor with the kind of basic emotional realism that makes it one of the decade’s most relatable family sitcoms. This story also smartly culminates in some bonding between Sue and Axl, two college students who indeed become closer this year due to their proximity. Additionally, it’s fun to see Sue with a roommate who’s her opposite — a great way to reinforce her characterization by juxtaposition, in this, her best showing in Seven.
03) Episode 150: “Halloween VI: Tick Tock Death” (Aired: 10/28/15)
The Hecks experience several spooky phenomena on Halloween.
Written by Tim Hobert | Directed by Elliot Hegarty
This season’s Halloween entry isn’t one of my favorites. In fact, it’s gimmicky — an anthology of spooky vignettes. But the half hour stands out as a result of that design, for The Middle is a series that, as a rule, tends to be more narratively earnest, avoiding episodic stunts. That gives this an atypical spotlight, with a sense of cultural satire that is common of post-modern sitcoms but unusual and therefore novel for The Middle. However, it isn’t just memorability that works in this outing’s favor; all three stories are generally decent — particularly the Twilight Zone homage with Brick — and I’m always amused by Patricia Heaton resorting to comic violence, as Frankie does here against awful recurring neighbor Rita Glossner (Brooke Shields).
04) Episode 152: “Thanksgiving VII” (Aired: 11/18/15)
Frankie picks up a temporary job that has her working on Thanksgiving.
Written by Rich Dahm | Directed by Elliot Hegarty
The seventh installment in The Middle’s Thanksgiving category covers familiar ground — Frankie is working, so there’s no formal holiday meal planned. But it’s a memorable addition because Frankie is holding down a temp job back at the Heritage Village where we’ve previously seen her catch shifts. It’s another bit of continuity that helps tailor this sample to this series and its specifically cultivated elements. And what’s most fun about it this time is that she’s working with someone who, unlike Frankie, takes the job super-seriously — a colleague played by the well-cast Faith Ford (of Murphy Brown). Ford and Heaton have amusing chemistry as a pair of opposites, making this one of the funnier Frankie A-stories from this series’ last trimester.
05) Episode 153: “The Convention” (Aired: 12/02/15)
Frankie and Mike go to a dental convention while Axl and Sue become roommates.
Written by Jana Hunter & Mitch Hunter | Directed by Lee Shallat Chemel
Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines guests as a performatively cheery CEO whom Frankie and Mike meet at an out-of-town convention, now that the dental practice is being taken over by a bigger company. It’s an interesting change of pace for this series, with a story whose conflict is rooted in the middle-class (and thus premise-backed) nature of their existence, as they learn that “all-expenses-paid” when it comes to their ritzy hotel does not apply to their voluntarily charged amenities. Meanwhile, Sue and Axl become roommates in a solid sibling subplot that highlights their personalities through juxtaposition, and John Cullum returns for a C-story with Brick — another small idea individualized by attachments to the series’ continuity.
06) Episode 154: “Not So Silent Night” [a.k.a. “No Silent Night”] (Aired: 12/09/15)
Frankie regrets letting the family stay home from church on Christmas Eve.
Written by DeAnn Heline & Eileen Heisler | Directed by Melissa Kosar
This year’s Christmas offering is underrated. It’s mostly a bottle show, with just the main actors in the house for most of the half hour. It’s a setup conducive to character-forward sitcommery, predicated on ideas dependent on the regulars’ interactions. Now, okay, I can’t pretend this is a series’ classic. The primary conflict, though everyday and relatable in a way that speaks to the series’ “average” identity, isn’t something that’s truly precise or individual to these characters. And some of the arguing is, frankly, a little rote. But the ensemble has such good chemistry, and at a time when seeing them all together is a luxury, this counts for a lot. Plus, the whole overarching idea of this occurring on Christmas Eve when they’ve opted not to attend their annual church service is a special thematic hook that differentiates The Middle from most major family sitcoms. So, this is, ultimately, enough of a Middle-specific outing to laud.
07) Episode 157: “Floating 50” (Aired: 01/20/16)
Mike and the kids attempt to throw a surprise party for Frankie’s 50th birthday.
Written by Rich Dahm | Directed by Lee Shallat Chemel
Frankie’s turning 50 and her family is making last-minute plans to throw her a surprise party. Those plans are jeopardized by Frankie’s choice to go visit Sue at school, not knowing that Sue is already back home waiting for the celebration. It’s a mild misunderstanding — common sitcom fodder and nothing that we haven’t seen before in this genre. But the birthday celebrations are an excuse to get everyone together within the same narrative framework, and in a celebration of Frankie that centralizes the family dynamic and thus the basic premise of this series, with her as its nucleus. As for comedy, there are laughs in the subplot as the gym teacher (Brooke Dillman) tries her darnedest to get through to an un-athletic Brick.
08) Episode 161: “The Wisdom Teeth” (Aired: 03/16/16)
Frankie takes care of Axl and Sue when they both have their wisdom teeth removed.
Written by Stacey Pulwer | Directed by Lee Shallat Chemel
Axl and Sue being high on pain meds after both having their wisdom teeth removed makes for some of the funniest material of the season. It yields easy laughs, but they’re welcome, especially because this story provides a good excuse to get them back at home and in the house, where Frankie must care for them. Meanwhile, Norm Macdonald appears in his recurring role as Mike’s brother Rusty. They have an arc this season about going into the diaper business — a mildly amusing notion that also enables guest appearances from an established but peripheral aspect of the series’ situation. Here, their plan is jeopardized by the return of Rusty’s wife Marlene (whom he married in Season Three) — more continuity that is capably personalizing.
09) Episode 162: “A Very Donahue Vacation” (Aired: 03/23/16)
The Hecks take a joint vacation with their neighbors, the Donahues.
Written by Rich Dahm | Directed by Jaffar Mahmood
I appreciate the Donahues, and particularly Nancy (Jen Ray), as a likable foil to Frankie — the neighborhood mom who, unlike our frazzled heroine, seems to have it all together. I’ve not yet had a chance to communicate my appreciation for their familiar, relatable, and perhaps underrated recurring presence as a comedic juxtaposition to the regulars. I’m doing so here because this is their most notable showing, as the two families take a joint vacation together and the differences in their parenting styles is the primary subject. But not in the way that you’d expect — for it’s Frankie who insults Nancy. That’s a nice play against expectations that nevertheless emphasizes their differences, making this one of the cleverer shows in all of Seven.
10) Episode 168: “The Show Must Go On” (Aired: 05/18/16)
Frankie fights to ensure Brick gets to perform his song at middle-school graduation.
Written by Tim Hobert | Directed by Lee Shallat Chemel
Season Seven’s finale culminates in another graduation — Brick’s farewell to middle school. It’s an appropriately chaotic half hour, especially because Sue and Brad are making plans to work the summer at Dollywood. That place is a wonderful bit of heartland Americana that is a logical interest for these two theatre kids. And their forthcoming departure adds tension, as they must leave the same day as Brick’s ceremony. However, the real meat of this outing is Frankie’s efforts to intervene on behalf of her son — a recurring theme that this show used a lot more in early seasons, when the parents would show up at school and fight their kids’ battles. It’s thus a warm-hearted throwback to those days and speaks to the family’s key premised relationships — specifically, Frankie’s with Brick, the latter of whom has been defined by his social quirks, which have necessitated lots of attention and help from his folks. Even on his graduation day, Frankie is fighting for him — it’s touching, funny, and well-rooted in what we know of The Middle. Accordingly, since there’s nothing great here, I think this is the most comprehensive sample of the series in Seven, rendering it a viable selection for my MVE (Most Valuable Episode).
Other notable episodes that merit mention include: “Find My Hecks,” where Frankie and Mike use apps to track their kids, and Brick is competitive with his equally odd girlfriend Cindy. I’ll also take this space to cite “Risky Business,” which sets up Mike and Rusty’s diaper business venture and features Brad’s coming out to Sue, “The Rush,” where Sue tries to get into a sorority and Frankie starts to feel unneeded by Brick when he goes shopping for himself, “Hecks At A Movie,” where the entire family goes to the movie theatre, “Crushed,” where Sue is appropriately goofy and awkward, and Cindy’s folks ask the Hecks for a loan, and “Not Mother’s Day,” where Mike has some vulnerability with Frankie’s mom, and Frankie gets herself in a very uncomfortable spot trying to “pay it forward.”
*** The MVE Award for the Best Episode from Season Seven of The Middle goes to…
“The Show Must Go On”
Come back next week for Season Eight! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!