Sep 2, 2008 05:43 PM
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Tue Feb 9
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This is so not fair. Not only did The Middleman season one end on a new high note with last night's bizarre alternate universe story — making us feel clawing hostility at the thought that it could be the last ever episode — but it also left way, way too many loose ends laying around. Loose ends that may never be tied into tidy bows of resolution. We enumerate the loose ends, and praise last night's Middleman along the way.
What's The Middleman's real name? I was promised we'd learn this, at Comic-Con. Matt Keeslar promised me to my face! Did we learn it and I just missed it somehow? Was this an example of the actor not having the same degree of steadfast honesty as the character he plays? Or was it in the 13th episode of the season, sacrificed to bolster the budget for this one?
What happened to Wendy's dad? We get an answer to this in the graphic novel, but it's not one I was very happy with. I was hoping for a way better answer in the TV show, which has improved in many ways on volume three of the graphic novel. (But you should still pick up the omnibus graphic novel anyway, because it rules and has lots of extra stuff you didn't see on TV.)
What is Barbara Thornfield M.D. PhD's superpower? We know she has one. It's just going to be nagging mystery.
When will Wendy figure out that Manservant Neville is evil? It was strongly hinted last night, since the mirror-universe Neville is a would-be liberator who wants to save everyone and go green. It just makes sense that his counterpart in our universe is evil to the core. (Plus, he acts evil. Plus, he's evil in the graphic novel.) Why don't we get to see the final confrontation between them?
How long will it take Manservant Neville to turn Tyler the glib boyfriend evil? I'm guessing that would have happened next week, if there was a next week. That tennis bracelet thing was so setting up the inevitable turn to evil. In fact, the bracelet itself probably has mind-controlling properties. And evil lasers. (I loved that line about dating Matt Damon from the Bourne Identity, and suddenly having him turn into Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd.)
How did the Middleman become such a straight-edger? This is definitely something we were promised for next week's episode, if it still existed. Maybe the staff could act out that episode with finger puppets?
When will Lacey find out what Wendy really does? It seems really unfair and maybe a bit unrealistic that Lacey hasn't already learned the truth. Especially after all the speeches in the latest episode. And if Lacey's fit to be the Middleman's alternate-universe sidekick, then she's definitely fit to be part of the Middle-team in this universe.
Who is the other woman the Middleman loves? Is she still in the picture somewhere?
Actually, forget the other woman. When will the Middleman and Lacey get together? They're legally married. It's the law. By not being together, they're actually being lawbreakers.
When will the two Idas team up and fight pan-dimensional crime? I know that alternate-universe tanning-booth Ida transformed herself into a duplicate of our universe's at the end of this episode. (And did that make sense to anybody? I didn't quite get it.) But the two versions could still team up and travel the multiverse, stopping anti-robot crimes and stuff.
There are other things, but those are the main ones that come to mind right this moment. I'm not particularly eager to learn the backstory of O2STK or anything, since a little mystery is a good thing. But last night's episode definitely did leave me wanting more. I'm not sure any of the shows starting up in the next few weeks are going to compensate for not seeing any more insanely funny and awesome stuff like last night's virtuous alternate Pip and competent alternate Joe90.
I watched last night's episode with a friend who'd never seen The Middleman before, and I'm pretty sure the mix of clever Star Trek and Escape From New York jokes got him hooked, or maybe it was the razor-sharp dialogue like, "I am the Palindrome, feel my power my feel Palindrome the am I!" Anyway, let's hope ABC Family (or someone else) sees reason and gives us a second season of this show. And a third. And a fourth.
Send an email to Charlie Jane Anders, the author of this post, at charliejane@io9.com.
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