No one does Thanksgiving like the Hecks and this year is no exception though Christmas also managed to sneak in.
Frankie (Patricia Heaton) is determined to take and actually send out a family Christmas picture only Axl (Charlie McDermott) brings April (Greer Grammer) over and is fine with her being in the photo while Frankie is livid and sets out to get her out of the picture, even sending a false text message to lure Axl in alone, only the message goes wrong so she just bags the photo rather than send a picture to all with April in the photo.
It gets worse, Frankie has a full breakout declaring that April is no good for him and that he is special and she is not. The rest of the family isn't thrilled either, especially since Axl will be spending the whole Thanksgiving with her family, then her great-aunt and then this woman that is called Grandma but is actually a babysitter. Frankie is second-best now and isn't pleased. April is calling out the shots now. Mike (Neil Flynn) isn't upset until he finds out that Axl won't be home to watch the football game with him. He declares that if that happens, he won't have a son anymore, though Brick (Atticus Shaffer) is standing right next to him.
The problem with Frankie's breakdown is that Axl overhears the whole thing, which results in him not showing up at all, so eventually the family does eat without him. This is one of the saddest Thanksgiving ever.
In the meantime, Sue (Eden Sher) is stressed out about work as Spudsys is short staffed. Brick needs some money so he gets hired but things turn sour. Sue micromanages him instead of letting him make his own mistakes and when her eyes start burning from extra jalapeno peppers, Brick has to make sure that is what actually happens so the front is out of employees because they are both not great together. But Sue was always told to watch out for him and that made sense when he was younger, but he's in high school now, he should be able to take care of himself.
Though I love Thanksgiving episodes, this one wasn't their best. I wish April was smarter, more worthy of Axl's attention. I understand that not everyone can be smart, but she's just well, I have nothing nice to say. Though Frankie was out of line, I still wish that conflict could have solved in this episode. And I thought Frankie would be thrilled to have dinner at breakfast time leaving her more time to go shopping for those deals she loves so much.
Though the acting is good, I expected more from McDermott, he is often the unsung hero of the show and despite some good parts, his role was underwritten in this episode and he didn't make the most of it. But I hope we have more scenes of Sue and Brick working together, that will be interesting to see. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Frankie is on a new vitamin that makes her hungry. Yeah right.
-She also gives him the finger when he calls her out on the way she pronounces April's name.
-April's favorite holiday is the one where people play pranks on each other.
-Cindy (Casey Burke) wants a fitbit for Christmas and if she doesn't get what she wants, then Brick doesn't get what he wants, which is reading time.
-April thinks Brick is in the army or some other military unit when she sees him in his Spudsys uniform.
-At work, for Brick's meal, he eats almost five pounds of bacon, considering Frankie ate his breakfast.
-You should always think about how many pumps of twenty percent real cheese product your potato should have before going in.
-Mike has a great callback to Axl's previous girlfriends: the smart redhead and the sporty one from college. For the record, I have liked Cassidy best.
-The Donohues also make an appearance to use the Hecks's oven which is actually better than theirs, shocking. Sean (Beau Wirick) finally shaved his beard, which is a miracle.
-But leaving their food at the Heck house comes at a cost, the Hecks eat it all, and cover up their mistakes.
-April's middle name is Rose.
-April blow her nose into Sue's jeans thinking that they were a towel. That's just gross.
-Also, Brick, you should take the rocks out of your pocket before going in the pool.
-Mike wouldn't be comfortable dying in front of strangers.
-April opens the wrong side of the car for storing a chair.
-Frankie says that April is a baby deer in human form.
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