The Last Episode of "The Middle"

Okay, it's been a week since the one-hour series finale of "The Middle" aired, so I'm going to go right ahead and spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't seen it yet . . . because if you haven't seen it by now, you're not going to.

Axl did in fact move to Denver for a new job, and the Heck family drove him there from their hometown of Orson, Indiana . . . but before they could even reach the Mississippi River, Sean Donahue - originally on his way to Africa for the summer as a medical volunteer - dropped everything and caught up with them once he found Sue's snow globe present and realized she was in love with him as much as he was in love with her.  The moment of Sue and Sean coming together that no one saw coming or imagine would happen did, in fact come . . . and it happened. :-)   On a rural highway in the middle of nowhere.

Too bad the snow globe broke. 

But the bigger surprise was that Frankie's voice-overs from throughout the series had taken place looking back from some time around 2030 or so, because we learn what happened to the Heck children after - long after - 2018.  Sue and Sean married after two breakups, Brick became a bestselling children's author, and Axl eventually returned to Orson and had three sons that were more like miniature Axls than the three Douglas brothers.  And Mike and Frankie - well, their lives pretty much stayed the same. They never got any of their appliances fixed.  But the Heck family - for all of their dysfunction - stayed together in spirit as much as in the flesh, and when all was said and done, they still love each other.

Except that they have a funny way of showing it. :-D

This was easily the best series finale in a quarter century.  You have to go back to the last episode of "Cheers" to find something as classy and as satisfying.  And Frances Heck is the luckiest mom on earth. :-)