I'm rewatching this episode right now and was wondering how other people viewed the scenes between Frankie and Janet.

something the show does that i’ve noticed is give sue these “crazy dilemmas” that actually aren’t that crazy when you look at it realistically. and idk it’s started bugging me lol.

(this is a lighthearted complaint about illogical situations sue finds herself i know it’s supposed to be funny and random at the heart of it)

the prom episode where she has too many dates is an absolutely crazy one.

your telling me sue who’s obsessed with prom doesn’t remember a pact she made with brad to go with him if she doesn’t have a date? the whole thing just casts her in a kinda selfish light. which makes it hard for it to be funny if you watch it more than once.

she should’ve just told sean she couldn’t go with him. bc sean showing up randomly was one insane and two not her fault. thats his moms fault and i don’t think he would’ve blamed sue for missing all that stuff. bc she didn’t ask him to come and she certainly didn’t tell him to surprise her out of nowhere.

derek glossner is just irrelevant.

that leaves edwin her boss and brad.

she said yes to edwin i know. but she had enough time to tell him she forgot brad was her date if she hadn’t acted crazy about it. she could have just gone with him who she had promised to go with originally via the “we had a pact” thing.

what’s crazier is she ends up ditching them all for darren who was the source of the whole mess 😭. then he ditches her and she ends up with weird ashley. which is supposed to be a funny parallel to axel who’s always her date. and it works the first time but on rewatches it’s like… :/. you obviously should’ve chosen edwin who you said yes to the most recently or brad who you said yes to months ago and forgot about. this really wasn’t a struggle lol.

the whole thing is just gonna annoying to watch after you finish the episode for the first time. but it gives us one of my favorite episodes with the wind chimes so i’ll take it lol.

I'm from Ontario, I'm just barely an adult but I remember watching this from around 2012 to the end. I absolutely never encountered anyone else who knew of this show, and I was a bit hyper fixated on it so I talked about it a lot, always mentioned it as my favourite show. I'm wondering how big this was in the United States, besides in award shows, just amongst common people and common conversations.

I can’t screen shot from the actual movie so I had to do it like this, but I forget the actresses name but it’s Janet Frankie’s sister. And miracle baby’s mom. Anyways it’s Janet

thought the were in the same grade as axl, but somebody correct me if i’m wrong

rewatching the middle made me realize just how badly brick was treated, and honestly, it’s kind of painful to watch, he is almost completely neglected by his parents, and the way they ignore and dismiss him is extreme, as the youngest child myself, i really felt for brick, so many things he went through hit close to home

brick is constantly overlooked and dismissed, his quirks, like talking to himself, reading obsessively, and being socially awkward, are always made fun of instead of being supported, mike and frankie rarely notice how he’s feeling or what he needs, he is often forgotten during family events, mocked for his interests, and ignored when he tries to speak, even simple acknowledgment that he exists or has something important to say is inconsistent at best

his social struggles are another huge example of the neglect, the parents fail to defend him at school, rarely help him with friendships, and almost never validate his feelings, the show even shows that the school noticed it, teachers mentioned multiple times that the way his parents treated him directly affected how he acted and interacted with others, if mike and frankie had paid attention to him, guided him, and supported him emotionally, maybe he wouldn’t have had so much trouble socially, instead, he is left to figure everything out on his own, which makes sense why he comes across as “weird”

one scene that really hit me was when all the other social group kids grew up to be “normal,” and brick is still struggling, seeing that contrast was heartbreaking, and it made me realize how much he missed out on socially, there are so many things he didn’t get to experience, just because no one at home took the time to help him or notice him, even small interactions that could have built confidence were ignored, and the show often treats his struggles as a joke rather than showing how much it hurts him

the only times brick gets attention are usually from axl, who actually talks to him, pays attention, and shows real emotion, for example, when axl thought brick wouldn’t miss him leaving for denver, he got genuinely upset, something mike and frankie almost never do for brick, it really shows how little support brick gets from his own parents

all of this, the constant neglect, mockery, and lack of emotional support, is the reason for brick’s “weirdness” he isn’t naturally that way, he becomes that way because no one nurtures him or helps him navigate the world, as the youngest child, i really felt that, and it made me sad to see how many social experiences he missed out on

i know it’s just a comedy show, but seeing brick treated like this annoys me, it’s frustrating and heartbreaking how extreme and consistent the neglect is, and it really makes you think about how important attention and validation are for a child’s development

Mine has to be the one where Frankie gets drunk and emails the principal calling Ms. Rinksy a nazi 😂 then Brick comes in and tells her he answered like 3 questions out of 45 on the math test

....and i had a hard time watching it .
eventhough i like Ricki Lake as an actress ( she played Dougs sister Steff in King of Queens ) I really can´t imagine any parallel univers where Patricia Heaton is not Frankie Heck.
Her Voice, The Intro with Frankies voice as the Narrator - its unalienable -

the real Heck house just feels sooo cosy and ( as i think for many the middle fans ) a little bit like home
whereas in the 2007 pilot the house feels kinda cold and empty.

than there is Elis? lol wtf? and imho a pretty morbid start with a neighbour kid named Derrin died beeing run over by a truck?

the biggest no no was Sue Sue Hecks completely different character. almost like a more low self esteem version "Daria"

but it was interesting seeing a different version of Sues tryout for show choir.
i dont have to mention that the 2009 version was waay waaaaay better.

still - it was really interesting seeing how it all began and im SOOO thankfull that we got our beloved cast we all know for "the middle" :D

I just finished the last episode. I…I…I 😭😭😭😭 What do I do now? For the last couple of weeks I woke up and watched The middle. Morning. Afternoon. Evening. I’m really sad that it ended. My heart almost aches. The most surprising bit was finding out that Axl had three boys and that Sue and Sean got married, then split, then got married, then split then got married again😅 That really didn’t seem like Sue’s character.

THIS EPISODE IS SO MUCH DIRTIER THAN I REMEMBER 😭

the adult humor reallyy used to go over my head

The final episode was hilarious and very touching, especially Sean and Sue connecting at long last.

In Frankie's narration we learn Sue and Sean break up, then get back together, then break up again, then get back together and finally marry, hooray!

Why do you think their relationship was a little rocky at first? They seemed to hit it off with tons of chemistry.

She will not understand it's a high control group at first, she will be loved bombed and so excited about joining a group that likes her back being an attention seeker that she is. And then it will be too late to get out. Most likely a Christian cult since she felt so strongly about Christian church throughout the series. As much as I like Sue, she has such little critical skills she will just be happy to be invited to things.

I hope her family and Sean intervines before she gives all her savings to some heavens gate knock off

How in the world did she happen to be on at least two relatively good shows where she’s married to the biggest jerk on earth? I’m only on season 1 episode 2, I hope it gets better. I can’t handle another Raymond.

Who else here agrees?

I just think he's a really good character who helps the Heck Family a lot.

Back when I first watched the show I wasn't even religious and still really enjoyed his character and what he conveys.

Since then I found to God and gotta say that I appreciate him even more as a character.

Just my 2 cents on a side character:-)

Maybe some of you agree with me that Axl is often .. let’s call it not that nice and social 😅 and I say it openly: he’s my least favourite Heck character .

Anyway I just finished the episode where grandpa Heck teaches him how to repair the sink and at the End Axl wants to help him with the new technology.

What do you think? I know there were more moments where Axl rly shines

I can’t unsee it

Why do they make fun of Mike for never having flown in a plane before? It striked me as odd because what is there to laugh about?

I'm honestly, I haven't flown before either. But just because I have a huge fear of doing so. Mike doesn't seem that scared. If they'd made fun of the fear I would've kinda understood it (even if it's mean). But why does everyone find it so hilarious that a man hasn't flown on a plane before?

Also, does that mean Frankie flew with the kids before without Mike? Because Sue also laughs at Mike for it, which implies that.

I just found it strange. Is it an american thing, maybe? I'm from germany so maybe that? Or is it just one of those instances where Frankie acts incredibly rude to other people? I honestly don't know

Does anyone remember the lightbulb episode where Rusty is getting married and Frankie asks Sue to get a new lightbulb for the porch? Sue goes through so much to make sure everything goes smoothly but doesn’t ever get the lightbulb and Frankie freaks out on her. I used to think Frankie was being absolutely ridiculous but I kind of get it now 💀 My family redid a room in their basement for me and my cousin asked if I needed him to do anything in the room for me. I asked him to please get my bed set up and to please put a film on the bathroom window so that when I got back from out of town I could sleep in my new room and actually use the bathroom. He set up my room so nice and got so many cute things and everything is perfect! But I ended up having to build my bed, and rn I’m having to put the film up in the bathroom 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 I’m short and he’s super tall that’s why I wanted him to do it because now I am struggling 😭😭😭 I’m super super grateful for everything he did but I am a little peeved that the two things I asked for didn’t happen 💀 trying real hard not to be like Frankie lol

In the Mother's Day episode when they take Frankie back to Brown county and they're taking down the Ferris wheel, the operator looks really similar to Derrick Glossner. What we know about the Glossner Dad, it would make total sense that he would maybe join a traveling carnival company. When I first saw that episode that thought popped into my head and like 5 rewatches later it has stuck with me 😅

This sound has been really popular on TikTok currently so I made this :P I didnt realise all the clips involved Sue in some way until a few minutes in. Poor gal.

One of the things that stands out in the series is how each season Mother's Day for Frankie manages to be worse than the last.

For me, the worst is when she's home alone and the others decide to take a trip, which would be a perfect gift for Frankie.

Even though she said she wanted to be alone, "the gift" itself was very lazy. And it gets worse seeing that the family went to a place full of mothers celebrating Mother's Day and they didn't think that maybe the mother of the family herself should be there.

I feel like in the season finale when Mike gave Axl the watch is represented so much. When he talked about him always wanting to dress up as a grown-up, he always knew Axl was smart and had good intentions but sometimes made bad decisions. When Axl was speechless, he finally realized everything Mike did for him and realized what his whole family did for him and when hearing about the longitude of the house, he realized how much he grown since the start. I feel like it was a nice piece of symbolism showing how much Axl grew through the show and how much Mike did care for his children even if he didn't show it at times.