The Middle

- Season 2

(2010)

Frankie plans to get ahead of the game with her children's school needs, but winds up failing miserably.

Frankie's dream of being Axl's escort for the homecoming football game is shattered when Sue's cross-country meet is scheduled for the same day. Meanwhile, Brick attempts to rake the leaves in the backyard.

Frankie is worried that she is getting old after she throws out her back, Sue has a crush on Axl's friend who is working on a school "project" at the house, and Brick becomes wise to Frankie's lies.

When Axl is suspended for skipping school, Mike decides it's time to teach his son a lesson about life and makes him go to work with him at the quarry. But Mike's master plan backfires when Axl likes the job so much that he wants to quit school and lead the life of a quarryman. Meanwhile, Frankie is devastated when she fears that she accidentally prayed away Sue's cross-country team after it's cut by the school; and while practicing a magic trick, Brick makes the main TV remote disappear - and can't figure out how to make it reappear.

Frustrated with being forced to bribe the kids to get along, Frankie convinces the family to host a foreign exchange student to improve the situation. However, the student shows no interest in anything either.

Mike reluctantly agrees to go to a Halloween party with Frankie, but won't dress up. Meanwhile, Axl has a plan to pick up some girls, Sue parties with Reverend TimTom and the youth group, and Brick has an unusual costume.

Brick finally learns the embarrassing story about how the day he was born, and Axl picks up the slack for his incompetent but beautiful new boss at the movie theater.

Brick asks to stay home instead of running errands with mom on Saturday, Mike gets upset when one of Sue's so-called "friends" doesn't invite her to a sleepover, and Axl tries in vain to grow a beard with the football team.

When Frankie finds out her mother isn't coming for Thanksgiving, she encourages Mike to invite his emotionally distant father and brother. At dinner, Bob's new librarian girlfriend shows more interest in Brick's book collection than Bob.

Mike and Frankie's plan for a simple Christmas are dashed when Frankie's parents show up and stay for 12 days, spoiling the children and never giving Mike a minute of freedom.

After they discover that they are treated like second-class citizens in their own home, Mike and Frankie decide to take control of the house away from the kids.

Mike stops talking to Frankie and Frankie takes a second job after she makes an accidental $200 purchase. Meanwhile, Axl tries to take care of a "baby" for a class project, and Brick and Sue try to fix a hole in the wall.

Mike encourages Brick to take an interest in football right before the Super Bowl, Sue and Brad enter a square dancing competition, and Mr. Ehlert invites Frankie to a "management seminar," which turns out to be his colonoscopy.

Mike helps Brick with his Valentine's crush at school, Frankie is flattered when Axl asks for help getting a gift for his new scary girlfriend, and Sue tries to find the boy who kissed her on Halloween night.

Fearing that a friendless Brick could be missing out on his childhood, Frankie makes it her mission to find a suitable friend for him. Meanwhile, after Mike forbids Sue from seeing an R-rated film, she goes against her father's wishes and sneaks into a movie theater with her friend, Carly; and Axl and his band need a hot chick to appear in their online music video and try to shoot footage of their sexy biology teacher, Ms. Devereaux - without her knowledge or consent.

After Sue wins a family trip to New York, Murphy's Law goes into full effect and it's anything but a smooth flight, when the Hecks board a plane and fly to the Big Apple.

Frankie wages war on Ms. Rinsky after Brick receives a D in math, and Axl and Sue help Aunt Edie search for her lost time capsule.

The Hecks try to clean out their house during Spring Break, but uncover a lot more than junk. Meanwhile, Brick takes advantage of the situation to make some money.

After receiving multiple warnings about leaving his dirty, smelly socks lying around the house, Mike has finally had enough and punishes Axl by forbidding him to play in the final school basketball game of the season. But everyone assumes that Mike is being petty when they discover that Axl could end up beating his father's record for most free throws landed in a season if he does play in the game. Meanwhile, Sue is ecstatic - but Frankie and Mike are suspicious -- when she wins an MVP trophy for cross-country, and Brick is humiliated when he's forced to wear ...

Frankie buys a plasma screen TV to watch the Royal Wedding but plans to return it the next day, Sue tries out to be a lunchtime news anchor, and Mike's employees at the quarry try to revolt after he stops buying pretzels.

Mike decides to give Frankie the gift of having the day to herself without any family for Mother's Day, but they day is disastrous. However, the "do-over" the following week turns out to be even worse.

The Hecks bring in reverend TimTom to convince Axl to take his accidental date to prom, Brick begins writing plays with his new friend, and Sue and her friend try to get a seat at the "B Table" at lunch at their middle school.

Mike and Frankie try to help Brick overcome his fear of a covered bridge, Frankie tries to help Sue find a two-piece swimsuit, and Axl tries to get a lifeguard job.

With only three days left until summer vacation, Frankie is ecstatic that she's made it through another school year with the family. But her happiness turns to panic when she and Mike learn that Brick needs to write a daily journal and turn it in to Ms. Rinsky or risk not moving up to the fourth grade; that Axl hasn't fulfilled his required 30 days of community service; and that, because of an error, Sue must prove that she never took a sick day from school in order to receive a perfect attendance award at her middle school graduation ceremony.