Middleman!

I loved this episode, don’t get me wrong, but the Things I Didn’t Love list is back this week. It’s at the top. You can just scroll past it if you want!

The jacket? 100% cotton. The man? 100% dorktacular.

This week’s list includes little personal essays! …enjoy?

I am starting with things I didn’t like, because I really did like the episode and I don’t want to end on a downer.

Things I Didn’t Love (why are you back, things?! Last week was so perfect!):

* Tyler, who I should just call Benedick to acknowledge my negative bias, has not gotten any better at acting since last week. I am beginning to suspect he has lockjaw and is just trying to pull a fast one on us.

* Also, he’s so perfect it sort of made me throw up in my mouth. I really hope the “too perfect” angle is going somewhere, because holy crap, snore.

* Little, but it bugs: Tyler didn’t acknowledge Lacey when he was leaving the apartment. Dude, it’s just manners. Plus, he and Lacey have been on a DATE, so holy crap, acknowledge her. It’s not like “See you, Lacey” was going to damage the episode pacing. Could he not squeeze it out past the lockjaw?

* Little, but it bugs: why exactly did Wendy have to be in the bikini? The joke wasn’t THAT funny, and it’s not like there’s a shortage of scantily-clad women on other shows or working downtown at the Booty Chest or whatever.

* That Lacey fell under Guy’s spell moments after he barged his way into the apartment and invaded her personal space. When it’s the Middleman, that’s fine. When it’s strange men busting into her apartment and crowding her and demonstrating prior knowledge of her and she’s into it? I dunno. I wish the “hooch” joke hadn’t rung so true, I guess.

* How does one melt one’s own hand? It drove me nuts for the rest of the episode! (Seriously. Did he have a melt ray? I’m asking.)

* That the Middleman left Wendy alone in a car with a sleazy guy. I know it was so he could attack the Candle and so Wendy and Guy could chat about love whatever whatever plotcakes, but come on, man, don’t leave your partner alone with Lester Molester! Not cool! Did Butch leave Sundance? (Hint: no.)

I think that’s all. Now, to happier things!

Things I Loved, in nothing like chronological order:

* Luftwaffles. LUFTWAFFLES. I think one of this show’s greatest strengths is the world building that slips into the background – this and the Rendezvous Point diner being my favorites.

* That when the Middleman first realized that Ida was watching Cinemax After Dark on the TV screens, he covered up the wigstand’s eyes.

* That said wigstand was wearing what looked like a tweed hat, and that its purpose was never explained. I like to think it’s a hobby, and that the Middleman sits around in Headquarters on a Saturday night making hats.

* That the Middleman carries the concussion field ball wherever he goes, just in case. Oh, boss.

* That 90% of the Middleman’s weapons look exactly the same. When she pulled out the B.U.M.M.E.R. last week, I cracked up.

* The Middleman’s explanation of his jacket. Oh, boss.

* That Ida liked 69 more than the current one. I bet 69 spied on his Middle-coworker’s love life. And brought popcorn.

* That Tyler is supportive of Wendy’s job. (Look, I said something nice about Tyler! And it only hurts a little!)

* “I’ll get you home in one piece.” Oh, boss.

Things I Loved More:

* The confirmation that previous Middlemen have not been the way our Middleman is. I really, really like that; it’s nice to know that while all Middlemen have the same goal, the methods of dealing with it are different.

* That the plot centered on interpersonal conflict, as opposed to the pursuit/discovery of a monster. (This is both because the show’s budget is less obvious when there’s not a lot of CGI clomping around, and because I am always a sucker for human fallibility over the threat of monstrous aliens. Not that I don’t like a Peruvian flying pike in a SCUBA suit as much as the next person.)

* That Ida didn’t let her crush on 69 get in the way of kicking ass when her boss was threatened.

* The look on the Middleman’s face when Ida stood up for him.

* The Top Secret shout-out with the cheek poking. I love that movie so much. I might have to Questionable Taste that this week.

* The Shibumi game. “No mannequin. Nuh-uh.” HA!

* That cancelled sci-fi show no one’s ever heard of.

* That the Middleman’s idea of kicking ass includes heading to the library for hours of research! Oh, BOSS.

* That Wendy refused to believe the Middleman was dead, and that even if he WAS dead, Wendy was going to go retrieve his melted lump of a body and drag it back into the submarine. And when he was alive, her first priority was to hug him, right on top of Guy’s melted lump of a body.

* That the Middleman gave Guy his dignity back twice. TWICE. Matt Keeslar does a remarkable job of playing the Middleman: he’s shaded enough to be interesting, but at the end of the day he will do the right thing. He’s a hero, in the best sense.

* That Wendy is going to continue to snark him as long as she can still breathe. Ah, teamwork!