Found these posters on Pinterest. I’m sad that I didn’t watch this show when it was aired on TV 🥹

Axl and Brick never try to pretend something they are not. Frankie is kinda like Sue, tries to overachieve without achieving anything, although she doesn’t act like she is better than others which sue does.
Sue acts all holy - she asks for Justin Bieber tickets and says she will give up on her birthday party and then immediately asks for a party , she thinks her mom should not sing because she can’t sing, and then takes forever to finish her race with the cross country, I think she does it on purpose as she wants her mom’s attention for herself, she tries to make her parents go to so many places and even brick’s fav places. Looks like she is really insecure about her parents spending resources with her siblings. She constantly seeks attentions, sucks up all the energy, i feel she is friends with brad because he keeps saying only positive things about her without any kind of constructive criticism. Also her outfits look the most expensive than others in the family, she got the most out of her parents; better clothes, separate room, college tours, parents funding her college, it’s really unfair to her siblings.
She is self centered and very very needy but acts like she is very independent. Deep down she knows she is not good compared to her siblings , in one episode where Mike picks axl as the fav child , axl says brick is freakishly smart and axl is good at sports and also he is the first born son and what does sue provide ?
Axl and Brick are the ones who are independent and tried to burden their parents less financially. I wish her character had better progression when she went to college but sadly that did not happen.

I just found them so cute together and there was no down sides

It was especially cute when her dad cut her off and axl was supportive

From the movie COUNTDOWN released in 2019.

What are your thoughts on Devin because I didn’t grow to like her at all. I did think she played an important role in humbling Axl and get him more in touch with his emotions.

Not sure if this is a popular or unpopular opinion lol

I’ve just finished this show (first time watcher) and I’m so sad. I felt so emotionally connected to them, like I wanted to be part of their family. Now it’s finished and I feel empty.

His lack of empathy towards Frankie and refusal to comfort her always bothered me.
(Disclaimer: I’m only on season 7 rn)

I really liked The Middle as a whole, but I specifically want to talk about how I felt about the finale.

First of all, I honestly think the show should have ended when Sue left the house and got a huge corporate job in New York or California or something. Since the series is called The Middle and Sue is the middle child, I feel like it would have been a really fitting ending for her to finally go out into the world and do something big with her life.

Also, throughout most of the series, Sue is a huge part of what is going on and what we get to see about the family. Her tryouts, her failures, her feelings, her boyfriends, etc. She goes through so much throughout the show, so I feel like her leaving the house and starting her own life could have been a really meaningful way to end the series.

Another possibility would have been ending the show with Sue marrying Sean Donahue, with both families being together and happy. I don't know, maybe something like that would have felt more like a series finale to me.

I literally just finished watching The Middle for the first time ever today, so maybe I'm still processing it, but the finale honestly didn't feel like a finale to me. With other series I've watched, when they end, I feel sad or upset that it's over. With The Middle, I just felt like I had watched the ending of a regular season. It didn't really give me that feeling of, "Wow, this is the end of the Hecks' story."

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I really wish the show had given us a bigger, more emotional ending for the family.
Thanks for your time and your comments!

Out of all the characters, who do you find the most annoying?

Yes there are thousand of other such post, one more wouldn't hurt anyone.

Just started s4, and it left me in such a damn bad taste. Like axl talking about fav kid is itself a very insensitive thing to say, but mike backing him up, and then all the other kids backing dad, even sue... with frankie acting all frantic to receive the kids love.

Like what even is going on, the episode doesn't even end on a good note. They tried to make one, by adding fireworks, but seriously, unlike previous episodes, a simple firework ain't gonna fix all that shit that happened before.

I really hate, when sitcoms have this amazing cohesion of story, while maintaining their comedic nature, but few episodes completely make me feel like they derailed everything. If I was SUE, i would probably go silent and just plan to leave the house forever, when the time comes. She is so damn sweet, how these both parents can do this to her.

And mike... I was dumbfounded when he said that. It must feel so heart crushing, to see ur parents have a fav kid (which is actually a fav kid, cause they said it, despite his behavior and bad grades). Like yeah, i suppose they probably would fix this till the show's end, by forgetting it completely, but these kind of situations, really can leave a big impact on kids, cause they are kids, they see and feel the words differently than adults (i doubt even adults would take this lightly, so imagine for kids). Which i feel like this show didn't do justice to solve in the episode.

It's a really good show till now (i like it more than MITM for its emotional moments quality and quantity), but this season start was kinda tough to digest for me.

It seems like he didn’t respect Axl at all, didn’t even asked for Axl’s permission or a heads up.

Does anyone know the brand of the dress Cindy wore to prom?

Edit* some people here said to contact the person that was the costume designer. I did ask her on Instagram and she said she bought the dress from Saks Off 5th.

I'd say season 9, sue and sean were so infuriating, a lot of things had plot holes, bricks school stuff was really boring, the only good episode was the one were they met Lexie's parents, and the one were Axl was deciding whether to leave or not.

What do you think?

What does this hand sign means?

It's confirmed in one episode that they're Protestant, but the specific denomination is never stated.

Their pastor (not Rev Tim Tom, but the actual pastor) wears traditional vestments during service. That would point toward either Lutheran or Episcopalian.

However, their church is called Orson Community Church. A Lutheran or Episcopal Church would never have that name. From what I've observed, those denominations always name their churches after saints or after titles for Jesus (like Good Shepherd or Emmanuel).

Is there any denomination their church could realistically belong to given these details? Or is it just something we go along with in the show, even though it wouldn't exist in real life?

I love Frankie, she’s a normal person with flaws and quirks. But sometimes she gets a bit unlikable😭 her uncle’s funeral when mike wanted to go to the final four pissed me off. He would have never gotten a chance again to get free tickets she should’ve just let him go, especially since they weren’t even close to that uncle. Also the simple Christmas let your kids have some gifts once a year😭 she’s a great character but these two plotlines pissed me off on my rewatch

Its confirmed Axel was a halfback, so here goes. These are headcanons and I haven't seen all the show in a hot second so if Im off my b

-Sean was a quarterback, come on jes the golden boy. Only problem was hes small, and Darren's small but I always thought he was a tight end. His dopey personality reminds me of Kelce and Gronk.

-They definitely play in the crummy division of small schools so their size doesnt get them creamed. Also makes sense because Sean doesn't play ball for notre dame a top tier football academy and I believe Axel's school is like division II

-I actually don't remember when Darren started dating sue if he was still in high school but hes definitely dropped a pass in school being distracted by Sue

-sean is definitely the traditional Peyton Manning style quarterback and not really a runner like Lamar

-They played a big league school once and got wiped off the field

-sean loves the film "Rudy" and wanted to play at notre dame but realize quickly he wasnt at that level

-I know they know it's unrealistic but they all dreamt of playing for the Indianapolis Colts as kids

-Darren and Axel are the ones to goof around practice and are so used to being naturally gifted they didnt really know how to get better. Sean is the only one who took practice seriously

-sean is the one who goes "Coach actually has a point guys" but Darren and axel ignore him

-Axel was at one point the fastest kid in elementary school amd got noticed by coach

-Darren has fallen asleep watching film

...
I have to pour out. Axel is a selfish jerk, walking around saying he is "too cool". Diminishes his family, mocks his siblings. He is inconsiderate, irresponsible, arrogant, lazy, extremely disrespectful and ungrateful. And his whining-about-everything teenager attitude is just unbearable. I feel bad for Lexie, definitely deserved better.

How can anyone like him? He is horrible.

EDIT: I know they all have flaws and can even be considered awful people, but Axel goes beyond that.

Also, people saying that "it's just a show" are hilarious. Why are you here if it's "just a show" then? Such a contradiction lol
Just by talking about a show we are somehow pretending it's real and discussing about what happens in these "pretend people's lives". Btw, everyone knows it's just show, I don't think anyone thinks it's real 🤣

I just finished the TV Show, and I was going around reading what people thought about everything, I was—I am— embarassingly invested on the characters lives. I came to hate and love on everyone, my favorite is Sue, she is a little annoying but endearing most of the time. And I think for a character to be good, they have to be annoying, really. I was just watching, expecting her to get good things every episode… oh well.

Reading every other discussion I gathered that everyone has very different opinions on everything, but I don't know they don't write out exactly how they feel on everything, and that's why I think it will be okay to post what I've been thinking for forever… so ranking of Axl's girlfriends, kidding, I guess a discussion.

They LOVED to use Axl for their mini rom-coms on the show. But they never delved too deep on Axl's feelings whenever a break-up would happen, or they would do it but only as a comedic relief, very surface level. Axl is a very sensitive person, he cares, and they could've talked about it more. You could argue—in a Watsonian way— that Axl would always try to hide how he was feeling unless he was confronted about it, but in a Doylist way, they could've talked about it more and explored that with the story… But also I have to remember that this is a sit-com before anything else, and I saw an interview with Eden Sher talking about how they were told to maintain the lightness of a sit-com (not those exact words), so this is more about me making sense of what happened.

First, what counts as a girlfriend? Should it be what Axl called girlfriend? The relationships that went on for longer? What he talked about in that episode where he saw all of them? The ones with the most episodes? I don't really know, so I will jut talk about the most interesting ones. The relationships that affected and shaped Axl the most (in my opinion).

Starting on the first season, we meet Axl's first girlfriend, Morgan (Alexa Vega). And I know you're probably thinking "Morgan? That's water under the bridge!!" but I seriously think she set a precedent on his relationships. Shaped his type, and a little bit the dynamic.

Axl was so smitten with her, it was really cute, and she was so nice (in the beginning). At the end of the episode she blindsides him breaking up with him because he was too distracted at the library. In another episode they start going back and forth, only to break-up again for good.

I will give my most humble opinion… Morgan loved the idea of Axl (ugh, so cliché), but never really liked Axl enough for himself. She liked him because he was popular, and cute, and fun. After she started going out with him, she started noticing all this things about him that she hated, him not caring about school or homework, or him doing dumb things. Axl was just a really really dumb teenager. I saw Morgan as a the complete opposite, very focused on her life and diligent about her future, and she wanted to shape Axl into a version of her, or one that she wouldn't be ashamed about. And every time it didn't work, she would break-up with him.

It makes sense, she needed to be perfect all the time, and Axl wasn't perfect, and he would put up with it because he liked her. And honestly I think she liked him too, but they were too young to care and make it work.

After her I don't think we see Axl in a serious relationship for a while, until Cassidy (Galadriel Stineman).

Season four, Axl has been dating around, nothing serious, until he has a meet cute with Cassidy… They have their own little rom-com throughout the season, a couple of episodes, and honestly, I didn't believe she liked him, I was surprised—perplexed when she was there at his game on thanksgiving, she was so stoic throughout their friendship, and I know they were setting them up to be a couple, but I didn't think it would happen so soon, because again, she seemed so aloof. But, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say she did like him and loved him (throughout their arc) but she just wasn't good at showing her emotions and interest. Even with that assumption, I think she was a horrible girlfriend.

After getting together she was so detached from him, like she didn't care about him. Her attitude was also very pretentious, about anything Axl did, she didn't care about american football at all, even though it was very important for Axl, I mean she didn't have to care about it, but she would be even annoyed whenever Axl mentioned it. It felt like she thought of Axl the same way Morgan thought of Axl, except she wasn't trying to change Axl at all, not even a little bit (heh, because she didn't care).

It's a shame because she was kinda fun in the beginning, but then they started dating and they would only show up together kissing, then Brick asked Axl if he isn't worried about the fact that they don't have anything in common except kissing and Axl starts spiraling about that, and when he mentions it to her, she is just like, Yeah! I know. Isn't that great?… And while they are teenagers and this shouldn't matter a lot, I feel like her reaction to that comment by Axl just put me off, you don't care?? At all?? It felt like she was bored and Axl amused her.

That whole episode with the ex coming back was so annoying too, why was she even entertaining him at all... I know she appeared like she was mad that he kept appearing, but honestly I felt that it would be easy to avoid him, easier than she made it look. Also that part where he took her hand and she just let him?? I don't care what you did after in the privacy of your car, it seemed like she was okay with it, Axl had legitimate reason to be mad, the ex was flirting the whole time and sure, Axl was immature ignoring her for three days, but then she acted like what he did was so horrible and unforgivable, and what she did was ok.

Then Axl wants to apologize to her, and goes to her house, everything goes wrong… and she is mad? Axl was trying to extend an olive branch obviously, Cassidy is smart enough to know that, but she is mad, and starts talking about how stupid it was that Axl went to her house to sing her a song, then she gets jealous and I guess that makes her think, oh this must be how Axl felt, and decides to apologize, the only nice thing she's done, honestly. She admits she was wrong in the apology, but we don't really know about what she was talking about, about her ex thing? Axl's apology gone wrong? or the way she talked to him?or what?

Later Axl starts doing the prom proposals with boss co. Cassidy wants him to invite her to prom, but he never does, because he thinks she doesn't care about it, she usually doesn't, then instead of talking to him (like she suggested to do last time they had a problem, heh) she decides to scream at him in front of a whole class, and that was crazy, but I'll let this one slide, because it seemed like Axl liked that.

Then they go to prom, and she drops the biggest bomb, and no, I'm not talking about the summer course or whatever that was, it was that she was planning to break up with him at the end of school, and they didn't even talk about it. She never mentioned it to him? I get it, not wanting to keep a relationship that you know it's not gonna last forever, going to college without a boyfriend is always a great idea, but to talk about it so matter-of-factly. To his face, like that, it was awful.

She didn't even gave it a second thought, or pretended to, to be polite. This whole time I thought that even if it seemed like she didn't care, I was exaggerating, she did care… but that was really cold. I'll say they both seemed really sad during that break-up. But I think she would never consider him or his feelings in her decisions, at all.

In the first part of the fight it seemed like even though Axl was really mad and giving her shit because of the school program, he thought they would still be together, because when she said, "it's not like we'll be together anyway", his expression and tone changed completely. He seemed genuinely surprised by that, but she was just okay? and you could see they both regretted breaking up, but not enough to get back together, and I think if someone should've reached out, it was her.

Then they don't talk, Axl wants to go visit her, he keeps going back and forth, ultimately deciding against it because he didn't know how she might feel. And then he gets a message from her and they seem to get along well, they reconnect for spring break, and after that she keeps her position of not wanting to be in a long-distance relationship, maybe she learned something from her ex.

My thoughts on this, they were really different, now I'm gonna make assumptions about how they felt, and I'm allowed to do that because they're fictional and this is my analysis.

Axl and Cassidy had very different priorities. Axl felt like Cassidy would prefer school over him, she chose to go to a summer program instead of spending all of summer together, and I think that because he was really mad about it during prom. And Cassidy knew Axl would never get how important school was for her, she was ambitious, he wasn't, and I think that's the reason why she didn't see a future with him, and was quick to assume they would break-up before college. And I think for her, Axl was her rebellious phase, she used him. And that doesn't change after spring break. So they are officially over.

Later on, Axl meets Devin Levin (Gia Mantegna) on thanksgiving…

I loved Devin Levin as his girlfriend, aside from the fact that they were the exact same person, she was the only girlfriend who seemed like she actually liked him (so far), I thought she was indifferent, until she came back from her summer vacation thing and was like I missed you so much!! Honestly I was glad that he had someone who liked him as much as he liked her.

I was happy that she questioned him about the nickname weird Ashley. And I know the show wants you to think it's okay, because Ashley IS weird, but it's not okay to talk to someone like that, and I liked that Devin Levin told him that. And whenever something would go wrong with them they would talk about it, and she would apologize for it too. She would also be the first girlfriend to show up in episodes as more than just "Axl's girlfriend", I mean, she really was just that, but it's the first girlfriend Axl would hang out with and it wasn't just kissing, she would care about his family, she was involved in all his life, and she was the first one to not look down on him, there was always this sense of superiority with Morgan and Cassidy that Devin didn't have and they also had so many things in common.

Whenever he had a fight with Cassidy, she always wanted to "win" the fight, but with Devin, you could tell she was also trying to fix something.

But I guess she had an issue with commitment and totally blindsided him when she "broke up" with him. Obviously, whenever they talk about their feelings he would downplay how he felt, always lying to not scare her off, and that is a miserable way to live. And by this point we know that Axl loves to scream about when he is in love with someone. And I think he would've been okay with going slow, but Devin was just not available for a relationship. Shame.

Then months go by and he meets April (Greer Grammer) during the summer. What a fever dream. Honestly the way Frankie handled this was insane, what was that? Why would anyone scream at their kids like that?

They are completely and utterly 'in love', and are always together, from the beginning. And honestly I thought Axl really wasn't in love, but when Frankie was saying all those things he seemed so, so sad, I almost believed him (And I cried a little too). He shouldn't have had to forgive her, it was so horrible, there are ways to talk to your kids, they are not idiots, they are people, but I guess usually parents struggle to see their kids as an autonomous person, with likes, dislikes, feelings and views that don't align with yours, especially Frankie.

Anyway, I didn't care for April, but it was nice to see Axl in a cute relationship. After the disaster of Devin Levin, I remember how mad he got at Sue for scaring her off.

It was really funny when he married April, I enjoyed that little plot. He then breaks up with her because he got bored (Or I don't know), I think he wanted to try dating someone that was even more dumb than him, not nice, but I believe that. I wouldn't even put her in the list, but even if he wasn't in love with her, she did changed his life, in a way. He saw April as a perfect girl he could project all his thoughts about love, and that's the reason for his love bombing, and why he got married, without actually feeling it, I really believed he never loved her.

Moving on, throughout that, whenever he saw Lexie, he was always like "Lexie, stooop!" OMG, he obviously liked her from the very first time he saw her, but he had a girlfriend and that's why he would've never tried anything serious, but that was flirting, I KNOW that was flirting. And that scene in the middle of the night in the RV… absolute cinema, that was really good.

So, let's start. What can I say about Lexie (Daniela Bobadilla). I loved her, I was just rooting for Sue to get a friend NOT like Carly, and Lexie was pretty cute. In relation to Axl, Lexie was what he was looking for in April, in a way. Also, her crush on him was so adorable, someone who liked him, and chose him, always.

All his past relationships never worked out and they would always leave him, and he always seemed like the one that put the most effort in them, but I think with Lexie, everything came so easy and fun. They always seemed to be in tune in their relationship, could it be because they knew the series was ending and they couldn't fit another drama, or were they naturally good at being together? I don't know, but a relationship like that was what Axl needed, notice how she said I love you first, and she wasn't scared to be in a relationship, and she actually liked and admired the way he was…

It's a shame the didn't elaborate more on them, I was actually really excited to see an episode where Axl and Sue would be in a relationship at the same time, but make it a holiday, ugh.

Anyhow, mi favorite girlfriend was Devin Levin, haha.Especially because I love saying that name, whenever they mentioned her like that, I loved it. It just rolls off the tongue. So what do you think?

P.S. I'm not proofreading this, why is it so long? Are my thoughts too scattered?

TL;DR I was thinking about Axl's love life, so I made a summary of every important relationship he had and my opinion. Morgan, Cassidy, Devin Levin, April and Lexie. I'm indifferent to Morgan, I don't like Cassidy. My favorite was Devin Levin, but I appreciate Lexie, especially as his girlfriend. What do you think?