Even inexperienced teaching assistants quickly catch on to this, and to excessive margin spacing, and to fractional increases in spacing.

Am I the only one who has noticed that the interior of the house doesn't match the outside, or was this discussed to death in early seasons? There's no way the garage, for example, lines up with the hall leading from between the kitchen and dining room to Axl and Brick's room.

I am. Overdue library books are never justification for arrest.

See how neglecting to return a library book ISN'T ANYTHING LIKE SHOPLIFTING?

Now I'm going to have to go back and find her scenes. Was not a fan of The Middle when I was watching VM.

They're college students with a history. It's hard to imagine they're not having sex.

The writers have done this a few other times, as when Axl was having a catch with Mike in the kitchen and Brick kept trying to take part. "Just trying to be part of the family." But they dropped it there, too.

The Hecks seem to like TimTom for more than Sue's sake. After all, they invivted him to the house for supper and Frankie referred to his 'unquestionable moral authority.' Mike also tried praying at TimTom's suggestion.

I don't doubt Axl and Cassidy are making whoopee. As a small government progressive I strongly prefer the general lack of crassness on The Middle, especially wrt sex. The show handles sex between Mike and Frankie very well and could stand some more reference to their sex life in the vein it has mined. It could also…

Not to mention the search function on AVClub is ridiculous, requiring a complete retyping of any entry, and causing entries like The Middle Season 5 Episode 4 to fail to generate the relevant episode on the first several pages of the search.

Bowen also does terrific physical comedy even though she's not often called upon to do that.

Axl's still an infant of whom almost nothing is expected, who still bickers endlessly with his mother, who doesn't work, who has no discipline, and who needs his prepubescent brother to help him withdraw from the classes he's failing.

Huh. Agree with you on Sher (and my guess is she has range that will show up as she ages into more interesting roles), but McDermott has been a drag on the show ever since his role was expanded after the first half dozen eps of season one, and the only time I notice Shaffer acting is on reaction shots. Different…

Flynn is The Middle's anchor. Your post got me to look Flynn up on imdb, and he doesn't seem to have done a serious role in at least a decade. I'd be surprised if he couldn't do pretty much anything he tried his hand at.

Second, what would the point be? How long would it take Axl to get his shite together, and would you really want to carry the self-absorbed twerp for x years until you eventually have to throw him out, anyway?

I can't see a parent like Mike (in real life) let an abusive troll like Axl move back into the house. First, the house seems far more pleasant to its four remaining inhabitants when Axl's gone (he's STILL crapping on Sue about her possibly going to E. Indiana U.? Granted, it's bad writing, but how pathetic would a 19…

Wasn't his name mispronounced, too? Voo-ee-tawn?

Man, Eden Sher has delivered that line alone with a variety of terrific spins.

"Jack McBrayer teeters—you may say he’s already toppled—on the verge of
being seen as a one-note comedian, but his innocent, flustered persona
was put to perfect use in the episode as he was being fiercely hit on by
Rusty’s (as it turns out) ex-wife, Marlene, played with just the right
level of lasciviousness by Mary…

Who knew that people could have wildly divergent opinions??