The Middle

The Middle

Episode 5: The Test

By: Carlos Uribe

The Middle is a show about a family in Indiana.

Spoilers Ahoy!

The Middle is funny, but it can also be creepy at the same time. Why do I say this? Because it can be so realistic sometimes. For instance, it can take something that could easily happen in my family and perfectly portray it. When the Middle does this, it delivers a perfect episode filled with numerous laughs and relatable stories. If anything, such a Middle episode is like telling your friends what is happening in your family life. This is one of them.

When you're a junior, you have to take a PSAT test (in my college prep school, I also took it sophmore year). It's essentially a practice SAT test, and it's relatively unimportant unless you score really well on it. If you bomb it, that's fine because colleges don't really find out the score. Despite this, there's a huge importance placed on the test for those applying to college. That false importance is brilliantly shown in this episode.

It's time for Axl to take the PSAT test. Typically he doesn't prepare for it or really worry about it. It isn't until Frankie learns about the PSAT that he even cracks open a book to prepare for it. Even then, he slacks off until Frankie yells at him and makes him freak out. All of a sudden, he's dying of worry and his mind blanks during the PSAT. Not that he would have done well even if he wasn't panicking. But really, is it that important?

Not really. It's just a practice test, and you can take the real test as many times as you can afford (which I'm guessing for the Heck family is one to two times per kid). It's the SAT test that's important, and all Axl needs to do is take it seriously. There's also a hint, though, that it might not end up being very important for him to do well on the test. Thanks to his great football skills, it looks like he's getting scouted. Frankly that's how he's going to get into school: sports not athletics. It's consistent with his character and is a realistic way to get him into a decent college. It also will pave a way for him to get a scholarship so that it doesn't send the Heck family way into debt (cause you just know Frankie and Mike aren't going to put Axl under student loans).

Sue meanwhile decides to try out for cheerleader. In the Middle core, it's not possible for Sue to get into any team unless that team accepts everyone (like cross country). In typical Sue fashion she is utterly terrible at the physical aspects of cheerleading, as I can't see anyone beating her at having spirit. There's a mixup and it looks like Sue is a cheerleader but then they try to take it away from her. Sue won't accept this, so they make a deal with her: she can wear the uniform, but she won't actually be a cheerleader.

Mike is more worried about Brick. Brick apparently has been getting bullied for the last couple of weeks and hasn't put up a fight. This worries Mike so he spends the whole episode trying to toughen Brick up. Just when it looks like he has succeeded, he realizes that Brick has managed to manipulate him perfectly. Really, it's quite genius what the show did here. It more than provided a unique take on the “weird kid gets bullied” story, it also manages to show you how Brick perceives the world and how he takes advantage of it.

It's always a good sign when the Middle manages to tell original stories. The whole Axl story (he hasn't studied for a test) has been done before, but this time it presented a new spin on the story. It's the same with the Sue storyline. They haven't really had Brick bullied before, I think, but they do take an old stereotypical idea and put it under a new lens. In other words, this is a sign that the Middle is still healthy creatively and simply a good half-hour of TV.