The Mick Review: The Matriarch (Season 2 Episode 6)

On The Mick Season 2 Episode 5, “The Matriarch,” the gang is back to their normal shenanigans… without the awkwardness of last week.

Last week I wrote about how uncomfortable the school shooting incident made me feel. This week someone gets blown up, but I’m not upset about it.

It’s hard to explain, but the violence in “The Matriarch” is back to the slapstick hilarity we’re used to.

I guess it’s that it doesn’t feel like real life.

Yes, that’s exactly it. The Mick is back to being just unrealistic enough to let us really laugh at it without feeling bad about it. Last week pierced the veil by hitting too close to home. This week doesn’t go anywhere near that.

I’m so relieved.

I wouldn’t say that this episode is particularly funny in relation to other episode this season, but it’s still got some gold in it.

For one, Ben still steals the show without even really being in it. We barely see Ben and Alba stuck in the maze, but just knowing they are there while everything else is happening is funny enough.

Also, Alba deciding she’s had enough with following the path and shouting “I will not be a slave to plants!” is maybe my favorite moment on the show so far.

But I’ve jumped ahead (you know I’m obsessed with Ben). This week’s episode serves to advance the plot by getting the gang a new house.

As usual, something that could have been an afterthought for the show is an entire episode of comedy. Any other show, when it started getting problematic for the script that the characters still live in a burned down mansion, would quickly have some long lost relative just die and leave them a new house.

Essentially, that’s what happens on The Mick. But in a way better way than I could have ever hoped for.

Kaitlin Olsen shines in this episode. Her interactions with Rita allow the best part of Mickey (her shameless pursuit of someone else’s money/stuff) and the best part of Olsen (her commitment to physical comedy) to come together in an fabulous way. Mickey sells it as Helen and I love it.

Similarly, Chip annoys me less as Helen’s son who survived a brain injury. I thought Chip was already doing whatever he wants. This takes it to another level that somehow makes him less ridiculous instead of more.

Being back in the lap of luxury is bringing back the old Sabrina as well. For a second she was going soft on us, but now she’s back to bossing around the help.

It seems that, in a lot of ways, The Mick has come full circle. The gang is back in a mansion and the kids are back to their bratty rich-kid ways. The addition of the General, however, should add something new.

I should be worried that this development might make the show stale, but I think The Mick has proven itself enough times for me to believe in it.

I’m looking forward to what comes next.

As Mickey put it, “This is the life I should be living for babysitting you kids.”

Or, as Chip put it, “This is the life we were living before you showed up.”

 

What did you think of this episode of The Mick? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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The Mick airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Fox.

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