It was the night of the Leap Day baby on ABC, as apparently both The Middle’s Sue and Modern Family’s Cam share the burden of only being able to celebrate their real birthdays once every four years.
For Sue that meant being convinced that her family would throw her a surprise party. I was actually kind of surprised myself by that; I was pretty sure she was the type of kid who’d take the Justin Bieber ticket deal rather seriously. When you can’t rely on a Bieber fan, who can you rely on?
I love that Sue can’t wink. It’s one of those things that fits perfectly with who she is as a person. But while naivete is a calling card of hers as well, I didn’t quite buy how gullible she seemed to be at the end of the episode. Axl telling her “You’re gonna wanna wait in the basement” — and her listening — was hilarious, and equally funny was the call Frankie got at work from Sue, wanting to know if she could come out.
But I was kind of let down that she bought the story that her family sold her — or rather that they were able to sell her because she was convinced of it — when they woke her up in the middle of the night to “surprise” her for her birthday. We’ve seen Sue upset by things before, so it’s not like she’s incapable of having that emotion. I expected to see it during her party.
That said, was I wrong for laughing when she said “I cried myself to sleep for nothing,” or when she believed that Axl and Brick were “the second wave of the surprise?” And how funny was the call Carly “made?” Or how excited Sue got that Frankie’s old phone was her new phone? Even her excitement at the patchwork cake with the giant bathroom candle stuck in the middle was great. It might have been sad — and hard to believe — but it still kept me laughing.
In a sense Axl’s story was also a bit of a stretch. Not his boredom — “I need a hug. But not from you; from some hot chick” — but rather his ideas for alleviating that boredom. But again, I couldn’t help but laugh. Axl asking Sue if she wanted to do something with him was a clear sign that he’d hit rock bottom, and I loved how into vacuuming he got. Phone books!
Brick’s world was turned upside down when a girl, Hayley (Mackenzie Aladjem), got introduced into his social skills group. I was very impressed with how well Brick managed to act around her … you could argue that he was almost a gentleman!
Frankie and Brick’s discussion about Hayley was great. When Frankie asked what her issue was, Brick ticked off the big three things that send you to social group but that she did not exhibit: she makes eye contact, she never has her hands in her pants, and everything she eats is food. Must have been a clerical error. Not so fast … she’s a biter! Nice.
Budget cuts leading to the end of social group was a great story for the responses it elicited. Frankie’s immediate reaction was hilarious: “They can’t do this; you’re not fixed yet!” But even better were the kids’ ideas for raising money in order to pay for the program themselves:
Brick truly is a big fish in a weird pond.
And then there was Mike. Again, strange story line, but some great moments. When Frankie was asking Brick if he’d seen Mike, Brick replied no, and that “his role in my life has really dwindled.” Axl suggested that “maybe he couldn’t take it anymore and finally left. Frankly I give him credit for staying this long.” But it turned out that Mike had been nursing his sick cat of seven years, Limestone, in his final days. Yes, it humanizes him — and yes, he needs to be humanized a bit — but talk about a weird story. Still, like I said, funny.
Maybe Leap Day does strange things to people. As long as those laughs don’t turn to tears, we’re okay.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 01, 2012 @ 20:43 EST5EDT
