(S01E06) "Bring it, Marvin." -- Wendy Watson
It seems that the writers of The Middleman have decided to stop opening the show with sexy scenes featuring Natalie Morales and start also including sexy scenes featuring Brit Morgan. Watching her do those dance moves more than made for the ham-handed way the writers attempted to get me to care about Varsity Fanclub. Clearly my taste in music is tragically unhip, since I thought the band was fictional until about three hours before the episode aired.
I know Pip is supposed to be the unlikable douchebag of the show, but his character isn't interesting enough for me to care about. His dialogue reminds me of a non-animated Cartman. Someone who thinks they're better than everyone he knows and yet he still seeks approval from those people. The difference is Drew Tyler Bell is no Eric Cartman.
The character notwithstanding, I loved how the two plots meshed in this episode. Middleman's reaction to Wendy's situation was priceless. I guess I should have seen it coming though. Taking credit for the work of someone else seems to be just the kind of thing that flies in the face of what a Middleman stands for.
As soon as young Cindy appeared onscreen, there was something about her I didn't like. It wasn't her filthy mouth, because I find that hilarious. It was more that I could tell how poorly thought out her character would turn out to be. It became clear that, even though the show was trying it's hardest to make light of the Varsity Fanclub thing, it was all just a way for Disney to get some of their younger viewers to stay up and watch the show.
At the risk of belaboring the point, I think the show missed a great opportunity for satire. By casting a real boy band in the role of themselves, they missed the chance to seriously spoof all of the things that are wrong about that kind of "music." The other problem is that when the boys in Varsity Fanclub made even the slightest attempt at humor, it was a dismal failure. Didn't we learn anything from Dudez A Plenti?
I, pretty much, saw the reveal about the boys being the evil aliens that Cindy was trying to stop, but I was still looking forward to a cool explanation as to what their plan was. Sadly, that explanation was so long and convoluted that I eventually stopped paying attention and instead started downloading old NKOTB songs.
By the time Cindy died and MM and Wendy were about to flip the switch on the black box, I had completely checked out. Usually this is the point in the show where the villain reveals some alternate plan or shows what he was really up to all along. That clearly was not the case in this episode. Even the special effect of the band getting sucked through the hole wasn't interesting, and I've seen enough TV shows with robots to know that they never really die.
Pip's comeuppance was very nice to see. Not only did he reveal his evil deed but the gang's illegal sublet is still intact. Using the truth bomb was kind of obvious but I never tire of all the Middle gear and how it works. This particular offering could have used a lot more of that.
While this week's episode was not my favorite, I guess it makes sense that they can't all be winners and to be fair there were a few things that I enjoyed, especially Ida's new dress.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-22-2008 @ 10:26AM
hessi said...
Just put the subpar plot aside for a minute and give props to the props department: Having a Mr. Fusion in Cindy's room was a nice touch. :-)
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7-22-2008 @ 10:44AM
Anita said...
I, too, thought VFC was fictional, although I remember thinking what a great boyband name it was. So, far, episodes 1 and 3 are my favorites, but the other eps seem a bit more child-oriented, even if this one included refs to pregnancy. However, I'm a bit disappointed that there's less development with MM. Ep 1 implied he was a rebel and included his temper with the mob boss. However, they haven't showed that dual contrast (milk-drinking hero with violent rage) since -
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7-22-2008 @ 11:56AM
Claire said...
i am still surprised by the fact that they're a real band. the few bits of song they featured were very bad. (but then i've come to loathe boy bands and similarly sounding pop music, so i suppose i'm not the best critic.) they really could have done so much better with a spoof. compared to last week this episode wasn't all that good but it wasn't a total failure. i still enjoyed it (despite the occasional boy band pop music).
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7-22-2008 @ 12:38PM
Nathaniel said...
I didn't think this episode was that sub-par, just maybe a tiny bit. Also, Varsity Fanclub may be real, but they don't even have a Wikipedia entry and most of haven't heard of them... so how the heck did they get a part in the show? Until last night, I really, really thought that boy bands didn't exist any more...
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7-22-2008 @ 12:39PM
Dan said...
They've managed to include the "Wilhelm Scream" into every episode so far, I find that to be a hilarious running gag.
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7-22-2008 @ 1:56PM
ac said...
They were a real boyband?!?! I thought they were a parody of N-Sync.
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7-22-2008 @ 3:34PM
ChrisG said...
Yeah, that boyband was truly terrible, and the story wasn't the best, but only on "The Middleman" will you find references to "The Hitchhiker's Guide..." AND "Howard the Duck" in the same episode; that's one of the reasons why I like this show so much...;-)
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7-22-2008 @ 6:13PM
Toby OB said...
I also liked that the college was Henry Jones University. Nice to see the legacy of the TV Indiana Jones lives on!
7-22-2008 @ 4:02PM
clgbutterfly said...
Putting aside the fact that they are a real boy band and my Fourteen year old thought they sucked. Is everyone ignoring the fact that Wendy was making fun of them the entire time. They were jabbing at the same thing they were trying to sell. I think they were trying to use a bit of satire in the fact that a real boy band was willing to make fun of itself, but this group is so raw and ridiculious that it failed. If the band had been N'Sync or such and they made fun of themselves (i.e. Tiffany in a Robyn Sparkles video...or was it Debbie...) or a completely fictional band then it would have been funnier. I was personally happy they were vaporized at the end. As a seller's point of view ABC is owned by Disney who are constantly trying to churn out pop stars, so I don't put it past them slipping singers or promos into any show.
In other sections I like the clean-up droid and MM's contrasting personality is so deliciously enticing that I want more.
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7-22-2008 @ 4:04PM
clgbutterfly said...
Well said Chris G. I also really enjoy the name game and sci-fi reference they are always slipping in.
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7-22-2008 @ 7:45PM
nattyff said...
WTF!!! the band was real!!!! LOL, you got to be joking...
I thought that the episode was really fun, plus i really thought that Ida was a gonner!!! so that keept me worried all the show... overall a fine episode in my book.
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7-22-2008 @ 7:46PM
nattyff said...
WTF!!! the band was real!!!! LOL, you got to be joking...
I thought that the episode was really fun, plus i really thought that Ida was a gonner!!! so that keept me worried all the show... overall a fine episode in my book.
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7-22-2008 @ 7:47PM
nattyff said...
WTF!!! the band was real!!!! LOL, you got to be joking...
I thought that the episode was really fun, plus i really thought that Ida was a gonner!!! so that keept me worried all the show... overall a fine episode in my book.
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7-22-2008 @ 7:53PM
nickmagoo said...
Another Indy Jones bit - Natalie's fake name is Ravenwood. Good stuff, bad stuff, but overall decent fun. I think there wasn't much boy band bashing because, well, Disney is trying to make $$$$ from VFC.
Nothing like snarky older women (speaking of which, RIP Estelle Getty) and foul mouthed chilren to make me laugh. All the bleeping on the girl was very funny.
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7-22-2008 @ 8:46PM
mj said...
Ravenwood is also from Jericho..the bad guys...
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