THE MICK Review: “The Snitch”

My main problem with THE MICK is that nothing is ever presented in a new or original way, you see every twist coming, and The Snitch is no different, even though I did have a few chuckles on the way to the obvious conclusion. As “The Snitch” opens, Chip is in the locker room with the lacrosse team bragging about his speed as the older boys brag about their inability to feel pain and also send a group sext of a girl in a shower with a unicorn tattoo. It’s refreshing to see Chip out of the house and at school; something normal kids his age attend–even it is super preppy. Even as the other guys get over the sext and get back to their locker room preparations, Chip is still checking out the sexy lady with a unicorn tattoo, supposedly sent by a graduated lacrosse player. Of course, Chip gets caught and the school wants him to tell who sent the sext and an honor committee will dole out the punishment. At home, Aunt Mickey advises Chip not to snitch via a lengthy analogy of a boy she once knew, while Sabrina says he should just reveal the kid’s name. It’s kind of nice to focus on the kids for a change, given that I don’t find Mickey to be that compelling of a lead character.

Meanwhile it turns out that Alba is a very bad driver—she has totaled two cars, one of them by crashing into a parked car and her delivery of her excuse was one of a few chuckles that I had during the episode—the other car was “parked like a maniac,” a kind of throwaway line usually associated with better comedy than The Mick. This is the subplot of “The Snitch,” when Alba cuts off another driver and he keys the family Rolls Royce, the little kid sees it and so she spend the rest of the episode trying to cajole the information out of him, even going so far as to deny him his asthma inhaler. Denying an asthmatic their lifesaving device is not even a little bit funny when you’ve watched a kid die in front of you, but The Mick will do anything for a cheap laugh. It’s also not funny when Alba has the kid blow up the car in order to hide the evidence—just another irritating display of adult irresponsibility, rather than anything clever or subversive. Although it is nice that Alba tells the kid that it’s okay to snitch in some cases.

In an effort to make sure that Chip doesn’t reveal who sent the sext, the older jocks buddy up to Chip, inviting him to a party meant for upperclassmen, giving him the nickname “Beaver Dog,” etc. Sabrina is at the party and once again tries to warn Chip that the jocks are just being friends with him to protect themselves and he might as well give it up. The jocks say that his “sister needs a hug,” a common reaction to cranky characters on TV these days. But Chip is having too much fun feeling important and even complains about another kid that has been razzing him. This ensues in “monkey business,” a bizarre and humorous scene in which one of the jocks scares the bully in question into an apology by doing a freakishly good impression of a pet monkey. It’s a well-acted and unexpectedly clever scene in a show that usually takes the easy path—like the surprise ending that I’ve been expecting since the beginning of the show.

Mickey tries to interfere with the honor process at the school by showing up and harassing the principal, damaging his car and generally being annoying. She also shows up for the honor court, which she has prepped for by watching movies about prep schools. This results in a confusing and long-winded rant that could only happen in a sitcom—in any other venue, she’d be quickly shut up. Once she does shut up, Sabrina takes over the meeting, standing up and revealing her unicorn tattoo. This prompts Chip to realize the girl he’s been lusting over is actually his sister, ensuing in a lot of barf and a quick snitch. Given Sabrina’s penchant for crop tops in previous weeks, it seems like Chip is a little slow on the uptake because she’s not exactly keeping the unicorn on her side a secret, so he might have seen it before if it hadn’t been a carefully crafted script. But the show is going into obvious territory by introducing incest, which is so gross and yet has becoming disturbingly prevalent of shows from all genres as of late. Given that Sabrina caught him in a wet dream about the sext, she is equally disturbed and vomits in sympathy.

But the truly shocking part is that the kids drink milk at dinner, just like a 1950s sitcom—even though they are eating ribs. Milk is for cookies, not for meat. Mickey really has no taste.
Season 1, Episode 8 (S01E08)
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