The Middle

Frankie is struggling in her career as a car saleswoman because she has yet to sell one. She finally thinks that she has made her first sale, but the car is stolen right in front of her. Meanwhile, Sue becomes part of the school choir ... as part of the stage crew. Brick wants Frankie to come into school dressed as a superhero for a presentation, but doesn’t tell her the correct day.

Frankie finds herself at her wits’ end when her dryer breaks and she discovers that all the interest payments are due. So in a last-ditch effort to save her job and get some money, Frankie fills a car on the dealer’s lot with jelly beans as a publicity stunt, but this causes the doors to stick shut. Meanwhile, Sue fails to make the swim team and realizes that she needs glasses, Brick is forced to "socially interact" when a fine prevents him from checking out books at the library, and Axl is on the receiving end of one of Mike’s classic punishments.

The romantic anniversary getaway (consisting of a hotel room and a rug shopping expedition) that Frankie and Mike have planned for ages becomes unhinged when Brick gets sick; Sue has a crush and doesn’t know how to tell the boy; Axl gets his learner’s permit; and Frankie’s psychotic aunts (and their dog) require constant attention.

After Sue raises thousands of dollars for the school by selling sausage and cheese to earn a trip to Indianapolis, she is left off the list to go on the trip, Frankie demands her daughter fight for her rights to go on the trip (only to realize after Sue is on the bus that Frankie forgot to mail the order form, Sue is mad and finally finds a voice to stand up for her rights). Meanwhile, Brick gets a girlfriend, which becomes very stressful for him, so he enlists Axl’s advice to break up with her (while Axl is showering), but when that fails (and ends up earning Brick a marriage and a baby), he asks his dad to step in.

When the school counselor tells Frankie and Mike that Brick is "socially challenged", Mike sets about getting Brick some friends, but when his idea of basketball falls through, he discovers Brick has other talents, which may assist Mike in winning the Block Party lawnmower race. Meanwhile, Sue tries out for tennis ball girl, and Frankie becomes obsessed with getting Axl’s old football jersey, because all of his teammates have given their mothers theirs. Axl gives Sue the jersey since he felt sorry for her failing at yet another trial and reveals his softer side to Frankie’s joy.

Frankie is fed up with Axl’s attitude towards her and Mike, so, when he accidentally breaks down the front door, despite the fact that she has been nagging Mike to fix the door hinge for three months, she goes along with Mike to make Axl fix the door. Meanwhile, Frankie must sell a car within a week or she will be forced to wear a dog suit outside the car lot as a promotion, and Sue stresses over her school pictures, and decides to go for a retake, which in the end was a bad idea..

While scrambling to gather the garbage for trash day, Frankie accidentally hits Brick with a beer bottle. When Brick brags to a school hall monitor about his mark, Frankie and Mike must answer to the police, leading to a social worker monitoring the family. Things only go from bad to worse when it turns out the social worker was a spurned lover of Mike’s. Meanwhile, Mr. Ehlert wants Bob to shoot a new commercial for the car dealership.

Due to Frankie having to work, Mike not inviting his dad to Thanksgiving dinner, Axl trying to leave for snowboarding, and Brick wanting to visit a corn maze, Frankie cancels Thanksgiving. Mike and the kids try to pull Thanksgiving together for her. Sue has a boyfriend whom everyone but her thinks is gay.

Frankie sees the Donohues’ kids being nice together and becomes self conscious of her parenting skills. She tries to get them together for some "family fun" and other activities. Mike has to fire Aunt Edie as the quarry’s accountant after she makes a huge mistake with the checks. Meanwhile, the booster club chose Frankie to be the head of the wreath sale.

To allow Frankie to focus on rehearsing for a solo in her church’s midnight Christmas service, Mike takes over handling the chores of setting up the Heck family Christmas. Brick becomes depressed when he loses a Santa Pez Dispenser.

Frankie buys Sue an expensive pair of jeans and Mike buys Axl a cheap car. Brick offers to take care of a relative’s dog, and his parents, reluctantly, agree.

Brooke Shields plays Rita Glossner, a cigarette-smoker with a hard-life who is considered "mean" or "an Amazon" by her neighbors. Her sons, the dreaded Glossner boys, are also deemed "bullies" and get in a fight with Sue. Frankie goes to confront Rita, and discovers many items in the Glossners’ garage which had been stolen from the Hecks and other neighbors.

Mike finds dinosaur bones in the quarry. Unfortunately, this closes the quarry while the bones are analyzed, putting Mike temporarily out of work. When Mike tries to find another job, however, he discovers that the interview process has changed in the last twenty years.

Mike must cooperate with Bob after he is offered to join him on his night shift; After finding out through a video, Frankie tries to yell less at the kids.

Frankie and Mike try, but largely fail, to have a romantic dinner out on Valentine’s Day. Brick gets invited to his first sleepover by a member of his social-skills class a.k.a. "The Odd Squad" who pretends he is a cat. Sue’s friend Carly "blossoms" after getting her braces off and this gets the two invited to a wild "Boy-Girl Party." Axl has shifting Valentine’s plans involving girls, and he and two boyfriends wait at the Hecks’ home expecting girls who never appear.

Brick wins a local spelling bee and Mike is highly enthusiastic about his talent. Meanwhile Sue’s birthday is forgotten so Frankie tries to make it up to her on the trip to Chicago.

Axl has a seemingly normal girlfriend (Alexa Vega) who ultimately breaks up with him. Meanwhile, Sue and Brick watch a zombie movie and have nightmares.

Frankie’s boss hires a motivator named Abby (Amy Sedaris), and the family briefly has the "cool house" in the neighborhood.

Mike gets tickets to The Final Four, but a death in the family may change his plans.

With Mike lain off his job, the family, now in debt, give up cable TV to save money. Sue dreams of being a model and starts saving the money to do so. Brick and his shy friends are forced into school recess with boisterous "regular" kids, much to his dismay. Frankie wins a Bingo jackpot.

Axl gets back together with over-achieving Morgan, the girlfriend previously seen in The Break-up, whom Frankie now sees as annoying and controlling. Brick becomes "mother" to a baby chicken. The family attend a picnic thrown by Frankie’s miserly boss.

Frankie experiences a hectic and emotionally exhausting Mother’s Day, which she unfavorably compares to Father’s Day. Meanwhile, Sue is tormented because she stole a small novelty item. Hoping to celebrate Mother’s Day right, Frankie and Sue visit Frankie’s mother (Marsha Mason), who is annoyed, as she had shared Frankie’s wish for a peaceful day to herself.

Mike and Brick both try to be more sociable and end up in awkward situations due to it. Sue is enamored with a guitar-playing youth pastor who calls himself Reverend TimTom. Axl hopes the family’s barbecue party will allow him to see attractive girls in bikinis.

Parent-Teacher conferences cause Frankie to worry about the kids. In them she’s told Axl is gifted but not applying himself, that Sue’s teachers still do not recall who she is, and that Brick may have to repeat the second grade due to his failure to return over thirty books to the school librarian (Betty White) Sue is excited to be accepted on the school cross-country team.