It’s just another day on THE MICK as Mickey and Jimmy drop the kids off at school. It seems that Chip keeps track of his and Ben’s dental appointments in the midst of their parents leaving. Unlikely as it is that a kid remembers and looks forward to the dentist, it seems that Jimmy has very strong feelings about dental work and a litany of old-fashioned myths combined with nonsense ensues. More interesting is the revelation that ill-tempered Sabrina is being bullied. And an off-kilter lesson that really isn’t a lesson ensues as Mickey tries to help Sabrina in her own fight violence with violence sort of way.
The principal that has told Mickey to stay away reveals that Sabrina has become an outcast in her peer group and now the whole balance of the school is off. For some reason, Mickey and Alba think that Sabrina getting bullied will somehow mellow her out even though everyone knows that bullies are so mean cause they get bulled (ie abused kids lashing out at other kids at school). So after a day at school Sabrina comes home with more rude attitude and sarcastic remarks than usual and so Mickey decides to fight fire with fire and bully the bully.
But the bullying is actually cyberbully and Mickey is shocked to learn that means online bullying with a computer and that not just nerds use computers. Despite her bizarre conviction that computers are for nerds, as is the internet, Mickey somehow knows enough to steal Sabrina’s laptop and hack into her online account where she posts a bunch of mean stuff about the bullying, causing the bully to post Sabrina’s private journal online. Apparently Sabrina is better in person than on paper because although her words are harsh and biting, her journal is pretty immature and nonsensical. Which is weird because usually people are better on paper, where they have time to collect their thoughts and be clever. All the bullying is really taking a toll on Sabrina because although it seems as though no time has passed, apparently it’s been days and Sabrina is staying home from school in bed. So Mickey gets them all hyped up on energy drinks to confront the bully. Who turns out to be wheelchair bound so she changes her mind about bringing the feud into the real world. It’s up to poor maligned Alba to come up with an anti-bullying strategy. Sabrina doesn’t have to kill herself, she just has to threaten to do something crazy—like Britney’s famous head-shaving, umbrella-wielding moment. So as The Mick comes out against bullying, they also appear to have a strong misunderstanding of mental health issues. Which is not cool. Cause Britney’s back on track now and crazy doesn’t need to equate with pop star. But apparently there’s not a full consensus on what “pulling a Britney” entails as Sabrina thinks its shaving her own head and Mickey thinks its calling the cops for an involuntary psychiatric hold. Mickey wins, Sabrina is locked up and upon her release, her bully apologizes. I’m not sure if it gives kids at home any hope for winning their own bully wars, but at least it’s better than what happened to Jimmy.
After ranting against “big teeth” Jimmy opts for DIY dental work, which of course goes horribly wrong. He seeks professional hope and the dentist sensibly responds with pepper spray. So Jimmy heads to the barbershop where they just wonder if the bloody white guy has an appointment or not.
The episode is mildly amusing for its madcap antics but loses total humor for not really solving any problems and continually making the smart people out to be annoying while misrepresenting serious issues, like mental health, by playing into ancient and hackneyed clichés.
Season 1, Episode 13 (S01E13)
The Mick airs Tuesdays at 830PM on Fox
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Carly is a freelance writer that watches too much TV while she writes blogs and articles about lifestyle including travel, food, fashion, beauty, home decor, entertainment, health, fitness and wellness and green living.
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Carly Zinderman | Contributor
