Well, this year Frankie (Patricia Heaton) decided to just give up on Mother's Day before it even disappointed her. Which was wise, after all, she has had the worst luck with Mother's Day as her family doesn't appreciate her.
And then something good happens. While in the check-out lane at the grocery store, she realizes that she forgot her wallet. Fortunately, a kind older gentleman behind her in line, pays her bill though Frankie admentely insists on paying him back. He tells her to just 'pay it forward'. And she actually takes that advice to heart.
She rips up the names of the family members and puts them in a hat and each member picks the name of someone else. Which name is picked means that person needs to do a good deed for that person. Sue (Eden Sher) is overly generous with her good deed. She offers Brick (Atticus Shaffer) her room as she is going away for the summer. Brick is thrilled, to say the least and moves his millions of books in almost immediately, leaving Sue's stuff out in the cold and nowhere for her to sleep.
Frankie's mom, Pat (Marsha Mason) picks Mike's (Neil Flynn's) name and decides to give him a life time pass on dancing with her as she is still embarrassed and upset about the time he didn't dance with her at Janet's wedding, now about two decades ago. Mike doesn't think that it is a big deal and though she assures him that it isn't, the way she acts clearly proves that that isn't the case.
Mike selects Sue's name and tries, and he really does. He takes her beloved Woofy Dog, a stuffed toy she has had since childhood, to the doll hospital. There, the dog is given a bizarre and terrifying face, plus there is a chemical smell as Woofy Dog is now waterproof. In reality, the dog is demented.
Brick has selected Frankie's name and makes her this dull, uninspiring card while taking full advantage of Sue's good deed.
Axl (Charlie McDermott) doesn't have much to do as he picks out his own name. He buys himself some cowboy boots from a secondhand shop but they disagree with his feet, causing them to itch. Thus, he exchanges the shoes for some t-shirts but these seem to be having the same effect on him. But at least he gives Sue some good advice. She is afraid of going to DollyWorld, and of truly being alone for the first time ever. Axl says that she will be okay and even offers her Brick's bed. He also lovingly ruins Woofy Dog. That is his true good deed, helping Sue find her way.
Now, poor Frankie picks her mom's name but before she has the time to 'pay it forward' Pat decides to leave so Frankie decides to pay for some random stranger's groceries, only she is sort of tricked. She believes that the woman only has two items, but her husband is still shopping with a million other items. Though she pays and everyone claps, she confronts them in the parking lot and says that the amount of groceries they had is beyond her budget. She wants them to pay for half but they look at Frankie like she's crazy. Instead, she does something worse. She merely takes a few of their groceries, trying to still be nice but getting something back for herself.
Fortunately, Mike comes out looking good. While driving Pat back to her house, he stops for gas and the station is playing a song and he invites her out of the car and dances with her out in the parking lot. As Frankie's voice over states, Mike finally got a Mother's Day right, just for another mother.
This was a better episode than last week. Axl was more sweet than stupid which is always a nice change. Mike was also great, finally actually being thoughtful, though it didn't always work out. I also like when the Heck family members guest star on the show. It is always welcome. Sure, Frankie's plot line with the failed 'pay it forward' should have ended differently somehow, but that is only a minor problem. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-Frankie's voice over says that she didn't know why she had lettuce in the fridge as only rabbits eat it and then remembers that they did have a rabbit at one point. She (and the audience) wonder what happened to the rabbit.
-Brick divides his books into interesting sub-genres, including alternate history, apocalyptic and post apocalyptic and several others.
-Frankie loves the chicken at the fancy grocery store, she is convinced that there is crack in it.
-Mike states that he doesn't just not want to dance with Pat, he doesn't want to dance at all.
-Pat loves Castle so much that when she forgot to DVR it, she insists on leaving immediately, and no argument can get her to stay.
-Sue secretly named her room Tina while Brick changes that to Santiago, for some reason.
-Brick also believes that the move is more permanent than she does. He also disobeys her rules on eats on her bed.
-Axl is gross. He rubs two Popsicles on his legs before eating them.
-The episode ends with Frankie trying to help Pat over the phone set the DVR to tape Castle which fails miserably as Pat doesn't get what the arrows do on a remote control. As a result, she leaves to drive there to help her mom.
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