The Middle: The Rush

It is a new year in the Heck household. Axl (Charlie McDermott) is looking forward to his internship where he believes he will be running a company. In the meantime, Mike (Neil Flynn) hires him to help with the baby diapers at a baby convention but runs into trouble immediately. His business has absolutely no presence on social media and that upsets people. All Axl has to do is press a couple of buttons and voila, Mike has a twitter account. He delights in his two followers and he hasn't even twittered anything. Yet. But when he does, it doesn't turn out well. He attacks his haters back on the teams inside his diapers and things get ugly quickly. He doesn't understand how instantly things could go viral and that though his followers add up, they aren't fans. They just want to see the twitter war and how that turns out. Needless to say, the phone starts ringing off the hook and Mike doesn't answer them, finally unplugging the phone. Mike finally understands how important the social media is and needs to learn more about it. And Mike is genuinely proud when Axl does get the internship at his old job, Little Betty snacks though Axl's position will be higher than Mike's delivery position.
Sue's (Eden Sher's) battle is much bigger. She wants to join a sorority, but hasn't done much of anything interesting. She hasn't traveled or won medals in something unique like equestrian competitions, as the girl who always sits next to her has, Lexie (Daniela Bobadilla). She does this on purpose and not to bring Sue down but because Sue is so funny, Lexie loves Sue's funny stories including the one where the Hecks get to a hotel and pooh is already in the toilet. It is like a mystery. Despite everything, two sororities do actually have interest in Sue while everyone is interested in Lexie, though ultimately, the end results are the same: neither make anything. Lexie is beyond devastated while Sue takes everything in stride. The sorority isn't going to make Sue a better person, she wants to make people better around her. She assures Lexie that things will get better, after all Sue is the expert in rejection.
In the little third plot line, Frankie (Patricia Heaton) is plenty upset when Brick (Atticus Shaffer) buys a pair of pants without her. She can't believe her baby is growing up without her. Sure, she complains constantly about going shopping with Brick but now that opportunity is behind her, she just doesn't want to let go. While she tries to cling to the past, Mike is okay with the kids growing up and leaving them behind, after all, that was the plan. Brick finally decides that they will go bowling though he insists on bringing his one friend, Troy (Jovan Armand) with him so Frankie didn't have much of a role, but she savors it, as much as Frankie savors anything. Frankie knows that Brick has a friend now and that her window has closed.
Sure, the characters are growing up, little by little and learning about new things along the way. I'm glad that Sue opted not to join a sorority, but on her own terms before finding out the truth. Sure, Frankie didn't have much of anything important to do, but it was especially strong episode for Sue and that is always welcome. Sure, she isn't that smart about typical things but she's smart about what truly matters and hopefully has her first true friend of college. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-The most laughs in our family was had at Mike's reaction to the woman saying she would follow him on LinkedIn and Mike politely refused because he's married, not realizing that it is a social network site to make job connections. Typical Mike.
-Apparently, Purdue doesn't have a good defense, at least in Mike's opinion.
-It took Axl ten whole minutes to figure out Twitter.
-When Axl has a Skype interview, he does dress up, from the waist up, with a button down shirt and tie.
-Axl gets Mike to tie all of his ties for him, because he apparently can't do that for himself.
-Lexie's horse is named Cinnamon, for the record.
-While Lexie is still crying, Sue drapes her coat and purse around her and assures her that things will get better and that she shouldn't cry into her pillow because that is where she sleeps. A sweatshirt is much better.
-Brick used to spell kiss with two zs.
-Frankie is so desperate for some physical contact with Brick, she wakes him up to cuddle at night.
-Frankie's pep talk to Sue basically says that marriage isn't the answer. If it was, then Sue wouldn't be in college.
-Sue is keeping an open mind, this could be the year of Sue even though that's what she thought last year.