This was a great and hilarious episode.
First, to Axl (Charlie McDermott). He might be on the football team, but he's only a tiny (literally), little freshman. Sure, he may have been king at Orson High, but in college, he's on the bottom of the heap. He and the other freshman, Hutch (Alphonso McAuley) must deal with some hazing by the upper classmen. Whenever Axl gets a text from an upperclassman, he must hop on one foot. He must also do their laundry. Yikes. Worse, in order to get back his mojo, he opts to host a party (costume party, no less), but then he and Hutch aren't even allowed in because they are freshmen. Still, thanks to some crowd surfing, he and Hutch do join the party and hit it off with some girls, but then the seniors come into the room and cart them off and once again, duck tape them to the field goal post in the football field. This time, Axl's okay with it.
Brick (Atticus Shaffer) is being punished because he forgot to unload the dishwasher so Frankie (Patricia Heaton) made him go to a party. Yes, that's his punishment. He did not have a good time, though he does actually have a crush on a girl, Harper, who got boobs over the summer. He stared at her for a whole hour, so he's definitely on her radar. He, then, opts to chat with her online, with both Frankie and Mike (Neil Flynn) giving him advice, some of which he takes. Soon, Sue (Eden Sher) and Axl have joined him. This creates one of the best family scenes so far this season. It also ends happily with Harper agreeing to go to a Halloween dance with him. Brick goes as a bookmark, but then gets nervous and flushed while talking to Harper. The room literally started spinning. He also clawed her face while he went down (aka fainted). He then informs his parents that he must sleep in an upright position that night and they need to check his pupils every hour. He repeats that statement almost immediately. That scene is probably the funniest scene in the history of the show. I am still chuckling about it.
Sue is upset at how little spirit the wrestlerettes have, so they have a bonding sleepover, which doesn't last nearly long enough. They opt to have a seance and Sue firmly believes that she sees the actual Santa Maria and communicated with Christopher Columbus. She is telling everyone about it too, to Mike's dismay. They have a great conversation about it and Mike even tells the story of when he saw the ghost of his dead grandmother. Though he can describe the event in vivid detail, he believes that it was not real. Sue says that's why she must talk about the event because she does believe.
All-in-all, this episode was great, with some great family moments. Sure, some plots were odd, like the seance, but other moments were so good they made up for it. This is probably one of the strongest episodes so far this season. Also, I liked Hutch, I hope they keep him around. This family has the best chemistry on TV, here's looking at you Modern Family. Well, thank goodness this episode was good, there won't be another new episode for two more weeks, so I'll see you then. Grade: A
Side Notes:
-Though this was a Halloween episode, it wasn't overly done which is good. Despite buying crappy candy, the Hecks still managed to eat most of it before trick-or-treat so Frankie and Mike hide in the laundry room while angry people bang on their door.
-When returning home, Brick responds saying that it looks like a pumpkin crime scene outside their house.
-Sue is a princess for Halloween, how appropriate.
-It's never a good idea to tell a girl you like that you had diarrhea. Yet, it somehow worked for Brick. Scary thought.
-How can Mike just shake off seeing the ghost of his dead grandmother?
-The girls really like the blow up palm tree and sand in Axl's room.
-Kenny still hasn't moved from his computer even with a rager going on.
-Jello shots were included at the party, realistic, but nothing too heavy. The Middle is really growing up.
-I would have really liked to have seen more of the bonding sleepover, considering the wrestlerettes are a weird bunch. Sigh.
-What did Sue really see in her living room?
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