Well, it has finally happened. The Hecks turn the car around to go back for some expensive pizza Frankie (Patricia Heaton) just had to have.
Frankie's fiftieth birthday was two months ago but the family floated her celebration, because, let's face it, they float everything and rarely get around to circling back to it. Now, Frankie wants some pizza as church is over but Mike (Neil Flynn) forgets that he leaves the pizza on the roof of the car. Frankie threw him all off his routine because she insisted on having pineapple on a quarter of the pizza. After plunking down twenty-four dollars for the pie, oh yeah, they are turning around for the pizza only to find it on the side of the road being picked apart by crows.
For once, Mike feels bad about how he has treated Frankie and decides to enlist the help of his useless sons to help him throw her a surprise party. Axl (Charlie McDermott) even manages to order a party sub, six whole feet. Mike gets all of her friends to show up, and even Sue miraculously doesn't blow the news, though she is the worst liar in the whole world. But Frankie decides to surprise Sue instead and has driven up to visit her at college because she is overwhelmed with studying. Not a good idea as the snow has started falling. So Frankie is snowed in at Sue's dorm while her guests are ravenous. Needless to say, Mike has to spill the beans because he forgot a vital part of the surprise party was to have someone keep track of the birthday person. Frankie is thrilled that Mike was so kind and considerate (for him, at least). Sue immediately texts her new bestie, Lexie (Daniela Bobadilla) brings her some snacks found in the vending machine but doesn't light the candle because it isn't allowed. Frankie even has no shame and tells Mike she leaves him via Skype and Mike feigns embarrassment as all the other people can hear him.
Back in collegeland, Sue (Eden Sher) has also lost something. While folding up her laundry, she notices that she is missing a sock. I've been there, who hasn't. But this is Sue. She doesn't take things and let them wash over her. She puts up a sign telling others that if her sock is found, let her room and lists her room number. However, the others in her dorm think this is so funny and pock fun at her simple sign. This forces her to get dirty and dig behind the dryers to see if it fell back there. That doesn't go well but she finds some mystery socks which she tacks to her cork board.
Of course, this plot line fizzles out before it is finished, to make room for Frankie's party, just as things should be. Sue doesn't find her socks and the socks she finds remain in her room. But it doesn't matter, it is just one sock, Frankie's birthday is much more important and Sue realizes that.
Now, this is far from a perfect episode, though it was especially hilarious in parts, but the two subplots were extremely small and underdeveloped and never really finished, but at least Mike and Frankie were great and this showed how they make their unconventional marriage work. to the dismay of others. She appreciated that he had made the effort and despite everything, it was still on of her top five birthdays, which is just shocking. I was glad that she was happy instead of devastated, which could have easily happened. Still, each actor did what they have done and they stayed with what that character normally did, but at least Mike tried to consider Frankie's feelings for a change and that is something to be forgotten. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Brick (Atticus Shaffer) does have his own plot line involving him tossing a piece of paper with something he can't do into a dirt hole at school. He declares that he can't do sports and Coach Babbit (Brooke Dillman) makes him her pet project but that goes horribly wrong.
-Brick smells or licks various balls and loves the air pump for the basketball.
-In the end, Babbitt decides that fencing will be what he excels at but that also ends with disaster. She has an eye patch and forces him to dig up his scrap of paper so they can just move on. Thank goodness.
-Brick is also quite bad at small talk, bringing up the inevitable idea of death to one of his parent's friends.
-Frankie forgot about getting Brick confirmed so Axl brings up the idea of Brick going to hell and Brick urges Mike to drive a little slower, just in case.
-Axl did order the sub and managed to order her favorite, turkey.
-Less is more for the decorations, they have only two balloons. And no tablecloth.
-There are no sides, so Mrs. Donahue (Jen Ray) raids the pantry and decorates a box into a beautiful cake as they didn't have the ingredients for macaroni and cheese.
-Spinach on pizza is un-American, just saying.
-Mike fixes the broken porch light for Frankie's birthday present. She is elated. It take so little to make her happy.
-I am surprised that Mike knew how to video call Frankie, but I'll suspend my belief for the sake of cuteness.
No comments:
Post a Comment