The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome
Series = The Middleman
Season = 1
Episode = 12
Airdate = September 1, 2008
Writer = Jordan Rosenberg
Previous = The Clotharian Contamination Protocol
Episode list = List of The Middleman episodes

"The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome" is an episode of "The Middleman". It is the final episode of the first season.

Overview: Wendy is transported to a bleak alternate universe where she finds atypical versions of Noser, Lacey and the Middleman. She seeks help from them as she tries to find a way out of the strange place.

Plot

When The Middleman and Wendy investigate a series of strange thefts, a supervillain named The Palindrome opens a portal that sucks Wendy to a bleak alternate universe, run by the ironfisted Fatboy Industries.

Pop Culture References

* This episode makes references to Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.. The alternate universe version of the Middleman bears striking resemblance to the main character Snake Plissken from those movies, appearing with an eye patch, long hair and facial hair. There's a reference to "1997 Plissken Drive" (the original movie was set in 1997).
* There are also references to an episode from the original Star Trek series, Mirror, Mirror (Star Trek), where Enterprise crew members are accidentally transported to a brutal mirror universe. The Fatboy Industries emblem with a dagger through it resembles the Terran Empire symbol with a sword through the Earth. The villain leaves clues written on small mirrors. There's even explicit mention of Star Trek, as the series from the sixties starring "the great George Takei".
* When Wendy is in trouble and the alternate universe version of Pip drives by to rescue her, he yells "Come with me if you want to live!", a recurring line from the Terminator franchise.
* The stolen dolls' eyes are made of fictional substance "polydichloric euthimal", originally featured in the movie Outland as an hallucinogen, and later as an explosive in .
* Besides polydichloric euthimal, the device used to open the inter-universal portal uses a beryllium sphere (a refence to both The Shadow and Galaxy Quest) and an oscillation overthruster (a reference to The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension).
* Also, a reference to Elle Driver from Quentin Tarintino's Kill Bill is made when the alternate Middleman explains the origin of his eypatch; it was was snatched out by Sensei Ping.

Production Notes

* The prop used for the Phased Polaron Cannon is the same prop used for the Freeze Ray in "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"

External Links

[http://www.tv.com/the-middleman/the-palindrome-reversal-palindrome/episode/1216223/summary.html Episode Summary at TV.com]