First of all, Axl (Charlie McDermott) actually has more friends than just Hutch. He has another friend, Finn (Matthew Atkinson) who is beyond attractive. Of course Frankie (Patricia Heaton) notices. But Finn is nice and considerate whereas Axl insists that Finn not talk to anyone. Finn and Frankie both like the same band and Finn is grateful when she does their laundry which saved him eight dollars in quarters which is, like, twelve dollars in real money. We all see where this is headed. Frankie is discovered when she confesses to her sister over the phone that things that she is thinking about Finn should land her in prison. Gross. This is overheard, by the way, because Mike (Neil Flynn) installed a cheap bluetooth device in Frankie's car so she can talk to people on an effective speaker phone. She is mortified that Axl and Finn overhear that as she should be. But, as a great twist would be, they actually didn't overhear her. Though Frankie confesses first, and Axl is quite grossed out, he just didn't want to tell her that he spilled a milkshake in her car. And this Finn has been old lady bait for quite some time, even the lunch lady gives him extra tater tots. This forces Frankie to get off her high horse, she is nothing special to Finn.
Mike has his own battles with Frankie's father, Tag (Jerry Van Dyke) who needs to retake his driver's test. He barely passes the written test and then gets Mike to take him out on the road which goes horribly because he can't see colors that well so every time he gets to a stop light, he stops and counts to five and then regardless of the color. He has no peripheral vision so turning is especially dangerous and Mike promptly ends the trip only to get disgusted when Tag gives in but asks Mike for a ride later that week when he has a doctor's appointment and Pat (his wife) has water aerobics. Mike isn't pleased.
Brick (Atticus Shaffer) finally gets a good plot line when he informs his parents that there is a Planet Nowhere Con in Indianapolis. His parents give in, though neither want to go and decide to continue Sue's (Eden Sher's) punishment for the Quarry Party and rope her in to taking him. She takes him, reluctantly. On the way there Brick talks to her endlessly about the thing and when they get there and he explains everything needed to complete before he can get the ultimate prize of the key, Sue is exasperated. Fortunately, somewhere along the way, she gets involved and even fights for Brick to get the final prize though her attempt fails but his gesture of surrendering his nose steals the deal and he gets his key though the queen is less than thrilled to be there.
Sure, you would think that this would have been a marvelous day, and Brick found it wonderful. But Sue is leaving soon for college and once again, he'll be completely alone in the house. Fortunately, Sue won't have the no family members allowed rule. Hers will be the opposite and that pleases Brick greatly.
This episode, thank goodness, gave each character something interesting to do. Mike, Sue and Brick were probably the best, And Tag and Finn are great guest stars. Sure, I would love to know how Axl and Finn know each other and why we've never seen or heard of him before, because it would just be lame if we didn't see him again.
Also, when will we know if Sue actually got into one of her many colleges that she applied at?
But the episode was funny, which is always welcome. This will probably be the last new episode for several weeks though the plot were not that important in the long run, but yes, it was still a good episode. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-For the record, Mike flirts with diner waitresses, though you don't see any of that at Stuckies when he visits with Tag.
-Janet accuses Frankie of being a cougar, which is just wrong.
-Nancy Donahue (Jen Ray) thinks that Dottie's guitar teacher is such a free-spirit with his ponytail and bare feet in her house.
-Sue might be forced to take her brother to a Nowhere Convention but she still can't wait to go home and hang with her friends somewhere to be determined.
-Brick has narrated the Planet Nowhere books which he listens to when his eyes are tired of reading.
-Frankie has eaten all the chips in the house except for barbecue.
-Tag still wants to be Pat's hero and can't even tell her that he's in big danger of losing his license.
-Mike got Frankie's blue tooth for a whole dollar at a yard sale.
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