IMPERFECTLY PERFECT
Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton, “Everybody Loves Raymond”) and her family enjoy their last Christmas of the beloved series “The Middle,” airing Tuesday.
Family comedies are essential to prime-time television, though few manage to break through the fourth wall and provide a sense of genuine authenticity. It seems as if each decade graces us with one or two quality family sitcoms, the highs and lows of their experiences so familiar that we become a part of the family ourselves. Such legendary series include “All in the Family,” “Roseanne,” “Full House” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Thankfully, the current generation has found its own iconic family to join, though sadly the time has come to say goodbye. The final season of “The Middle” is underway, with a new, Christmas-themed episode arriving Tuesday, Dec. 12, on ABC and Citytv.
“The Middle” made its way into homes across North America back in September 2009. Throughout the pilot episode, mom Frankie, played by Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond”), provides the rundown on the Hecks, her family of five. There’s the eldest of her three children, Axl (Charlie McDermott, “Hot Tub Time Machine,” 2010), a carefree, athletic rebel; Sue (Eden Sher, “The Outcasts,” 2017), a klutzy yet optimistic and driven middle child; and Brick (Atticus Shaffer, “Steven Universe”), the brainy, quirky youngest child who juggles exceptional smarts with exhausting boredom.
Dad Mike, played by Neil Flynn (“Scrubs”), rounds off the bunch with his towering height, level head and blunt honesty. As the family manages day-to-day struggles between breakfasts of frozen pancakes and fast food dinners around a glowing television screen, there is something incredibly raw and endearing about them. There’s no need to try to impress, and no wanting for more than what is possible for them. As the Hecks straddle the line between middle and lower class, there is a sense that a reflection is being sent back to millions of Americans who see their own reality playing out onscreen, week by week. Perhaps this is why the series has long endured, as families have grown up with, and alongside, the Hecks.
This growth is quite literal, with season 9 finding the family shifting toward an adult majority: Brick is now the sole teenager in the house, and entering his sophomore year of high school. Sue is a junior at college, while Axl has found his way home from Europe, greatly changed by the experience (well, somewhat). Frankie and Mike confront the realities of having their adult children at home and the need for both of them, but especially Axl, to contribute to keeping the family afloat as they juggle daily bills and expenses.
Another notable element of the season thus far is its recognition of the family’s journey — the lasting impact of the Hecks in their own universe and the world beyond the screen. The season 9 premiere made this theme overtly clear, with Frankie’s obsessing over the town’s time capsule project, stressing to the family the importance of finding just the right way to commemorate their presence in the town, because, as Frankie frantically asks: “Will people remember that the Hecks were here?”
It’s an obvious thematic choice for a final season, but, as the series does so skilfully, Frankie’s questioning and desire to know the family has had an impact is extremely relatable. Thankfully, the series is helping Frankie to find the answer, by reflecting back on memorable events of “The Middle.” The credit scenes of the episode “Thanksgiving IX,” for instance, reflect on the past nine years of Heck family Thanksgivings. Montages such as this one tug at the heartstrings of fans, who have shared these holiday moments for nearly a decade with “The Middle,” and now accept the bittersweet conclusion to such a relatable journey.
The desire to end the series with season 9 came as quite a shock to fans, who have only seen the show increase in depth and popularity. It would seem that the main reason for concluding “The Middle” at this point is to end the show while it still resonates with viewers, without experiencing a dramatic downturn in ratings or interest. In an interview on “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” Heaton addressed this: “We love the show, and we love each other, but you get this sense of when it’s time to leave the party. You don’t want to wait until it’s kind of already over.”