I hope we get to see more of Logan. xD I suspect since Taylor is still very much a part of Ray’s life, and she’s very close to her brother, JJ will most likely cross paths with his rival again...

I was thinking specifically of an episode later in s.1 (1x20, “R-U-N—Runaway”) in which JJ gave his family flak after he had overheard them raising doubts about his future independence and assumed they were making decisions about what to do with him without waiting to ask him what he might want (“Nothing about us…

Oh, FOTB was so good this week — between Louis’ breakdown, Jessica and her dad, and even the whole thing with Emery and Eddie, it got me right in the heart.

Considering ‘Speechless’ sort of got there midway through its first season (1x13, “S-I—Sick D-A—Day”), I was a bit surprised that it took ‘The Middle’ until its 9th and final season to have an episode where the characters question and argue about their familial roles. But I loved both episodes in different ways: While…

I thought it was sweet. :) I knew going into it that there would be some more insight into the parents’ marriage (with them giving advice to Ray and his girlfriend about learning to relax and not overthink things), but I was not ready for that reveal about Jimmy. Dang, but I love his and Maya’s relationship so much...…

I was just thinking about that — this season, they seem to be downplaying her athletics / winning fixation and delving more into her prankish side... though I’m glad this episode gave her something bigger to focus on than just picking on Ray, plus I thought it was cute how she bonded with those old dudes and responded…

Especially Cedric / Kenneth with the Michael Jackson costumes — both actor and character apparently had a blast playing with the different looks. :)

Yup; I could see how he would be reluctant to go back to his own body after having had a taste of his sister’s life, but I also took it as sort of a fun response to past episodes (especially last week’s) that leaned heavily on Dylan’s bullying of Ray — like on some level, now he had a chance to get his revenge. :D…

Ooh. I had kinda mixed feelings on ‘Speechless,’ if only because I loved Season 1's Halloween episode too much — I was legit disappointed that they didn’t bring back the family-costume tradition, with no explanation, especially since designing and building wheelchair costumes for JJ is (or was) one of the few things…

“Inspiration porn,” you definitely wouldn’t have to worry about with this show — in fact, there was a season 1 episode where that sort of thing was directly called out (and even likened to “Magical Negro” stereotypes). It doesn’t portray disability as either a life-ending tragedy or something to be beaten and…

Lovely header pic — what a smile. :)

One of my favorite s.1 episodes. :) Last week’s episode where Jimmy took JJ camping to give him the “birds and bees” talk was fairly similar to that, but his speech to JJ (about how he struggles to find a balance between wanting to encourage him in all things and acknowledging the reality of his physical limitations)…

Good point, and I agree — so far this season, the only plot I’ve been outright baffled by is the Maya one in 2x2* (and by extension, its continuation in this episode). It’ll be interesting to see where the writers are going with it; I kind of wish some site would do a “writer’s room walk-through” for this show (like…

I recently read an interview (on Uproxx) with Silveri and one of the writers; one major point they made was how the whole Kenneth thing (his having been a groundskeeper-turned-aide and ending up an almost constant presence in the family’s lives) is their biggest example of how sometimes for the sake of comedy, they’re…

I like how he told Maya, “I want to be the kind of boss that turns ME on.” :D And I was kinda hoping we’d see an example of that in the episode (the closest we got was his scheme to hire back the “undercover boss”-looking fellow he’d fired), but I imagine we’ll probably get other chances to see him figure out his own…

I want to feel bad for Ray when his siblings pick on him every chance they get, but he sure brings a lot of crap on himself. xD Still, as much as he can be the butt of his family’s jokes, I love how they come together and have his back when he needs help the most. (Also, I would not be surprised if the idea for “JJ’s…

Thanks for the info! :) I suspect the Maya plot was simply to set up a story for an upcoming episode; “T-R—Training D-A—Day” (which airs the week after next — I’ve already seen a press-release and promo photos for it), supposedly finds her training the staff / faculty members who, in last night’s ep, had been picked…

Even (or especially) not being in-the-know on that stuff, I wasn’t quite sure what the heck was going on with Maya this week; still, I always enjoy her scenes with Principal Sea Slug Miller, and I thought it was great how she learned to ask for help rather than just bulldozing others to get her way.

Lovely tune, yes. :)

“Swingin’” was a terrific single — I still smile at the “went down swingin’ ... like Benny Goodman / Glenn Miller / Sonny Liston” parts. :D