The Middle
Episode 24: The
Graduation
The Season Finale
By: Carlos Uribe
The
Middle is a show about the Heck family, an average family in Indiana.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
This is a pretty major
season finale as three different graduations happened. The most
obvious one is Axl graduating from high school. It has been a long
journey for the football player but he has managed to get his high
school diploma despite missing 32 days of his senior year. He has a
football scholarship to go to college which means he will soon be
moving out of the house. This brings up questions of just how they
will organically work him into future episodes. There are many routes
the series could potentially take but that will have to wait until
the next season. For now, we have to deal with the high emotions of
Axl finishing high school. This is a finale that culminates in the
family realizing that Axl is going to leave them soon. It's been a
recurring theme in the second half of the season. There was the
episode where Axl and his friends got up on the water tower to do
their senior prank. The three had to come to terms that their time as
a gang was coming to an end as they were leaving Orson behind. They
were best friends but they would be going to different colleges. The
theme continued when Axl and Cassidy break up as they don't think
they can function in a long-term relationship. The break-up happened
suddenly as Axl couldn't process this revelation properly. It makes
sense that his final prom led to him dancing with Ashley as he was
crowned prom king. He might have been on top in high school but it's
about to come to an end. The next step in the plot revolved around
his family. It begun with Brick realizing that his older brother
wasn't going to be living in the same room with them. It was a great
scene between the two brothers. It continued with Axl being in Sue's
room as he contemplates that he's also going to be leaving her
behind. The two have gotten some nice moments as Axl treats Sue like
a human being at times rather than as the annoying little sister. The
penultimate episode had Axl and Mike bonding one last time before he
left. This episode ends this plot arc between his mom and Axl.
Frankie and him simply aren't getting along as they get on their last
nerves. Mike thinks this is just nature's way to allow Frankie to
accept that her son is leaving the nest but he's proven to be wrong.
While Frankie might be frustrated with her son, she can't help but
lose it at graduation. She's not ready for him to leave. Axl does get
to appear sweet at the end when he requests his picture with his mom,
suggesting that the two are going to be just fine. It's a great
episode that bid adieu to Axl's high school days because of it's
concentration on his relationship with Frankie.
The second graduation is
less obvious and not as significant. Brick is graduating elementary
school and moving on to middle school. Everything seems to be going
smoothly until Brick is reminded that he was voted class historian
back in the first grade. He had completely forgotten which meant that
he hasn't started on the slide show nor had he taken a single picture
for it. He tries to get out of it by bucking the responsibility to
his mom but she refuses to save him. She's too preoccupied with the
son that's about to leave her. When he tries to get out of doing the
slideshow, the vice principal refuses to let him. She threatens him
with a terrible middle school experience if he doesn't pull this off.
Suddenly, Brick is forced to deal with his own irresponsibility
without getting any help from his parents. He deals with this about
as well as you would expect. He tries to create a slideshow by asking
his classmates to close their eyes and use their imagination to
remember their own memories while he hums along to “We are Young”
by Fun. It's hysterical but Brick's solution doesn't work. He might
have executed his plan perfectly but it's flaw is that the plan
sucked. His classmates think he's weird and the vice principal isn't
satisfied with it. This season finale cast Axl's future on the show
in question as we don't know how the writers are going to handle his
transition to college. At the very least, they're setting up a
college plot arc. With Brick, they're setting up a middle school
experience that promises to be less than pleasant if the vice
principal gets her way. After all, the threat of extra gym hours
must be terrifying to Brick. The hope is that Frankie refusing to
help her son carries over to the next season. Why? It's about time
Brick start to learn to be more independent and start being
responsible for his own actions. He's starting to grow up and it's
time that he starts growing. If Frankie keeps holding his hand, he's
never going to grow. He was forced to take matters into his own hands
this episode and I'm hoping that this signals a new era for the show.
Plus-if him being on his own is as funny as this week's finale then I
think it'll work great for the humor.
The final graduation is
less from an actual school and more towards the school bus. Sue has
been trying to pass the driving test but she's failed the test five
times. She's hoping that the sixth time is the charm. She's so
determined to pass that she tries to have a memorable send-off from
her time on the bus. This involves getting everyone to sign her
yearbook, making them cookies, and trying to get them to sing “For
She's a Jolly Good Fellow” to her. These all fail miserably to the
point where the bus chants that Sue has to pass her driving test. As
for the actual driving test? It seems to be going well even if she's
forced to take it in the church van. It goes well until life gets in
the way and her view keeps getting obstructed. Sue doesn't let any
obstacle get in her way and she manages to get back to the DMV
without crashing into anything. The driving instructor is impressed
so he decides that he's going to pass her. I like to imagine that
part of the reason he had to pass her is so that she stops taking the
test and putting the lives of the instructors in danger. Anyways, Sue
graduates from having to be dependent on others for transportation
into being able to drive herself. It's a momentous occasion that
leads to a great scene. The graduation is done. Axl wants to hang out
with his friends so he leaves his mom. Frankie goes to hug Sue but
she leaves her so she can show her driver's license to her best
friend. This leaves just Brick, who promises to never leave her.
There's something so odd about that final scene where Frankie, Mike,
and Brick are the only ones left at the house. It's like that frame
is talking about how Sue and Axl are growing up and leaving the nest.
Of course, Sue is still going to be in high school for at least a few
more seasons. It depends on how long the Middle lasts, but it'll be a
surprise if we actually get to his high school graduation.
The fourth season of the
Middle has been the show's best so far. It's gotten to be
consistently great as it has remained remarkably relatable. A lot of
people praise Modern Family but that's a show that has gotten so
comfortable with itself that it's largely stopped pushing itself. The
Middle might not get as much attention as Modern Family but it
continually keeps trying to push itself into new heights and it keeps
working. There might be a few weak episodes in this season but most
of them are great explorations of an American family. It's a family
that feels real as their economic situation feels like it actually
belongs in our world while their problems tend to have some footing
in reality. I wouldn't say this is the best comedy currently on
television. Parks and Recreation maintains that title with New Girl
and the Big Bang Theory remarkably close. The Middle is definably up
there as one of the best comedies currently on the air and definably
the best that the ABC network has to offer. It's a show that should
be getting more attention but it continues to be dwarfed by Modern
Family. Which I think is partially why the Middle is so great: it can
never get too comfortable because it doesn't have that luxury. It
must continue to justify it's place on the Wednesday comedy block and
that's why it keeps pushing itself to be better. The current ABC
Wednesday comedy block has a good reputation because of the first
season of Modern Family. It has good comedies: Suburgatory and Modern
Family remain good. What really makes it a great comedy block is the
show that keeps opening it: The Middle. Truly, the Heck family is the
best one on ABC.
The Graduation is a
pretty great season finale of the Middle. It wraps up some plotlines
(Axl leaving for college, Sue taking the driving test, Brick leaving
elementary school) with great skill. The narrative is tight, the
jokes are great, and it even sets up potential plotlines for the next
season. Modern Family's finale could have easily fit anywhere in the
season but there's no doubt that The Graduation could only go at the
end of the Middle's season. It was a true season finale and it worked
wonderfully. All I can say is that I have high hopes for the fifth
season of the Middle and that it's the comedy I'm going to miss the
most from ABC.
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