The Middleman: The Accidental Occidental Conception
By Lisa Fary
OK, it’s official. I love The Middleman. This is so much better than Kyle XY.
Everything I had a problem with in the pilot seems to have been tweaked in the second episode: Matt Keeslar is far more natural and convincing as the Middleman, the Gilmore Girls beat works instead of being forced and stuttery, and the background characters are are quirky and memorable.
Plus, the idea of the underworld as a muzak spewing office building with a concierge is just funny to me.
Matt Keeslar really turned up his performance in this episode. After talking to him in the Q&A conference call last week, I kinda want The Middleman to succeed for his sake. The guy sounded so tired, so nervous, and so hopeful that the show would do well. This is his first television series, not only as a regular, but as the lead actor. On this subject, Keeslar said,
I have an opportunity, a very rare opportunity for me, to be able to say this is the way that I want to work. I want to be somebody who is very professional and comes to work prepared everyday, and is ready to go when they ask me to go, and all of the things that I’ve always wanted to bring to a working environment and a set that I haven’t been able to in the past, just because of the small parts that I’ve played.
This week, the Middleman and Wendy deal with a Chinese terra cotta warrior which is imported to a Chinese restaurant and brought to life for the purpose of bringing the heir to the Qin empire to the underworld in order to unleash a firestorm on Earth.
A firestorm on Earth doesn’t sound much worse than a typical summer day to a Tucson lizard person such as myself (it got up to 117 degrees in midtown the other day - so glad to be moving to Philly next week), but for the rest of the world, it might be a problem.
Insert a succubus fashion designer who happens to know the pathway to the underworld, Wendy’s roommate, Lacey, getting arrested for protesting naked at a sushi bar (mercury in fish kills), and a smart ass kid who thinks Robin the Boy Wonder sucks (he kinda does), and you’ve got yourself a funny summer show.
If you haven’t already seen The Middleman on ABC Family, give it a shot. I think this is going to be really good.
Next week: Luchadores!
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Lisa Fary’s early exposure to classic Battlestar Galactica in 1979 is largely responsible for her lifelong interest in science fiction and her childhood ambition of being an intergalactic space cowgirl. She thinks diagramming sentences is a fun alternative to Sudoku.
June 24th, 2008 at 9:15 am
So far this show is alot of fun to watch. Last night I counted three “Dune” references
(Matt Keesler introducing himself and Wendy as Dr’s Rabban and Kynes, and then having a
Frank Herbert Junior High, plus the fact that Matt Keesler was in the SciFi channel
“Dune” miniseries.) It is little things like that which tell me the writers are fangeeks
like their viewers and will really try to create the kind of show we want to see.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I was lukewarm about the first episode, but the second got me good. In addition to everything Lisa and Melissa found in it, I adored the subtitled translations of the terracotta warrior’s chant in the underworld. Especially where he said he was scared of water! And the “sometimes when mom goes to China on business, she gets lonely” thing was hysterical. Lots to love in this ep; looking forward to next week!
June 25th, 2008 at 6:23 am
[...] Pink Ray Gun (Still love that name!) is in lurrrve with “The Accidental Occidental Conception!” [...]
June 25th, 2008 at 10:02 am
I was very happy to see the show improve so much so soon. Honestly, I groaned a lot during the pilot rough cut and muttered, “This show is going to tank,” a few times. But there was enough there that I wanted to like it. Now that the set up is done, The Middleman can just go balls out bizarre!