The Middle: A Heck of a Ride

Well, it has come, the series finale. It wasn't that funny and there were some moments that weren't great but overall, it was so touching and tied up all the loose ends.
Axl (Charlie McDermott) has just announced that he's decided to take the job in Denver and Frankie (Patricia Heaton) is devastated and reaches into her nightstand for her cookies. But by morning, all is fine. She wishes him congratulations but there is a catch; he still needs to tell his siblings. Sue (Eden Sher) is devastated while Brick (Atticus Shaffer) immediately starts measuring out the room so he can create a reading nook. And then he misjudges the space and shoves a book shelf in the door frame and there it stays.
So they leave. Sue finally gets her moment with Axl in the back of the car. Brick is determined not to have the middle seat so he camps out in a window seat for the whole night, reading. While Sue has been crying a lot, Brick is showing no emotion. But he is devastated as the whole room has always reeked of Axl's smelly socks. He doesn't know what his room without Axl in it. Goodbyes are hard for Axl and it is probably hardest to say goodbye to Sue so they finally have their moment. And Sue states that she loves being the middle child; she is both an older sister and a younger sister. Three is the perfect number.
There is also the touching moment when Axl has a trivia contest between Sue and Brick over who will get his car as out in Denver he will have a fancy company car. When asked what he got Sue for her twenty-first birthday, she proclaims nothing but he corrects her, she gets his car and she is thrilled. It was probably the nicest thing he ever did for Sue. Brick is not left empty-handed; he gets Brick's palm tree. And Mike gets in on this, giving Axl Big Mike's (John Cullen's) old watch with the longitude and latitude engraved on the back so he can always find his way home.
And then it is time to leave and many are there to see him off, neighbors mostly and Lexie (Daniela Bobadilla) who promises to visit him in July.
The car ride is typical Heck family tradition, using up too much data and deciding what sort of body Sue's dead head will go on. Axl is fine with having his head attached to a horse's body after his death. And Mike (Neil Flynn) has started a new death napkin though Frankie didn't know anything about it.
Now to the plot line that was super sweet but I also had problems with it. Sean (Beau Wirick) is going through security as he is flying off to Ghana for the summer but he is stopped as the snowglobe is discovered with a touching note from Sue so he leaves and starts pounding on the Heck house door only to find out that they left for Denver. I don't know how he catches up to them when they were more than a hour ahead of him but he does and he and Sue have their moment. Their relationship has been full of misunderstandings. Sean loves that Sue is watching sunshine as she is always happy. They make out and declare their love for each other. Which is sweet and inevitable and I knew that it would be the finding of the snow globe that would make him realize but I just don't buy that he was able to catch up with the Heck family car.
Frankie finally gets emotional when Axl says that it will be fine to just take him off the family plan and forces Mike to pull over and starts to cry and Sue brings out the blue bag. That's right the blue bag finally made it into the car and then Sue just leaves it on the side of the road. Frankie declares that she will not be a part of taking her son thousands of miles away as she's not okay with it. The cell phone company has a family plan for a reason so they are all tied together. They need to make the moments count. But this how things are supposed to be, eras are supposed to end.
Then, everything ties up. Axl does return to Orson and Mike and Frankie get their just rewards when he and Lexie have three boys all exactly like him, leaving their dirty socks all around the house. Brick also becomes famous, writing a series of books that involve a bookish boy who gets sucked into a microfiche machine and travels through time and he's also married and we can assume that it's Cindy (Casey Burke). Sue and Sean break-up, get back together and break-up again before getting married with Reverend Tim Tom (Paul Hipp) officiating. So Sue finally becomes a Donohue. As for the Heck house, tons of things never get fixed but for all the things they didn't have, they also had a lot. And it ends with Brick whispering the middle, how touching.
Overall, this was a solid episode and I liked how it was both epic and intimate and did glimpse into the children's futures as I have always been interested in seeing what sort of people they would become. They all became amazing people and hopefully happy people.
It was truly so touching to see Axl finally give Sue a present she deserved and karma really can be a bitch. And Frankie appreciated all the little things her house had to offer.
Throughout its run, this show has always shown light on the little people in the world, the ones who are overshadowed by the talented and proves that niceness just isn't a trait that gets the credit it deserved. But at least the Hecks were nice. It may not have always come from the right place or been given willingly but it was there. And that should not be forgotten. I will forever miss the Hecks. Grade: A- (episode); A- (season) and A- (series)
Side Notes:
-For a special Axl breakfast, Frankie says that she will pop whatever he wants into the microwave.
-Axl also puts cheese up Sue's nose while she's asleep.
-I wonder if Axl ever learns how to tie a tie.
-Axl still needs to learn his month order and learn how to count to ten in Spanish.
-Mike and Frankie are such good members of Frugal Hoosiers Miser status that they are almost at tightwad status.
-Vaseline on teeth sounds disgusting.
-Brick was embraced despite being a happy accident.
-Axl's favorite sandwich is cereal on white bread, gross.
-Weird Ashely (Katlin Mastrandrea) also makes an appearance, declaring that it is not goodbye but see you soon.
-Frankie is offended that Mike didn't include her on the watch gift to Axl as they are a unit.
-The street peaches have bees in it and they end up throwing out onto the street.
-Mike really should get his hearing checked.
-Brick is hating watching the Planet Nowhere movie while Sue prefers videos are dogs surfing backwards.
-While Sue and Sean make out, Axl covers his eyes.
-The snow globe breaks, but it served its purpose as it got Sue and Sean together.
-There was an accident at the quarry last month and Mike didn't tell Frankie about it and she's not happy.

Rise: Season One Recap and Reaction

This show has already been cancelled which is a shame. Though deeply flawed, it was nevertheless packed with talent so I'm sad to see it go.
This is based off one of the few non-fiction books I've read since graduating college and yes, there is a major difference between the real Lou Volpe and the shows Lou Mazzuchelli. Mr. Mazzu (Josh Radnor) is straight while Volpe was a closeted gay man who came out late in life. So that's a problem done to enhance the roles of the Mazzuchelli children of which there are three. They make the son Gordy (Casey W. Johnson) an alcoholic, sixteen and already struggling with his drinking but his parents don't handle as firmly as you'd think. It takes them until episode five to pour the wine down the sinks and punish their son, simply saying that they need to know where he is at all times and this is after he left a family vacation and was found with a bottle of strong liquor in his locker.
However, family problems take the backseat to the drama club, which is different from the one I had in my own high school. Spring Awakening is a controversial show but it speaks to Mr. Mazzu. It has numerous hot-button topics including child abuse and abortion. And the citizens of Stanton (in an unnamed county in Pennsylvania) aren't too pleased so the show faces backlash from the moment it is decided that that is what will be done. And Lou is also taking over the drama department from Ms. Wolf (Rosie Perez) who has been in charge for decades. Though pissed that she lost her job to a middle-aged white man, she takes the job as co-director seriously and truly does want to help and she's also more realistic than Lou and is determined to cater to the conservative minds of Stanton. There are also the stars of the show: Robbie (Damon J. Gillespie), the football star turned leading man who has a dying mother and pressure from his father to go all the way with football; Lillet Suarez (Auli'i Cravalho) who has a single mother currently having an affair with the married football coach; Simon (Ted Sutherland) who is struggling with his own sexually while living with extremely Catholic parents and a sister with Down Syndrome; Gwen (Amy Forstyth), the coach's daughter upset that her parents are divorcing because that's not what's best for her; Michael (Ellie Desautels) who is going through the transition from female to male; Maashouse (Rarmian Newton) who runs the lights and is lost in the foster system though before the end of the season his mom is released from prison and Sasha (Erin Kommer) who doesn't have much of a role until she finds out that she's pregnant and struggling with that decision and her growing feelings toward her best friend, Michael. We don't know if she will have an abortion or keep the baby. Personally, I think it is foolish that the show added a pregnancy of a minor character in season one but I didn't write the show. I think the plot line takes time away from the main characters and the center plot when there is so much more to focus on.
In general, there is too much pairing off, especially in season one. Of course Lillet and Robbie are in love, we all saw that coming, but at least I'm rooting for that couple and Robbie is actually very sweet for a guy in general. Gordy likes Gwen though she isn't so sure and Jeremy (Sean Grandillo) likes Simon and Simon likes him though it is a struggle for Simon and Lou's middle daughter Kaitlin (Taylor Richardson) has a giant crush on Maashous (horrible name).
That is only the basic summary of character parts. This show is essentially Friday Night Lights (excellent) had a baby with Glee (good for a while). I wish there were more parts of the musical in the show because the that is the main point of the show and the musical is really something brilliant. Though Lou is forced to make some changes to appease the people who have problems with the show, he doesn't want to cave despite his job being on the line and goes back to the original version. And the school board representative appreciates it, he knows that many will be upset so he cancels the drama program; after all, cuts are needed anyway so this will be first to go.
That all being said, I really would have liked to have seen more of this show as that was done well in both of the above mentioned  shows and it could have been done well here too, though now we'll never know. I hope these kids have a bright future ahead of them because they are talented enough. Grade: B+

The Middle: Split Decisions

This episode picks up right where last week's dropped off; Frankie (Patricia Heaton) discovering that Axl (Charlie McDermott) has been offered a job out in Denver. Not only that, but she learns that  Mike (Neil Flynn) helped cover for him. She isn't pleased and wants him to stay close and tries to persuade him to stay, even trying to get Lexie (Daniela Bobadilla) on her side, though Lexie is such a devoted girlfriend, she will support Axl in whatever decision he makes, much to Frankie's dismay, in fact, she kicks Lexie out of the house.
Sue (Eden Sher), in the meantime, is pining for Sean (Beau Wirick) who is preparing to leave for Ghana. But there is plenty unspoken between the two of them. It takes a trip to the hardware store with Mike for her to get over him. She realizes that she doesn't need a man to have a happy summer and she's right. She's prepared to embrace her independence but before, heads over to the Donohue house and as Sean isn't home, she slips the elusive snow globe into one of his bags, already packed and waiting by the door.
Brick (Atticus Shaffer) is having struggles of his own. His lawn chair is falling apart so he just starts ordering some online and can't stop. I wonder where all the money came from. Frankie makes him take all but his favorite over to Big Mike's house. He does but comes back and isn't empty-handed; he is back with all a huge recliner. Which is very comfortable.
In the end, Axl decides to take the job and Frankie starts crying, which is what we expected.
This was another solid episode and it is always welcome seeing Axl and Lexie together. Axl did make the right decision for him, though he does like his job but he wants to actually use his degree. And he's lucky the Denver offer gave him a whole week to figure it out. It was awkward seeing Sue depressed and it sucks when your plans fail, but you need to rise above it. Which she does. I will truly miss this family. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-Brick has two friends, three if you count the bus driver.
-I wonder what sort of fast food restaurant has both egg rolls and burgers.
-Every time the Hecks drive one of their cars over fifty, they leave parts on the road.
-Sue and Sean have that super awkward hug thing before finally embracing and then he leaves.
-Mike mostly just wants his couch and remote back.
-Axl knows a lot about shower heads thanks to his current job.
-Lexie's parents do have a house in Denver but its her least favorite.

The Middle: The Royal Flush

As it is nearing Mother's Day, something is bound to go wrong, in this case, the toilet in the Heck's second bathroom is clogged up, rendering it useless. And the Hecks all forgot about Mother's Day. Sue (Eden Sher) comes to the rescue. She has found the perfect plan, win a trivia contest with Brick (Atticus Shaffer) where the prize is a trip to the royal wedding. They win the first round and make it to the next round, but then Sue needs to pee at an inopportune time and she misses a Taylor Swift trivia question, she bursts out in time and answers correctly but because Brick used his phone, they are disqualified.
The more important plot line is that Axl (Charlie McDermott) has a great opportunity; his former co-worker recommends that he interviews for a job for a national company but its in Denver. Mike (Neil Flynn) supports him but they agree to keep it a secret from Frankie (Patricia Heaton) which isn't easy especially since Mike nearly spills the beans several times.
But Axl arrives home in time for Mother's Day and they decide that they will all watch and pretend to enjoy the royal wedding with her. Which they are in the process of doing when Axl gets notice that the job is his for the taking. Frankie walks in mid-conversation and the episode ends. A cliff hanger. I wonder if Axl will take the job; he probably should, it sounds like a good opportunity. I wish finding a job for me had been that easy.
This was another solid episode and just when you think the Hecks have nailed a mother's day gift for mother's day after decades of disappointment, it is ruined. She will never get the recognition she deserves. Oh well. Still, good solid performances and we're down to the wire, only three episodes left, ever. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Axl believes that he and Mike should have broken with the rest of the family years ago.
-Frankie needs to put ice cream sandwiches under her boobs because she's reached that certain age.
-Brick has finally read all of the microfiche and it leaves a hole in his life.
-Brick has a new love, coupons and has organized them by font group.
-He also has a fake ID as one of the former members of font group has low scruples and that was how money was raised but then the kid got expelled. For the record, Brick voted in the last election.
-The group name Sue and Brick use is Heck Yeah, which is just a great group trivia name, though Trivia De Haviland is also great.
-If the kids won the trip, I wonder who Frankie would have taken?
-Driving for fourteen straight hours doesn't sound healthy.

Call the Midwife: Season Seven Recap and Reaction

This was, overall, a depressing season. From the very beginning, we have a new mother suffer a stroke just days after giving birth, there's a mother who is diagnosed with Huntington's Disease which does not have a cure, and a woman who would literally pick suicide over giving birth again.
Trixie (Helen George) returns to drinking after urging her lover, the dentist Christopher (Jack Hawkins) to return to his ex-wife as that is what will be good for his young daughter. Though I understand where she is coming from, I disagree. It will not be good for the child if both of her parents are deeply unhappy and his ex-wife sounds like a piece of work.
But that is far better than Barbara's (Charlotte Ritchie's) fate. She returns home with her new husband, Tom (Jack Ashton) all starry-eyed and then they kill her off by infecting her with septicemia. Why do they bring her back only to kill her off so quickly? Tom is naturally distraught, and who can blame him? This was the love of his life. I hope they don't have him get back together with Trixie, because they just won't work.
We do have a new nurse, all the way from Jamaica, Nurse Lucille Anderson (Leonie Elliott) and she is a welcome change but we still need to delve into her background more as well as Valerie's (Jennifer Kirby's) but there is always next season.
The Turners (Stephen McGann and Laura Main) get an au pair, only to have her written off by inducing a miscarriage on herself, which was just foolish of the show. Why would they bring on a character, in such a major role only to have her around for just two episodes? The kids don't seem to suffer without her though we rarely see the Turner baby (named Teddy) afterward.
Though this is by far the most depressing season yet, with few happy endings, it is still great performances from both series regulars and guest stars. The casting is so, so good. The editing is flawless and there is not a note out of place with the sets, costumes and hairstyles. This show is surrounded by some of the best in the business. And though the endings are not happy, the characters do the best they can with what they have. I wish I could be that optimistic with my own life. Grade: B+

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Spoiler Alert!! 
To be fair, this is not my sort of film. And despite the fact that it was filled with characters, combining three film's worth of characters, the film isn't as chunky as expected.
The plot is fairly basic, keep the bad guy from getting all the infinity stones so he can't control and bring great destruction to the planet. However, they don't do the best job. Despite the fact that there are so many more good people against Thanos (Josh Brolin), Thanos has won by the end of the film. He has all the stones, all six of them. Sure, he has some people in his side, including some nasty animals that completely destroy Wakanda, but there was no reason he should have won and the ending is just hollow. Many of the avengers and guardians turn to dust, but there is no rhyme or reason as to why some turn to dust and others remain. Spiderman (Tom Holland) is dust while Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) just stands and watches. That is what bothers me most. I need to know why some are lost and others remain.
It isn't a bad film, as humor is peppered throughout to ease the tension, and you have finally have Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Quill (Chris Pratt) declare their love for each other only to have Thanos kidnap her and eventually send her to her alleged death; however, there is no body so she's not dead until we see a body.
There will be a part two, as there should because this is not how things should end. The bad cannot win over the good because this is Hollywood, not the real world and that has its advantages. Grade: B

The Middle: Great Heckspectations

How in the world does Brick (Atticus Shaffer) manage to get his driver's license without his parent's permission? Not wanting to bother Mike (Neil Flynn) and Frankie (Patricia Heaton), Sue (Eden Sher) took him instead.
They decide to punish him though they rescind it so he can go to prom. He isn't thrilled about that but his parents are insistent. He wants to use Bernie the Bookmark but Frankie persuades him to do something else. So he has this elaborate promposal and Cindy (Casey Burke) still says no; when he goes back to Bernie, she agrees. And then Frankie has this great idea to invite all of Brick's friends from his former social skills class. They come and they have all normalized. One is not a cat anymore and another eats all foods not just red food. The biggest shock is Cindy though. Her mom made her chunk her hat so we see her without it for the first time ever and she's beautiful, but her ears are cold.
They have a perfectly lovely evening at the Library instead as Brick has his own key. The library contains everything he loves: books and Cindy. And Frankie laments that she just wants him to be happy, which he is.
In the meantime, Axl (Charlie McDermott) is guilted into getting Sue a belated birthday present by Lexie (Daniela Bobadilla) but he does what he normally does and puts no effort into it. His 'experience' is blindfolding Sue and leading her around odd places and letting her eat stranger's ice cream. She is mad about the whole thing as she has every right to be but then Frankie says that when she was younger, before Sue was even born and when she was a baby, Axl was super overprotective of her and would sleep with her and then when they kicked him out, he left woofy dog with her. So he does care; he just doesn't remember it but it makes Sue very happy and she feels loved by him nevertheless.
This was another decent episode though I wonder where Axl took Sue for several hours. He really has no excuse as to why he didn't get her a present or come up with any good idea of where to take her. Still, the Brick plot line was very good and I like seeing Frankie's brilliant idea to show off her kids backfire on her. That being said, if all she wants him is to be happy, then she's succeeded. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-When punishing Brick, they take away his library and chilling with Cindy privileges.
-Cindy's full name is Cynthia Violet Hornberger.
-A guy was almost buried in Brick's tuxedo.
-Brick was forced to climb a rope in gym and fell down and burned his privates but he got to stay in bed for a week afterwards to read and he enjoyed that week.
-The old TV remote is Mike's best friend. Frankie is a solid third.
-Brick struggles to pin on Cindy's flower in box.
-Sue got Axl an hour in a flight simulator and a tie for his twenty-first birthday.