The Middle S8E17 Review

This week, we get the return of Axl's ex-girlfriend. Which one? All of them! You'd think this was like a special number episode (it's episode 185, if you're wondering) These guest appearances makes this almost certain to be an entertaining episode.


S8E17 "Exes and Ohhhs"

The episode picks up right where the last one left off, with Axl running into Devin. Things get more awkward as Cassidy shows up, Lexi sees Axl, and Weird Ashley shows up. Weird Ashley was hilarious, especially with her explanation of why she cut her hair. Hutch tells Axl that these girls showing up is a sign from the universe, so Axl talks to Devin and Cassidy each about what went wrong with their relationships. Weird Ashley then shows up, knowing that it's her turn, which is pretty funny.

Axl breaks up with April, which I found surprising based on Frankie's narration from the season 7 finale, about her being the love of his life. It's funny when they got stuck together when Sue began driving the Winnebago. I loved the return of Weird Ashley this week, though I wish that there was more for her to do, and Devin and Cassidy's appearances were good reminders of Axl's past relationships.

Brick comes home with a bunch of books, explaining that a wing of the library was shutting down, and books were being sold to keep the other wing open. It was pretty funny when Frankie and Mike were excited about the restaurant replacing the wing of the library.

Looking through old newspapers, Brick discovers that Frankie was arrested in high school for streaking. This leads to a discussion about pranks Frankie and Mike did while in high school, and a funny joke about Brick and his friends being nerds. Brick informs his parents of a prank he had planned, which was pretty funny, and then they join him for one, which is a very Brick sort of thing to happen.

Sean Donahue shows up to take Sue to the dance, as he has done before, and like before Sue informs him that she already has a date. On her way to the dance, Sue's date tells her that she should go after Sean. So, Sue takes the Winnebago, and her refusal to stop is very funny. She ends up being too late, but that leads to a sweet ending where Axl goes to the dance with Sue.


This episode had some great callbacks to moments in The Middle's history, and advanced some stories in the relationships of Axl and Sue. Still, Axl's story felt lacking in some way, and Brick's didn't really have a clear direction to it for a little while.

Score: 7.5/10

What did you think of "Exes and Ohhhs"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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