Character Analysis
Stuck in the Middle
What do you do when you're caught between your mother and your wife? Freak out, according to Cousin Tommy. He's clearly finding it hard to keep the peace between the two women in his life, switching his alliances as often as Virginia is changing their infant son's diapers.
Though he's asked his aunt to take in his mom for the sake of the happiness of all involved, he continues to be conflicted about it and takes out his guilt on his wife.
So is it any surprise that he tells Marty not to get tied down, by a butcher shop or by a woman?
TOMMY: What do you want to buy a shop for, will you tell me? You gotta good job, you got no wife, you got no responsibilities. Boy, I wish I was you, boy.
His family responsibilities weigh heavy, and as the only married man in the cast, he's caught between the woman who mothered him and the one who mothers his son.
It's worth pointing out that Tommy lives in a universe of binaries, where women are either young mothers or old mothers, and you're either married and unhappy or single and joyous. This doesn't really serve Tommy well, and we get the feeling it won't serve Marty (or anyone else), either.