Frankie (Patricia Heaton) is not a normal mother. She is almost gleeful that both her children must get their wisdom teeth removed over spring break, so they will be weak and helpless and need her to take care of them, just like when they were babies and couldn't unlatch the baby gate.
Mike (Neil Flynn), on the other hand, has bigger fish to fry. His brother, Rusty (Norm MacDonald) returns, wanting Mike to hide him as his ex-wife, Marlene (Mary Birdsong) is back, hunting him down, furious because he won't forward her mail and oh yeah, Rusty stole her idea for the Little Rivals diapers. Marlene, as it turns out, came up with the idea after the two bought a lottery ticket and failed to win big. Marlene wants to be cut into the profits and she is 'on' to Mike, no matter how much Mike explains that the business is barely making any money and that he is sinking money into making the product. He is so desperate for some advice, he calls Frankie's third cousin who is a paralegal. However, this paralegal gives him bad news: Marlene has a real case and could suck the profits away from them and Mike has poured so much time and effort into the business.
They all meet at a bar for drinks, and Rusty hatches a plan to kill her. It doesn't matter how many times Mike tells Rusty to just flirt with her so she will sign the paper relinquishing her claims on the business. Rusty tells her that she has nice boobs and the two make out heavily in the bathroom. Mike doesn't want to know the details. Rusty abandons the plan to kill her because he still sort of has feelings for her. She, then, says something about her idea of wearing diapers to sporting events because the bathroom lines are so long. Mike is delighted to hear this, as her idea is completely different than putting sporting teams on diapers. He gives her all the money he has in his wallet, thirty-seven dollars and leaves, grateful to be clean of her for the foreseeable future.
People under anesthesia do funny things and that is especially true on television shows. Axl (Charlie McDermott) even admits that Sue (Eden Sher) is a good person. She gets him a fork if he asks and she's so nice and he loves her. Needless to say, the video resurfaces as Brick (Atticus Shaffer) recorded the whole thing just so they would agree to his terms now that he rules the roost. Sue is so touched and hugs Axl while he tries to deny the whole thing and deletes the video so it isn't posted to instagram, to Sue's dismay. She corners him, and begs him to admit that deep down, he actually loves him family but he won't admit that because he's too cool. But at the final meal of the episode, he gives her a fork and she is moved to tears. The rest of the family doesn't understand.
Sure, this episode had some great moments and sort of moved up the maturity level, this episode wasn't the most important though each character had some great moments and each got their chance to shine, though poor Brick hasn't truly had a great plot line this season and is always overshadowed by his older siblings. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Brad (J. Brock Ciarlelli) also has some great moments. He has been one of the best and most consistent guest stars this series has had. He has come to take care of Sue and Axl to Frankie's dismay and has made them real soup. Sue can't believe that that is how soup is supposed to taste.
-Frankie tries to insist that the kids love the tinny soup taste from the can, it reminds them of childhood.
-She finally does kick Brad out after he entertains them with improvising occupations in different areas of the solar system. But Frankie keeps his good soup.
-Frankie is also firmly secure in her marriage because Mike calls her to inform her that Marlene brought a friend to the bar and he believes that this is going to be a set-up. Frankie tells him to do whatever he must, even kissing her just as long as Marlene signs the papers.
-Frankie does know that Axl's favorite jello is raspberry while Brick's is lime.
-Mike has taken the jar of pennies that has sat on the dresser for several season and has put that into the business.
-Brick says that now he uses a good towel though that doesn't last. Also, he references the bunny which hasn't been seen since season four. I wonder what happened to Bugs.
-Axl says that Sue needs an animal doctor to remove her teeth.
-Frankie will get forty percent off for their wisdom teeth removal and they should use it now because you never know when she'll get fired. Isn't that the truth?
-Rusty's next big idea, which is all his, is to use actual dead human hands and turn them into backscratchers, which is beyond disturbing.
-Axl's big idea is putting mashed potatoes between two slices of jello.
No comments:
Post a Comment