The Middle

In the fourth-season opener, Frankie gets nostalgic about the summers of her youth. Meanwhile, Axl attends summer school; Frankie wants to know which parent her kids favor; Brick grows a tomato; and Sue attempts to bond with her dad.

Frankie’s plans to recreate the magic of her own childhood summers are foiled when Mike lets it slip that Axl is his favorite Heck child, and Frankie tries to coax the kids into telling them who their favorite parent is. Meanwhile, when Frankie and Mike discover that Axl failed English during the past school year, they force him to make it up in summer school, otherwise he could jeopardize any chance of getting a college sports scholarship after graduation; Brick takes up growing a tomato for his summer project; and Sue tries to bond with a reluctant Mike and to get him involved in different activities with her — which she plans to document in a giant scrapbook.

When Frankie is suddenly fired from Ehlert Motors, she embarks on a quest not to repeat mistakes from the past by taking any crummy job that comes her way, deciding to go instead to tech school to secure a real career. Meanwhile, school has begun and Axl is starting his Senior year in high school, Sophomore Sue takes on the task of mentoring new freshman Jenna Taylor (Bailey Buntain). Unfortunately, Axl doesn’t want to spend his senior year without a car. Mike is upset with Brick when he can’t be bothered to put his book down to meet some of Mike’s friends after a softball game.

When Brick develops yet another quirky habit that begins to overshadow his whispering, Frankie and Mike are urged by the school therapist, Dr. Fulton (Dave Foley), to get him a small pet so that he can learn to bond with it, which in turn will help him bond with people. But when they present Brick with an ill-tempered bunny, the tiny animal teaches the Heck family the true meaning of evil. Meanwhile, as the Homecoming dance approaches, Axl finds himself dating cheerleaders Courtney and Debbie -- but he doesn’t know which one of them is actually his girlfriend -- and Sue tries out for school mascot.

Trashy neighbor Rita Glossner (Brooke Shields) returns and is about to rain fire upon the Heck household when she accuses Frankie of stealing her garden hose. Meanwhile, Sue takes a peek at Mike’s paycheck and is so shocked at how little he makes that she decides to call off her first official road trip to Cincinnati for her school mascot duties in order to save money; and while Brick learns about the birds and bees in school, Axl shocks his little brother by explaining the whole process in graphic detail.

As Halloween approaches, the Hecks get quite the scare when Sue receives her learner’s permit, and it’s time for Frankie and Mike to teach her how to drive. But when a freaked-out Sue loses her nerve, she ends up running over Axl’s foot, which could put an end to his high school football career and his hopes for a scholarship. The community was able to offer him support. Meanwhile Axl looks forward to voting in his first election, and Brick undergoes an unexpected transformation when he eats too much Halloween candy.

Sue and Brick buy a safe at a pawn shop (run by Rick Harrison) hoping to strike it rich, but they have trouble getting it open. Axl continues to hobble around with his broken foot, but gets a smart girl named Cassidy to tutor him for US History class. Frankie starts classes to learn dental assisting. Unfortunately, she finds that the rest of the people in the class are more prepared than she is.

Wanting to one-up Nancy Donahue, Frankie invites two Marines to Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, her visiting parents turn the holiday into a chaotic celebration with their bickering. Meanwhile, as his feelings for his tutor (Cassidy) intensify, Axl learns his foot is healed and he can play in the big game. Elsewhere, Sue tries to track down the thieves who stole the head for her hen mascot costume, and Brick becomes obsessed about a book written on the movie Love Story.

Mike helps his brother, Rusty (Norm Macdonald), move some furniture into the Heck family’s garage, only to realize that Rusty had stolen the furniture. Meanwhile, Frankie hopes to land a part-time job in a department store so she can get a discount on Christmas presents, but finds getting the right items harder than she thought.

As their 20th wedding anniversary approaches, Frankie begins to think that Mike may be tiring of her company and is purposely trying to avoid her. Meanwhile, Sue frantically tries to coax Axl and Brick into helping her set up an anniversary party for their parents. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned as Brick falls into a non-responsive state when Axl tells him the ending of the final book in a series that Brick has been reading for years.

Axl and Sue discover they are in the same life skills class. When Axl discovers that he and Sue have been partnered to do a project, he finds excuses not to do it until the night before, and Axl makes a quick dash around the school for people to do the project for him (which turns out to be an Italian restaurant). Meanwhile, Brick’s school therapist Dr. Fulton (Dave Foley) tries to help him make friends, and Dr. Fulton watches Brick throughout the day at school, but the two become close friends. A tree fell down on Mike and Frankie’s car, and they are miserable with it. Mike and Frankie go to the Insurance Company to get it fixed, but their claim is declined on a technicality.

When it comes to having more than one child, there is a chance that they will fight for their parents’ attention. When Frankie and Mike dedicate a day to each of their children, Axl takes them to a paintball range, Sue has them do 17 separate activities, and Brick wants to go to a sci-fi convention.

Frankie tries to get Mike to spend time with a new neighbor who shares his interests. Meanwhile, when the cheerleaders told the school that they will be cheering for the wrestling team, Sue and the Wrestlerettes demand a cheer-off. Axl asks Brick to teach him culture so he can converse with Cassidy.

While other kids begin receiving college acceptance letters and Axl still hasn’t, Frankie and Mike begin to worry that their son’s chances for a sports scholarship have passed him by. Axl also feels the pressure when he discovers his two best friends, Sean and Darrin, already got into their top choices (Sean was accepted into Notre Dame, and Darrin was accepted into air-conditioning repair school). Meanwhile, Sue is determined to prove that smiling is contagious as a hypothesis for a school science project, and a relentless Brick begins pestering his parents for an iPad.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Axl takes Boss Co., with partners Sean and Darrin, to the next level by offering their services to help guys break up with their girlfriends. Brick becomes upset with Frankie when he discovers that she has thrown out all of the school artwork he made over the years. Frankie tells Brick she will always remember how she felt when he made her something, which is the most important part. Meanwhile, Sue becomes estatic when her ex-boyfriend Matt asks her to the school’s Valentine’s Day dance. As she’s getting ready, Axl and friends overhear a message left by Matt saying he got back together with his girlfriend, and won’t be taking Sue to the dance. Darrin ends up breaking the news to Sue, and says he’ll go to the dance with her so that way she won’t be alone. Feeling guilty over their business, Axl and Sean also go to dance and attempt to bring some of the couples back together, but end up getting chased away by a group of angry girls. Sue later thanks Darrin for being so nice, and he admits that he didn’t take her to the dance just to be nice, and they kiss.

Frankie is worried when Brick decides to go on a three-day school trip to the big city of Chicago. But it’s also one of Frankie’s favorite times of the year: The Oscars on TV, causing her to forget to meet Brick at school after his trip. Meanwhile, Sue wants to know if Axl’s friend Darrin really has feelings for her. She prances around their living room, trying to draw his attention.

After accidentally breaking the family room window, Axl, Sue and Brick decide to band together and place the blame on the neighborhood bad seeds, the Glossner boys. But Frankie and Mike see through the lie when the kids’ stories conflict, and plot to extract the truth. Meanwhile, Frankie needs to please her no-nonsense dental assisting school teacher, Mrs. Armwood (Jane Kaczmarek), in order to obtain a prime dental rotation spot. Also, Sue’s 16th Birthday is coming up.

Frankie’s sister (Molly Shannon) offers to help at the house while Frankie studies for her finals for dental-assistant school. Meanwhile, Axl tries not to act jealous when Cassidy’s ex-boyfriend visits. Also, Sue wants to change her middle name, which is also Sue.

Disappointed with the finale of The Bachelor, Frankie mopes for days. Meanwhile, when Sue joins the school’s tennis team, Mike encourages her not to compliment her opponents during matches. Elsewhere, Cassidy and Axl consider the future of their relationship, while Frankie finds an unlikely "Bachelor" conversationalist in Brick.

Sue and Darrin become the "Yoko and John" of Axl’s band, ending their relationship. Mike becomes an unwilling scout master for Brick’s social skills group, and after graduating from dental school, Frankie finds a job as a dental assistant.

Frankie tries to make Sue appear more popular on Facebook, by creating her own fictitious profile and then posting many "like" compliments on Sue’s page. Meanwhile Frankie’s dad (Jerry Van Dyke) makes Mike listen to long-winded life stories. Elsewhere, Brick and Axl try to create a viral video starring kittens and bunnies.

As Mother’s Day approaches, Frankie wants to ensure that Mike gets her something she actually wants for a gift and informs all of the kids of her wish so that at least one of them will clue in a clueless Mike. Meanwhile, Sue asks Reverend TimTom for advice when she begins to resent her friends’ happiness over getting their driver’s licenses after she has repeatedly failed the test, and Cassidy stuns Axl with some bad news during the prom.

Dressed in a lab coat for her dental assisting job, Frankie is mistaken for a doctor and receives special treatment while in a long line to pay a bill. The situation gets complicated later in the day, when Frankie recocgnizes a dental patient as one of the people she passed in line. Axl talks Sue into ditching school for the day, but the stress makes it one of the worst days of Sue’s life. Mike and Axl’s fishing trip goes awry. Brick is distraught over entering middle-school, so he refuses to take his placement test.

In the season four finale, tension builds as Frankie tries to plan a graduation party for uncooperative Axl. Sue tries to get her driver’s license for a sixth time. As class historian, a position that he forgot he had, Brick must assemble a slide show highlighting the past four years of school.