Sibling relationships at different stages of life were explored on The Middle this week. It’s no secret that Sue and Axl have always been at odds with each other, but the contrast of Mike and Rusty shed some light on how your friendships (or lack thereof) with your siblings as children can significantly influence your adulthood.
Last week, Sue got her acceptance letters from a large majority of the schools she applied to. It wasn’t clear if she’s officially decided on East Indiana State, but if they’re offering the best financial aid package, I think the choice is made for her. What better way to try out a school than to attend their orientation weekend for potential new students. She realizes she’s pushing it by asking Axl if she can stay with him, and is even more surprised at his enthusiastic response. We already know that Axl has a strict “no family” rule when he’s at college, so it only made sense that it was his girlfriend Devin who made him change his tune all of a sudden.
For a while, Sue was so excited to be genuinely welcomed by Axl, until he went one step too far and kissed her on top of her head just when Devin was watching to prove how much he loves his little sister. Good for Sue being quick to turn this plan around on Axl by embarrassing him with some really crazy dance moves at a party. Her blackmail turned out to be unnecessary, as Devin revealed it was her practical joke on Axl all along. She really doesn’t care that Axl and Sue aren’t best friends. While I can appreciate a good, drawn out April Fool’s joke, I thought that was kind of mean to use Sue like that. I can only hope that a tiny part of Devin was serious about it being a deal breaker if Axl wasn’t nice to her. At least now they all know that he’s capable of it. As Axl said, they’ll have to wait until their parents start dying to really become friends.
Mike and his brother Rusty have always been living on different wavelengths. It wasn’t until this very episode, when Rusty shed some light on their childhood, that their relationship started to make sense. Mike sounded like a tough older brother, constantly teasing Rusty. Mike starts to question if he’s responsible for the way Rusty’s turned out: irresponsible with no family of his own and still living at home with their dad. All of this came about because they’re sneaking Big Mike’s hoarded junk out slowly but surely every time he goes out. Bottom line is, everyone has their baggage. Big Mike’s issues are obvious, whereas Rusty’s are most likely due to a lack of motivation. Mike can’t blame himself for the way his brother lives his life, but he can help him turn it around now. I would love to see more Rusty and Mike bonding scenes after this!
With everyone else accounted for, this leaves Brick and Frankie together on his robotics field trip. Brick has never made friends easily, but I thought he was making some progress by getting a girlfriend this season. He sees a perfect opportunity to assimilate himself into a friendship with two kids whose third best friend just moved away, and his plan was pretty well thought out. He figured by just slipping in between them in line for the bus, they’d sit next to each other and that would be enough to spark a friendship. Frankie ultimately can’t help but accept that Brick is who he is, and he’s never going to change. I have to say I am proud of Brick for constantly pushing himself out of his comfort zone. Even if he can’t sit next to a possible new friend for more than a minute before moving over next to his mom, he’s always going to keep trying to better himself.
Notable quotables:
-”You know if we worked harder, none of this would be possible!” -Mike celebrating Sue’s financial aid package
-”I’m hatching a plan to infiltrate a friend group.” -Brick explaining his solid plan to Dr. Fulton
What did you think of “Operation Infiltration”?
[Photo via ABC]
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