Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales,) a sarcastic (and struggling) artist finds herself recruited into the O2STK (Organization 2 Secret To Know) after being rescued by the organizations top (and only) agent – The Middleman (Matt Keeslar.)

CRITIQUE

I caught the pilot of The Middleman when it first aired on ABC Family, and I knew instantly that I wouldn’t last long.  The Middleman is an original and quirky little comedy – like a cross between Men in Black and ‘60s spy fiction - and quirky comedies of this sort doesn’t usually last very long on network TV.  This is a show made by geeks for geeks who can easily “get” the comic book style and cheesy humor.  And with some of the more risqué humor, I had to wonder why ABC Family choose to carry this show at all, when it’s most obvious home would be on SciFi (I’m sorry, SyFy.)

The twelve episodes of The Middleman follow Wendy Watson as she is plucked out of her boring existence and told that the overly convoluted world of the comic book is far more accurate than one would believe - there really are mad scientists, aliens, and things that go bump in the night, and they all have ridiculously over-elaborate schemes that ultimately have little pay off.  Wendy’s boss and partner is The Middleman, a far-too-good-to-be-true ex-Marine who drinks milk and refuses to swear (because it cheapens the soul.)  Together the two handle all sorts of “exotic” problems including vampire puppets, fish eating zombies, and even intergalactic freedom fighters who attempt to kill exiled dictators disguised as a popular boy band.  Like I said, quirky.

Science fiction fans will love this series - it’s made specifically for them. However, others might find the style of humor a little off-putting at first, but as the series goes on, everything falls into place nicely.  The cast is fun and able to pull off some of the silliest dialogue imaginable without looking silly themselves.

THE VIDEO

The Middleman is presented in anamorphic widescreen and features a very good transfer.  The colors are well balanced and the black levels are consistent throughout.  There are no digital flaws at any point in the show.

THE AUDIO

The Middleman is presented in 5.1 surround and sound decent.  The show never really makes full use of the surround (as it is very dialogue driven) but overall it isn’t bad. The dialogue is never lost under the sound effects or music.

THE EXTRAS

Commentary by Show Creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach and various members of the cast and crew: Javier Grillo-Marxuach comments on 4 episodes – “The Pilot Episode Sanction,” “The Cursed Tuba Contingency,” “The Clotharian Contamination Protocol,” and “The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome” and is joined by the cast as well as the writing staff. The commentaries are, generally, good with some interesting information presented.

Alternate Scenes: Two alternate sequences from the show, nothing too remarkable.

Web Featurettes: 4 online featurettes that introduce a new viewer to the world of The Middleman.

Weekly Javicasts: A series of video podcasts featuring Javier Grillo-Marxuach who answers viewer mail.

The ABC Family Middleman-ager: An “executive” introduces a clip from an upcoming episode of Middleman. Not really interesting.

Gag Reel: The actors struggling to say Javi’s really complex dialogue.

Casting Sessions: A nice look at the audition tapes for 4 members of the cast.

The Wilhelm Scream: A nice description of the origin of the famous scream and a montage of its use in each episode.

The Evolution of the Opening Title Sequence: From animatic, to original opening sequence, to final version.

PSAs: A series of fake PSAs to promote the show.

“The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome” table read: The entire table read of the “Palindrome” script. It’s an interesting look at how a show evolves from the original script to final product.

“Scream Ur Luv 4 Me” music video: The video for the Varsity Fanclub song, as featured in episode 6.

FINAL THOUGHT

The Middleman is wonderfully funny and geeky show. Any fan of the SciFi genre should own a copy of this show.