Serving as the perfect follow up to last week’s April Fools Day episode, “Siblings and Sombreros” showed a genuine and mature side to Axl. That’s not to say The Middle is suddenly all serious business, but rather it’s finally being realistic about the friendships between siblings who are close in age.
Opening with the whole Heck family in the car for a Sunday drive was hilarious. I don’t know about you, but my parents always talk about their own Sunday drives with their families growing up. That’s a thing of the past now, as Axl, Sue, and Brick are baffled by the concept of aimlessly driving with no destination in the interest of making memories.
That particular drive did have an impact on Axl and Sue at least. By the end of the episode, Axl is taking Sue out for a drive just for the bonding experience. Of course, this is after their huge fight over him forgetting and/or losing a sombrero she asked him to bring back from school for a yearbook photo she was taking. That fight was silly in theory, but it brought out some great quotes from Frankie, as she tried and failed to mediate between the two. She took Mike’s advice to play both sides, by talking to Axl and Sue behind each other’s backs. It all blows up in her face when Axl tells Sue their mom called her relentless and compared her to a lost little puppy. By the way, Frankie couldn’t have been more spot on. Sue’s reaction to being called relentless was the best. She took it as an insult and would not let Frankie live it down. I couldn’t relate more to Sue in that very moment! Then there was her comparison of Axl being a big baby, which is equally as accurate. Ultimately, Frankie’s involvement in their fight only pushed Axl and Sue closer together.
Meanwhile, Mike got his hopes up that Brick is actually just a late bloomer when it comes to sports after he received the athlete of the month award in school. He should’ve known that it was too good to be true. It was only due to a classic mix-up of Brick and his locker mate wearing each other’s shorts. Even though Brick isn’t the athlete his father was suddenly so excited about, it was very sweet to see him show interest in sports for Mike’s sake. He’s not an all star basketball player by any means, but the fact that he did take a shot in their driveway basketball net with Mike coaching him was a huge step for Brick’s character.
Notable quotables:
-”One day they’re fighting over a sombrero and the next they’re fighting over our caskets!” -Frankie getting frantic over Axl and Sue’s fight
-”Love each other, don’t love each other. It’s your life. I’m out!” -Frankie so frustrated that she doesn’t even see her son and daughter are actually getting along now
What did you think of this episode?
[Photo via ABC]
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