This was always the little show that could. I am really surprised it lasted this long. The show focuses on the Heck family. The mom was Patricia Heaton (from Everybody Loves Raymond), always meaning well, but we usually disagreed with her parenting skills. The dad, Neil Flynn (Janitor, from Scrubs), very stoic, a man of few words, but always there for his kids. Then the three kids, each totally different but cool in their own dorky ways. Axl Heck was the older boy, always very confidant and a bit of a douche, but in a non-threatening way. Sue Heck was the dorkiest girl ever, but you couldn't help love her for her "never give up" attitude. Finally, the little brother Brick, who was a mega nerd, happiest when reading for his own pleasure. His greatest accomplishment was buying the library micro-fiche which gave him so much info to read and learn from.
The show ran for 9 years and we saw the kids go from grade school through high school and the eldest boy Axl even managed to finish college and in the final episode we see him taking a job in Denver. Mama does not take this well, seeing her family moving apart but struggling because the right thing to do is support the son and let him make his mind up.
Sue grows up constantly competing to join groups and never quite making it, but she does well enough by forming her own, including a cheer squad in high school and a drama group in college. She is still working on becoming the best version of herself and it was cute to unite her with Axl's best friend who is studying to be a doctor, although they did try to marry her off after high school with Axl's other best friend that became a plumber before her character was sent to college, which is a much better storyline, but living in the rust belt, marrying her off post high school would have possibly worked too, but she was still too immature. The end episode tells s she is ok and eventually marries the doctor, I believe she lived happily ever after. She summarized the title perfectly, as she has been a little sister to Axl and a big sister to Brick, it has been perfect living in the middle.
Brick had some funny quirks as a smaller kid. he would repeat certain words and then when they fixed that, he would whoop every now and then. He was constantly reading and I would say he raised himself, going as far as getting his driver's license on his own. In the end, the mom says he became a writer having fantasy stories falling into his microfiche machine and solving mysteries along the way, which sounds perfect for him.
I never thought this show would last, it wasn't as exciting as some of the others that came and went. Nothing much seemed to happen from week to week and I didn't think either parent was that great at parenting, other than being there for their kids. Still, we had a good cry as we said goodbye to the little show that could, shit with 214 episodes, it should be in circulation for a long time.
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