THE MICK Review: “The Mess”

First off, beyond the somehow old-fashioned obsession with an ant farm, Jimmy is back on THE MICK, once again without an explanation for his previous absence and reappearance. He’s totally like a third child from a 90s sitcom, it’s only time before he’s phased out entirely. Which would be kind of sad because in a pathetic way, he tends to be a voice of questionable reason. Plot wise, its kind of another of those odd jumps in time. Although last week it seemed like the unconventional family dynamic was well in place, this week we’re back to the power struggle between Mickey and the kids. The house is a mess, with burritos on the floor and beer bottles all over the place. There’s also a new kid who acts like he’s there a lot and says we’ve met a bunch of times. It’s a cute gag, but it’d be funnier if he really had been there a bunch of time because he’s new to us and new to Mickey.

In the midst of all the junk and chaos it appears that in the giant house, there is only one television and no screening room, which means that Mickey has to fight to see the sports game she recorded earlier and boot Chip and his new BFF from playing video games. Meanwhile Sabrina’s bring the snark by insinuating that while she can get away with borrowing Mickey’s clothes and cutting them up, Mickey is somehow too large to fit into hers. But we’ve seen Mickey’s skinny frame enough to know that they could probably share just fine so the joke is more annoying because it’s not true rather than mean and edgy. With Chip and Sabrina fighting against Mickey, it’s only sensible that Ben would get in on the action too, because monkey see, monkey do. And Alba says it’s the beginning of “the transformation,” when sweet little kids turn into snarky teenagers. I didn’t even realize it because everyone on the show is a snark, so it’s hard to tell that Ben was a sweet innocent. Nonetheless, apparently he is and the only way to keep him that way is to discipline him so that he knows right from wrong.

According to Mickey, punishment is not something she’s good at, so her first attempt goes terribly wrong as she ends up letting the kids stay home from school and escape to go to a house party she told them they’re not allowed to attend. The result is that the kids trick Mickey and Alba into thinking they’ve cleaned the house but they’ve really just shoved all the junk into Mickey’s room and then locked her in. Mickey escapes by jumping on Jimmy’s car, which pays homage to the pilot episode in which Jimmy hit Mickey with his car before driving off, but only nine episodes in is a little early to pay homage to yourself. Of course, Mickey is impervious to hit and runs and bounces back by showing up at the party, where she mutilates Jimmy’s hands while he’s playing a drinking game and overreacts by her inability to get the kids in line by publicly spanking Ben to the shock of everyone at the party, including Mickey. Side note, Alba should really smoke more pot because her voice is amazing—even with her unusual choice of song.

Back at home, Mickey expresses her remorse for laying hands on Ben but also expects an apology in return for their lack of obedience. She even tries to get Sabrina to understand her side. Sabrina eventually relents and then Mickey tricks them into going out to dinner but leaves them by the side of the road so that they have to walk home to think about how much they need her and have to follow her rules in order for their lives to work. It’s yet another reminder of their lack of supervision and while it may work as a tool to get them to obey, I don’t imagine that it’s really a good parenting tool because she broke their trust. Not sure if anyone in the writer’s room pointed that out. But how could they trust her to feed them ever again now that going out to dinner offers not French fries but a long walk?

I guess the kids are resilient and not into doing anything other than blind obedience because Ben gives her a hug and cleans the house when they get home the next morning, even though he was counting on fries for dinner. Just a note, it seemed like a good party because there was some actual funny stuff going on before Mickey came in and shut it down. Like anything with Chip and his buddy, from kissing to bathtubs, awkward humor that actually worked. Not like trying to tackle the challenges of parenting when you’re not a parent.

Season 1, Episode 9 (S01E09)
The Mick airs Tuesdays at 830PM on Fox

Read all of our reviews of The Mick here.  
Read our reviews of more of your favorite shows here.

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.
Follow Carly on Twitter: @CarlyZzee
Keep up with all of Carly’s reviews here.

Carly Zinderman | Contributor