Wednesday, April 23, 2014

The Middle: The Wind Chimes

This episode massively disappointed me, especially since it was the first new episode in three whole weeks.
Sure, it was great to see Rita Glossner (Brooke Shields) back, after spending nine months at a spa (aka jail), but boy, is she off her rocker. But so is Frankie (Patricia Heaton), in different ways.
Frankie takes everything out of proportion, everything bothers her while nothing, almost nothing bothers Mike (Neil Flynn) but he will go to bat just to make Frankie happy. Because if Mama's not happy, then no one is. I didn't expect that plot line, where Frankie hates Rita's new wind chimes which make so much noise, she can't sleep at night, to end that way. Frankie tries to be nice, but that backfires, with Rita throwing the chocolates at the Heck house, to spite her, Frankie throws one back at her and it hits Rita, leaving me gasping. Luckily, this plot line has a happy ending, because the Glossner boys hit everything with bats.
Brick (Atticus Shaffer) is exercising his creative juices when he calls a pretzel company to complain about the lack of salt but instead gets inspired when the company wants to hear ideas for new products. Brick takes the whole thing way too seriously and all the products he comes up with have already been created but he delights in spinning things into something new, an advertising man. He even takes his ten cents off coupon as his first paycheck.
Axl (Charlie McDermott) and Hutch (Alphonso McAuley) find a battered couch behind a dumpster which will be perfect for their apartment next year though just getting it back to campus poses a huge problem. Eventually, they leave it in the woods where Axl gets angry at Hutch just because Hutch met a girl while Axl had not. Fortunately, Hutch makes things up to Axl epicly, challenging Say Anything to get Axl back.
The plot line I had a problem with was Sue's (Eden Sher's). She and Darrin (John Gammon) are keeping their relationship private. That lasts only until Sue bursts into the house and announces that she is in love with Darrin. Frankie soon comes up with a problem. She doesn't want Sue to hang out with Darrin all the time, because Darrin has friends with kids and will soon be getting his own place. Mike puts his foot down though that doesn't really annoy him too much, because he trusts Sue. Sue is furious and that plot line isn't really solved and you barely get any Sue and Darrin together, which is always a bad idea. Besides, Frankie never looks on the bright side, maybe Sue and Darrin will realize how much work goes into having a child and not want to take that path just yet, but she doesn't think like that.
This time, the plots have plenty of overlap, which is nice, with everything coming to a climax in the Heck basement, Mike just wanting people to shut up so he can sleep, but because there are so many plots, some don't get the screen time and justice they deserve. Still, this episode wasn't anything like I thought it would be, and I do sort of like surprises. However, this is not one of the stronger episodes, but at least everyone is happy in the end and the plot lines could carry over into other episodes. Of course, the acting is always great. Grade: B
Side Notes:
-Rita notes Frankie's pajamas and isn't surprised that she only has three children. Rita might be going through the change, but she still enjoys sex.
-Darrin calls Sue Sue Bear.
-Sue proclaims that she can hear bells while kissing Darrin, and Brick says then they are all in love Darrin, thanks to the incessant wind chimes.
-Axl likes Revenge. Who knew?
-Darrin could watch Sue make potatoes all day long.
-It's true. She should have kept their relationship longer because people do always try and ruin their external happiness.
-Frankie ate the chocolates from the tax people but bought new ones for Rita and she actually used her good stationary, trying to suck up to her even more.
-The noise cancelling ear muffs at the dinner table are a bad idea.
-When Axl is mad at Hutch for having a girl over, he snaps and hopes that a deer tick bites Hutch in his private area. Gross and cruel.

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