The Middle: The Par-Tay

Well, this episode is off to an awkward start. Brick (Atticus Shaffer) is eating his dinner out on the porch so Mike (Neil Flynn) can poach the neighbor's plumber because of the whole basement situation and it needs professional help. Bill Norwood (Pat Finn) is beyond pissed because that is not how you hire a plumber and whatever sort of relationship he and Mike had before is completely over.
Speaking of Brick, he decides that it is high time Axl (Charlie McDermott) invites him back to spend time at college. Axl does this reluctantly only to discover that Brick doesn't really want to actually look at museums or libraries, but instead wants to par-tay. So Axl and Hutch (Alphonso McAuley) throw one of their legendary Bago-bashes and Brick brings an odd sort of  class to this party, not to mention old music.
After the party does end, Brick isn't ready for the night to be over, while Axl is exhausted, but Brick manages to appeal to his sense of adventure. So the night continues, finally ending after they see a sheep get born and having a tater tot battle in the cafeteria, eating at a diner. Brick believes that this one girl likes Axl and she probably does, so after some simple persuasion, if he doesn't act now, someone else could snatch her up, Axl does set off to get himself a woman, only it isn't the one Brick expects.
Sue (Eden Sher) and Frankie (Patricia Heaton) have a delightful picnic only to be picked up by some singles as they are having a singles mixer in the middle of the park. Frankie is incredibly impressed and though one of them is interested in Sue, she might like someone else and won't tell Frankie about it. Frankie, of course, being typical Frankie, begs and pleads with her to just tell her even going as far as breaking into her phone but can't figure out the password. But then she drops the phone, forcing her to come clean and surprisingly Sue isn't even mad. But she just doesn't know if this crush is anything real so she doesn't want to tell anyone. However, when she does decide to tell people, her mom will be the first, even before Lexie (Daniela Bobadilla).
Speaking of Lexie, she gets a knock on her door and it's Axl. That's right, she's the one who Axl really likes. He kisses her and even though her teeth need brushed badly, he doesn't even care. So I guess there's something between the two of them now and I'm shockingly happy for the two of them. I certainly do ship them.
Mike even mends the fences with Bill with jumper cables, so things end on a good note all-around.
Sure, we don't know who Sue has a crush on, but it doesn't completely matter. Frankie needs to understand that everyone is entitled to our secrets and that they need to be respected. She won the jackpot with having Sue as her daughter. I certainly don't tell my parents everything; they have yet to know that someone did pick me up at the laundry mat. Not that they needed to, considering it didn't work out, but it did happen, sadly one of the best moments of my life.
For the record, I think Sue's crush is either Sean (Beau Wirick) or Tyler (Keaton Savage), though honestly, I'm not thrilled with either of those choices but as long as Sue's happy.
This was another solid episode, though the fight over the plumber was just plain old weird and I wish Frankie wasn't so invasive in her children's lives, but still another great episode. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Mike does an excellent impression of Bill Norwood.
-Brick stalls the plumber by throwing a ball into the middle of the street.
-This episode has some great callbacks, including Bill's sunglasses, and the community service Brick and Axl must perform.
-Mike has a bread heal sandwich for lunch.
-During the picnic, Sue declares that the world is like your television.
-Hutch doesn't like being read to.
-For the record, Bill and Mike are in a girly fight.
-Perry Como is a singer, not a gateway drug.
-Frankie likes being politically correct in her head. She thinks that it makes her a nice person.
-Brick has the phone numbers for a lot of libraries in his cell phone.