Best TV Show of the Week

 The Middle on ABC

By Catherine Nailog

The honor of Best TV Show of the Week is given to ABC’s The Middle, airing on Wednesday, September 7th, at 8:00 p.m. ET.  This episode titled “The Prom” was a humorous show in which the whole family could enjoy.  Frankie and Mike Heck were once again faced with challenges in parenting.  Frankie was excited to see that Brick had made progress in his friendship with Arlo, which included performing plays with him for her and Mike.  Axl invited Ashley to the prom via text, and she said yes; however, his system of randomly texting girls on his cell phone, one-by-one, and inviting them to the prom didn’t work out too well, since Axl couldn’t remember who Ashley was.  He and his friends pored over the school yearbook and discovered that it was “Weird Ashley” that he had invited to the date, though Mike suggested that Axl personally explain to Ashley the mistake face to face.

At school, Sue was complimented on her cue cards by Samantha, a news reporter on her team.  During lunch in the cafeteria, Sue told Carly about Samantha being very nice to her. Carly saw Samantha’s being nice to Sue as an opportunity for them to actually sit at a lunch table, particularly the “B Table” where Samantha sat.  Knowing that there’s a hierarchy in which table one sat at during lunch break, Carly suggested that Sue make a run for the B Table.  Sue was thrilled at the idea and high-fived Carly, which made the lunch tray she was holding fall.  Everyone in the cafeteria turned in their direction.  Sue decided to try for the B Table the next day.

Mike arrived home to find Brick and Arlo waiting to perform their new play.  Actually, Frankie suggested that they wait until Mike was home.  This performance was not as good as the first one because for about an hour, Brick and Arlo couldn’t agree on what to perform.  Mike made them stop so that he could watch some television.  The next day, Brick performed a one-man show for Mike.  Once again, Mike was bored. 

Frankie received a call from Ashley’s mother wanting to coordinate Ashley’s dress with Axl’s outfit for the prom.  Frankie became angry at Axl for neglecting to break the date with Ashley. Frankie insisted that Axl take Ashley to the prom and told him that he would either have to take her or not go to the prom at all.  Axl chose not to attend the prom.  Frankie still insisted that he was going to go.  Sue made another attempt at sitting at the B Table, but froze when asked a question.  She got out of the question by excusing herself to go to the bathroom.

Mike told Frankie he was going to make Axl take Ashley to the prom.  Frankie was worried that Axl didn’t understand that it was the proper thing to do.  She was afraid that they created a horrible person; a person without any character.  Brick interrupted their discussion about Axl for another one of his performances.  Mike and Frankie weren’t excited about seeing another one of Brick’s show.

Unbeknownst to Axl, Frankie and Mike invited Reverend Tim-Tom over for dinner to help persuade Axl to take Ashley to the prom.  During dinner, Frankie explained to Reverend Tim-Tom Axl’s prom situation and asked for his opinion.  He suggested that they look at the situation from Axl’s point of view.  Sue tried to tell Reverend Tim-Tom about her troubles in the cafeteria, but was rebuffed by Frankie.  Throughout dinner, Brick tried to invite everyone at the table to another one of his performances, and he got rejected by Mike.  Out of frustration, Mike called Brick’s show “endless” and “boring” and confessed that Reverend Tim-Tom was there to “fix” Axl.  Axl and Brick were insulted and they left the dinner table.

Reverend Tim-Tom visited with Axl in his bedroom.  They both began to play their guitars.  Mike talked to Brick about what he said.  He didn’t apologize because he felt that Brick should know the truth.  He further explained that the first show was good, but the rest weren’t because he just made stuff up as he went along and that he shouldn’t expect people to watch if he didn’t prepare for it.  Brick then admitted there were some things that he found “boring” and “endless” in his father. Brick said to his dad, “I never said anything because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.  You make allowances for family, Dad, because it’s the right thing to do.”  Mike realized Brick was right.

Frankie saw Reverend Tim-Tom leave Axl’s room.  She hoped he had changed Axl’s mind, but Reverend Tim-Tom just told her to “wait and see.” He then played a song about the difficulty of parenting, noting that Jesus was a teenager once and that Mary worried about him, too.

Reverend Tim-Tom then spoke to Sue advising her that no table was too good for her and her friend.  He told her that the most important table was the Last Supper and that all were welcome.  Sue didn’t believe that Jesus was in her lunchroom, but Reverend Tim-Tom suggested the possibility that he was.

Sue attempted another try at the B Table.  As she and Carly sat down, Samantha and her friends noticed empty seats at the “A Table” and they got up and moved.  Carly and Sue were left at the table and decided to walk around the cafeteria as they normally did.

Axl arrived home with a tuxedo rental.  Frankie and Mike were happy that he did the right thing.  On the night of the prom,  Mike took a picture of Axl and Ashley, who wore a wizard’s robe and cape. She was weird, even to Mike and Frankie.  Brick performed another one of his shows which Frankie tried to get out of, but Mike made her stay to watch.

What’s wonderful about this episode was that it depicted the struggles of parents in teaching their children to do the right thing. As kids become older and more independent, parents lose control in making decisions for their kids.  Parents hope that they’ve taught their children well in making the right choices.  Sue tried to change her status by sitting with a certain type of people, but like her, they were looking to improve their status.  In the end, she was content in being back to where she started, walking around the lunchroom with her best friend Carly.  Mike decided to support Brick’s one-man show because it was what one does for family.

Best TV Show of the Week

The Parents Television Council - www.parentstv.org