The Mick Review: The New Girl (Season 1 Episode 11)

The Mick has given us two episodes in a row that don’t totally rehash the plot of the show.

The Mick Season 1 Episode 10, “The Baggage” and Episode 11 “The New Girl” both finally moved on from explaining the premise and let the characters mix in new and funny combinations.

More importantly, “The New Girl” tackled some really serious issues.

When Mickey pulls Ben out of school after he gets in trouble for peeing on the bus and wearing high heels to school, Mickey’s best choice is to enroll him in an all-girls school. At the same time, Chip and Sabrina are confronted by the idea that they are privileged and sheltered from anyone who is different than they are.

Chip laments about how difficult it is to be a white male. And Sabrina, who feels she understands the plight of diverse people because she is female, can’t name one non-white friend – except for Alba – but she can’t even remember her last name.

The older kids start hanging out with Alba since, according to Mickey, she is a “rich fountain of culture.” What everyone fails to take into account is that Alba is American – her culture is American – and she would rather go sing karaoke at some greasy diner than recite facts to her charges that she reads from Guatemala’s Wikipedia page.

Meanwhile, Ben is now Beth. Mickey is passing him off as transgender so that he can attend the all-girls school directly across the street.

The writers of The Mick really nailed the timeliness of this plotline – having a parent complaint that he doesn’t feel safe having his daughter share a bathroom with a little boy.

Mickey goes above and beyond to find a way to keep Ben in the school. It’s mostly because she’s too lazy to drive to the public school and too proud to go back to the principal that kicked him out.

But she definitely proves herself when she finally hears from Ben that he wants to go back to his old school and he doesn’t want to have to give up wearing dresses.

Once she understands that her nephew is gender fluid, she’s as supportive as she can be. She swallows her pride and brings him back to his old school and makes sure he can wear whatever he wants.

Stray Observations

• Take note Sabrina – Alba’s last name is Maldanado
• Ben: I’m a Transformer!
• Chip: When exactly do my people get their justice?
  Sabrina: For the last 5,000 years.
• FYI: Fred Sainz, a spokesman for the HRC told USA Today that Q can mean either ‘questioning’ or ‘queer,’
• Mickey: Have you met the other two Pemberton kids you’ve educated? This place has just about ruined them. You’re running a crap factory here, pal.  Just churning out crap.
• Mickey: You’re an educator. Educate yourself.

What did you think of this episode of The Mick? I’m currently trying to find a good daycare, should I be worried about dangerous birds?

Does Mickey owe the entire LGBTQ community an apology? Can you think of anything that would be worse for Ben than being home schooled by Mickey?

Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Mick airs Tuesdays at 8:30/7:30c on FOX.

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