The Middle – The one with all the resolutions

Proving yet again why it’s the best sitcom on television, this week’s episode of The Middle was incredibly, hilariously awesome. When the Hecks decided to assign one another New Year’s resolutions, all hell broke loose.

Axl’s resolution was to clean his room; while that definitely sounded like a Frankie original, Mike’s resolution to smile more was clearly from Frankie (what kid would task their father with that? Not even Sue), so Axl’s could only have been from Brick, who shares a room with Axl. Brick got assigned to stop reading all the time — FYI, that means cut back, not stop reading altogether — while Sue’s resolution was to stop trying out for things she’d never make. That did sound like something Axl would give her, but I smelled him behind Frankie’s resolution to spend more time with Brick in an effort to get her off his back. Check!

So what shenanigans did their resolutions get them into? Axl discovered a fifth grade paper on why fire trucks are awesome; I loved that he went back to see his fifth grade teacher, and that she agreed to grade his six year-late paper. Mike’s smiling got him into a twenty minute conversation with Tina the bank teller, who he discovered was a grandmother, had a dog, and liked tuna without mayo. Mike’s never going to smile at a stranger again!

Brick went into withdrawal when he stopped reading completely. Not so funny, although I laughed when he snapped about how he hates when people say “knock, knock.” Still, far from his best. Sue turned her resolution into a positive, and formed her own club after Brad became a wrestler (I hope everyone caught both his calling his uniform a costume, AND his referring to practice as rehearsal!). Thus the Wrestlerettes were born, and Sue’s story was awesome. I loved when she told the four girls who showed up for tryouts that “as many as one of you won’t” make it. Hilarious! Plus when she pimped Axl out to get Weird Ashley, his prom date, to rejoin the squad? Nice!

Then there was the sequence where three resolutions converged. Frankie got pulled over, and after the cop said “there,” Axl spelled the word. Then, in an effort to explain why she was speeding, Frankie told the cop that “we were trying to get [Brick] to stop reading,” just part of the story she told that led the police officer to ask, “Do I need to call social services here?” Frankie’s automatic “No that’s okay, we’re already in the system” was awesome, but Mike smiling was the best! Did they get out of the ticket?

Such a great episode! And just some of my favorite quotes:

“Are we really so lazy that none of us can think of a single thing we can improve on?” – Frankie
“Sorry Mom; I don’t need to do anything better. I can think of a lot of things the rest of you need to do better, though.” – Axl

“I get it; this is just a scam to get us all to do the things you’re too lazy to do yourself.” – Axl to Frankie, upon reading that his resolution was to clean his room

“Is it okay if we go into my room?” – Sue, about her and Brad
“I’d actually prefer it.” – Mike

“I won’t let you down.” – Sue, referring to the Wrestlerettes
“That wouldn’t be possible.” – Brad’s wrestling coach

“Uhhh, this is just so hard, I’ve never been on the other side before. It’s like, Mary has a super-loud clap, Becky has the “it” factor, Ruth can sort of do a cartwheel, and Weird Ashley has a car for away meets. I just had no idea the talent pool would be so deep. What am I gonna do?” – Sue, on picking members for the Wrestlerettes

“Axl, you’re in high school now; have you finally learned the different spellings of their, they’re, and there?” – Axl’s fifth grade teacher
“I can almost guarantee it.” – Axl

“Brick!” – Frankie
“Mom, you’re back!” – Brick
“Of course I’m back. You didn’t think I wouldn’t come back for you, did you?” – Frankie
“Well, I didn’t think you would leave me in the first place, so clearly I’m not that good of a judge.” – Brick

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jan 06, 2012 @ 16:45 EST5EDT