The Middleman Points The Way to the Future

What if the fevered imaginations of pulp comic book artists jumped the border into the real world and took up residence there as a community of intelligent apes, alien boy bands and unscrupulous energy drink marketers?  And what if they made a television show based on that premise that also happened to be the only network program that handles the reality of a multicultural America with some measure of maturity? You probably never thought to ask.  ABC Family’s series The Middleman has answered that question so you don’t have to.

Back in 1997, Javier Grillo-Marxuach (“Lost”) dreamed up a bizarre sugar-laden breakfast cereal of a comic about a freelance “solver of exotic problems” known only as The Middleman.  Described by Grillo-Marxauch as the ultimate “Dirk Squarejaw” type of hero, the Middleman fights evil with his sidekick Wendy Watson, a former temp worker who turns out to be a dab hand at stabbing monsters.

Now it’s two-thousand-freaking-eight (it’s the future, people!) and The Middleman has jumped from comic book to television show.  The series performs a nearly impossible juggling act, spinning out the most absurd plotlines (eg. flying fish that turn people into trout-craving zombies) while giving us engaging, even  moving, character-driven drama.  It’s hard to care about someone’s hopes and dreams when they’re punching an atrociously CGIed fish in the face, but The Middleman pulls it off it with smart writing and a careful balance between the serious and the silly.

Also the main characters, played by Natalie Morales and Matt Keeslar, are ridiculously good-looking people:

See? Jerks.

Despite the cartoonish sci-fi bells and whistles, one of the most refreshing aspects of the show is the frank and unaffected way that it deals with Wendy Watson’s Latina identity.  As Morales herself said in an interview, "I like the fact that they wanted a Latina for the girl, and that I didn't have to play the stereotypical smoking hot Latina. Wendy is a regular girl, like a lot of my friends."

Allow me to generalize when I say that American television takes one of two roads to the kingdom of ethnicity.  Minorities and marginal groups are often portrayed as sealed-off communities, threatening or sympathetic to the outside world.  Otherwise, characters with a tint to the skin are programmed in to a multiethnic cast as part of a demographic net to trap all possible viewers.  The Middleman, brave portager that it is, integrates it neatly and without comment into Wendy's character.  She speaks Spanish on the phone with her mother, makes a passing reference to her “botched quinceanera” and cracks jokes about Cuban supervillains (not Castro, in case you were wondering).

The bottom line is that there will never be a Very Special Episode in which we’re taught that Latino/as are people too, nor will we get a CSI-style scenario in which Wendy needs to deal with Latino criminals from her past who peel off hoary old lines like “Come on, you’re one of us”.  Most television programs give us a potted re-imagining of minority cultures, still tied down by what white people think of non-white people thinking of white people. The Middleman just shows it like it is, cranky robots and all.

Comments

[Suzy Q]

I thought I was the only one who watched this show. Love.

[Blackeyedgurl]

I LOVE THE MIDDLEMAN!!!

Can I just tell all of you how awesome this show is?? (also the creator did work with Joss on Buffy & Angel prior to Lost) Seriously, it is hilarious, and it pokes fun at itself (For example the apartment Wendi shares with her best friend is often referred to as "the Flat Wendi shares with her impossibly good looking roommate" or something to that effect).

This show is like Buffy with some Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies and Reaper mixed in for good measure. The cast is spot on, the Pop Culture References abound (PAN GALACTIC GARGLE BLASTER IS ALL I GOTS TO SAY!!).

I highly recommend this show, and am glad to see it getting some props here on Mamma Pop!

[palinode]

I think the apartment is referred to as "the illegal sublet that Wendy shares with another young, photogenic artist". I could go on about how much I like the non-Middleman aspects of the Middleman, with Wendy, Lacey, Noser and Pip, but I won't. Because I'm just that way.

Blackeyedgurl, you're spot-on with your parsing of Middleman. It's like Buffy mashed with Wonderfalls, Reaper and Pushing Daisies, then put on a stick and deep-fried in pure comic book lard.

[Nikki]

Clever, witty, fun and amusing, I love this show.