The Middle - Flirting with Disaster - Review: "I Feel Like Someone in this Family Finally Gets me"

The Middle - Flirting with Disaster

In my last review I hoped Brick would get some more screetime, and thankfully he has. The last two episodes have been heavily Brick central, and have been among the best for his character.

"What's it Going to be like When You're Gone" Brick

This was yet another emotional and heartfelt episode, well especially for the Sue and Brick scenes. One of my favourite pairings on the show is Sue and Brick, their relationship as brother and sister is strong, and has developed heavily over the season/seasons to the point in which they enjoy each other's company. Despite Sue being forced to go, she managed to connect with Brick on a personal level, something I've been wanting to see for a while now. Brick's always felt unappreciated by the family, and not listened to as much as others, such as Axel, because he is different and likes things other people would laugh at. So I was overjoyed when Sue found planet nowhere to be interesting because it really brought Brick out his shell.

Brick's always been a quirky character, and relatively funny at times, but he's never actually had a proper conversation about something he likes that his family weren't forced to listen to. So I'm glad he got that chance with Sue, and surprisingly she actually enjoyed it. I love the Axel and Brick pairing, as it brings out the best in both characters, their funny sides at least, but the Sue and Brick pairing is better, because it brings out the emotional side of each character, which is important to see for character development purposes. When Brick gets some character development it's always enjoyable, and surprisingly Sue's normally around.

What now for Brick and Sue? Since this episode turned a corner in their relationship, I feel they've now developed their relationship as brother and sister as much they can. Brick now needs to develop a better relationship with the rest of his family, in particular, Mike.

Now Sue's heading to college, I'm left wondering if she will be coming back like Axel does weekly. I know she most likely will, but would that be best for the show? A change of scenery for a couple episodes at least wouldn't be the worst idea. If she stayed put on the campus for a while I wouldn't mind seeing how Sue settles in as there is bound to be drama where Sue's involved. This obviously is if she gets into College.


"Tag, you asked me to help you out, I'm helping you out" Mike

Elsewhere, Tag was back. He's always been one of my favourite drop in characters so I was pleasantly surprised to see him appear. Tag and Mike have a strange relationship, Tag enjoys Mikes company, but the feeling isn't really mutual. Mike's not the warmest person ever, but I think he does care for Tag, and his well-being. Tag only seems to listen to Mike with problems like these, as he sees Mike as the son he never had.

Tag, like Mike, doesn't like to give up, and always wants to be in control of his own life. He especially doesn't like being told when to stop. So in some ways they are more alike than they care to imagine. If Mike was in Tag's shoes he would do the exact same thing, keep driving until he was near enough blind. Since Mike forced Tag to hand him the keys, I think we can assume that we might be seeing Tag a bit more than usual, which I would love. The show needs to build up its cast, and I would even suggest bringing in other relatives as full-time cast members, Tag would be right up there as my first choice. To keep the show fresh, it perhaps needs to make some changes, and bringing in, let's say two new cast members as regulars might be a way to do that.

As for Frankie, this episode she was flirting with Finn, Axel's friend. Whilst those scenes were my least favourite parts of the episode I still enjoyed them. I'm so used to Frankie doing something unexpected so when she began flirting with Finn I wasn't too surprised. Frankie will always be one of the funniest characters, but this episode I was mostly focused on Tag and Mike, and Brick and Sue, so I kept overlooking her scenes. All in all, it was another fantastic episode of The Middle.

As always, thank you for reading! Let me know in the comments what you thought of "Flirting with Disaster"

About the Author - Robert Fruin

Robert is a sixth form student from the United Kingdom, who is currently studying IT, Media and Business Studies. Robert is a huge fan of the ended ABC series LOST, he has seen it many times over and has even visited some of the filming locations for it. Robert mainly watches drama series such as Game Of Thrones and Person of Interest, but has a soft spot for the comedy The Middle. Some other shows he watches are Grey's Anatomy, The Walking Dead and The 100. Some other interests include Cycling, Kayaking and Photography.Robert is currently reviewing Aquarius, Black Sails, Helix, Intruders and Z Nation. Feel free to connect with him on any of these social media sites.

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