TVSquad

(S01E05) The basics of the show are established by the fifth episode and now it's up to the characters and the premise to sustain it. With this episode, The Middleman proves that it knows how to dance that fine balance between the campy silliness of its plotlines and snappy dialog and the deeper relationships between the principal cast.

I wasn't sure early on if Wendy's supporting cast, namely Lacey and Noser, were going to work in the long run on the show, but I think the normalcy they represent in Wendy's life is as important as the work-driven lunacy that the Middleman and Ida represent. In fact, those two are almost caricatures in their personality, which juxtaposes them even moreso with Noser and Lacey, who are gaining depth and complexity without sacrificing the innate quirkiness that made them work in the first place.

We finally got to "see" Sensei Ping's training of Wendy begin, and despite a few weeks of build-up that it would be the most horrible thing she could possibly experience (we even learned tonight that it made The Middleman cry when he went through it). But will they ever get Matt Dacascos back for an encore performance so we can see Sensei Ping again? Or will he be just this silent presence behind closed doors for the rest of the season?

It's inevitable that a show like this is going to deal with the old stereotype of the "job" starting to creep in and take over the protagonist's personal life. As such, when another stereotype crops up; the one where Lacey's distant mother almost comes to her Art Crawl but then has to back out at the last minute; Wendy is off chasing trout-craving zombies rather than being there for her friends and helping set up the Crawl. The show did take it one step further by having Wendy finally make it just in time, only to have to bail again when a new zombie outbreak (which apparently means one infected person) occurs.

Considering how much The Middleman himself seems to like Wendy, I have to agree with her that he was going a little overboard in keeping her on assignment to deny her the ability to go to Lacey's performance at Art Crawl. But I did like that she finally stood up to him and went anyway. It's a sign of her own strength that she's going to at least try to keep her other priorities in their places. She's going to fail, apparently, but at least she'll fight for her personal life. Couldn't The Middleman have taken on one zombie outbreak without her? He was doing it without her before he hired her at least for a while.

Further, it's a testament to the success of the show's writing and the acting that I'm caring about the characters and rooting for them. In fact, I was proud of Lacey when she later stood up to The Middleman, rather than just cave and gush all over his cuteness, even though she managed to do that at the same time. Lacey's pretty damned needy, but she was right in this instance. Wendy should have been there for her and The Middleman should have allowed it.

Just because he seems to have no personal life at all; I wonder what happened to it as he must have had one before all of this; doesn't mean that Wendy should have to completely give up hers. Or is it truly what the job demands? Complete and total dedication? I think the tone is too light-hearted to explore this too fully, but ABC Family did move it to 10/9 Central so there's room for deep issues and Dennis Franz' ass now if they want it. I don't think it's doing much of anything right now.

MORE FUN

• I love that they call Lacey's Mom Barbara Thornfield, MD, PhD. And that Lacey calls her Dr. Thornfield.
• Bad actors could hide on The Middleman and not even be noticed. That first zombie victim was intentionally acting that way, but I could just as easily see a Star Trek red shirt in that role who isn't capable of acting better. As it was, the scene was pretty funny.
• The henchmen have fish embroidered on their work uniforms. It's like classic Batman from the '60s all over again!
• I want a clapper spotlight! Clap on (zombie roars)! Clap off (zombie stops)! The spotlight clapper!
• Love the hot chick zombies still shaking their hips when they walk (or maybe you have to on heels, don't know, never worn 'em), smile while attacking and stand with hands on hip looking sexy. I had no idea zombies were still concerned with their appearance. Yes, I know they're not true zombies but rather infected a la 28 Days Later but still. They're hot. Hot zombies. That's all I'm saying.
• The devil's dance earned The Middleman theme song, complete with the chorus singing "The Middleman" at the finale. And when the last zombie had to be taken down again; because they always come back at least once in these kinds of things, the chorus rang out a second time.