TVSquad

There was something refreshingly pedestrian about last night's episode of The Middle. It wasn't about abundance and excess, because as a middle-class situation comedy, the current economic state doesn't reflect having plenty and living beyond your means. Frankie and Mike are doing their best to get by. But they're not bitching about it. That's part of the reason why I'm enjoying this show so much. Like me, Jason also liked this episode quite a bit.

Frankie had to work on Thanksgiving, that's true, and she did protest about that, but not the fact that the family has to plot out their Black Friday shopping at the mall to get every bargain imaginable. They don't complain about being strapped. They accept that they have to cut coupons and be thrifty.

Like the remnant carpet for the bedroom as an anniversary gift, The Hecks are accepting of their middle class.

Another Thanksgiving tradition was evoked by The Middle, but with their unique and more realistic twist. Frankie is not a great cook. Her pies are from the freezer case at the grocery store. The cranberry sauce comes out of a can. So do the peas. The mashed potatoes are instant. And instead of complaining, her family loved her Thanksgiving spread. Every house does Thanksgiving differently, and many do not look like a Norman Rockwell painting.

Then, there was what I guess is a midwest tradition -- the corn maze. I grew up in New York and never heard of it, but the idea sounded like a seasonal bit of fun. Axl was forced to take Brick and while flirting with a girl, Axl lost his little brother. Hey, it happens. It could have been at the mall or a state fair, but the corn maze was so Indiana that it just felt like something that may have actually happened to one of the writers. And Axl's reaction when he found Brick was wonderful; he hugged his little brother and told him he loved him... and he kept on saying it, although he didn't want anyone else to hear.

As a holiday episode, it also had a quirky end. Yes, the family banded together to make the dinner while Frankie was stuck at work. But she was so plastered by the shots she had been forced to share with Mr. Elhert, her boss, that she spent the night passed out over the commode. In her foggy recollection, the family reported a successful trip to the mall for the early morning sales and she remained prone on the tile, blissfully happy for them and still hungover. Happy Turkey Day!

For me, this was an instant classic. Make that an instant mashed potato classic.