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The Middle Season 2 Episodes
Season 2 Episode Guide
24 Episodes 2010 - 2011
The Hecks, a just-getting-by poster family for middle America, grow a year older, if not wiser in a second season that opens and closes (plus an episode in...the middle) with the scene-stealing panache of Doris Roberts, Patricia Heaton's TV mother-in-law from "Everybody Loves Raymond." Roberts plays Ms. Pinsky, a schoolteacher whose credentials Frankie and Mike (Heaton and Neil Flynn) question when brilliant youngest child Brick (Atticus Shaffer) begins getting poor grades. His knowledge is displayed a little too well after Mike gives him a football book to read before inviting the guys over to watch the Colts in the Super Bowl; and the living room is again the focus when Frankie becomes obsessed with waking up to watch the Royal Wedding. In school sports, Sue (Eden Sher) "wins" a trophy in cross-country while Axl (Charlie McDermott) nears Mike's long-standing record for consecutive free-throws made, only to be suspiciously punished before the final game. Early in the season, a foreign-exchange student from Japan is slow to warm to the Hecks, while more relatives are introduced at holiday time led by Mike's not-so-trusty brother Rusty (Norm MacDonald) and Frankie's parents (Marsha Mason, Jerry Van Dyke).
Episode 1
Back to School
Wed, Sep 22, 2010 30 mins
In the Season 2 premiere, Frankie has a hard time getting the kids ready for school, and she's accused of being overprotective by Brick's new teacher (Doris Roberts). Meanwhile, Sue may be too enthusiastic about being on the cross-country team.
Episode 2
Homecoming
Wed, Sep 29, 2010 30 mins
A dilemma present itself to Frankie and Mike when Axl makes the varsity football team, but Sue's first cross-country meet is the same day as the homecoming game. Meanwhile, Brick announces a new take on fallen foliage when he rakes up the leaves in the yard but doesn't want to take them to the dump; he wants to set them free in the forest instead.
Episode 3
The Diaper Incident
Wed, Oct 6, 2010 30 mins
Frankie is humiliated when she goes shopping for baby diapers for Sue, who has run out of them while babysitting, and the clerk thinks she's looking for adult diapers. Elsewhere, Frankie makes Mike take a physical, thinking he's starting to break down, but it's her back that goes out and she tries to hide it from Mike.
Episode 4
The Quarry
Wed, Oct 13, 2010 30 mins
Axl is suspended for truancy, and Mike makes him work in the quarry during the suspension to teach him a lesson. But the plan backfires when Axl likes the job and wants to quit school to work at the quarry full time. Meanwhile, Sue's cross-country team is cut by the school, and Frankie fears she may have caused it.
Episode 5
Foreign Exchange
Wed, Oct 20, 2010 30 mins
The Heck family host a foreign exchange student from Japan, who, to their chagrin, shows no interest whatsoever in the family.
Episode 6
Halloween
Wed, Oct 27, 2010 30 mins
Frankie and Mike are invited to an adult Halloween party in the neighborhood, while Axl, his friends and their dates go to a haunted house party and Sue attends a Halloween church event.
Episode 7
A Birthday Story
Wed, Nov 3, 2010 30 mins
On his ninth birthday, Brick asks to be told about the day he was born, which has been kept a family secret. Meanwhile, Axl's new manager at the movie theater is hot but incompetent, and he wrestles with the question of which is more important.
Episode 8
Errand Boy
Wed, Nov 17, 2010 30 mins
Brick objects to being carted around with Frankie on her weekend errands and asks to be left home alone. Meanwhile, Mike overhears a friend of Sue's referring to her unflatteringly and doesn't know whether to tell her or not; and Axl has trouble growing a beard like his football teammates are doing for the playoffs.
Episode 9
Thanksgiving II
Wed, Nov 24, 2010 30 mins
Mike's brother and father join the family for Thanksgiving dinner, and Frankie encourages the macho men to share their feelings. Bob brings his librarian girlfriend, much to Brick's delight; and Sue's plan to start a mother-daughter pie-baking tradition backfires.
Episode 10
A Simple Christmas
Wed, Dec 8, 2010 30 mins
Frankie's parents Tag (Jerry Van Dyke) and Pat (Marsha Mason) visit for Christmas, which doesn't thrill Mike, and they clash with the Hecks over Frankie's idea on how to celebrate the holiday---sans gifts.
Episode 11
Taking Back the House
Wed, Jan 5, 2011 30 mins
Frankie and Mike try to regain control of the Heck family household, but Axl, Sue and Brick won't take this regime change lying down.
Episode 12
The Big Chill
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 30 mins
Mike gives Frankie the cold shoulder when she pays $200 for a small bottle of eye cream. Meanwhile, Axl's parenting skills are tested when he becomes caregiver to an infant doll for health class, and Sue and Brick put a hole in Sue's bedroom wall and try to figure out how to fix it.
Episode 13
Super Sunday
Wed, Jan 19, 2011 30 mins
Brick gets Mike to teach him football terminology so he can be conversant by Super Bowl Sunday, which irks Axl, who loves being Mike's football buddy. Sue's ex-boyfriend Brad asks to be her partner in a square-dancing event and Frankie is sent to a managerial seminar.
Episode 14
Valentine's Day II
Wed, Feb 9, 2011 30 mins
Axl has a new girlfriend he wants to impress on Valentine's Day, while Brick has a crush on a fellow student and Mike accidentally lets the news slip out, humiliating his shy son. Elsewhere, Sue searches for a boy she kissed on a Halloween hayride.
Episode 15
Friends, Lies and Videotape
Wed, Feb 16, 2011 30 mins
Frankie looks for a friend for Brick; Sue sneaks into an R-rated movie against Mike's wishes; and Axl and his band need a hot female for their music video and try to get stealth footage of their sexy biology teacher.
Episode 16
Hecks on a Plane
Wed, Feb 23, 2011 30 mins
Sue wins a family trip to New York, and the flight turns into a comedy of errors.
Episode 17
The Math Class
Wed, Mar 2, 2011 30 mins
Frankie locks horns with Brick's third-grade teacher, Ms. Rinsky (Doris Roberts), when Brick gets a D on a math test and Frankie thinks poor teaching is to blame. But will Frankie and Mike pass when Rinsky makes them take a math test? Meanwhile, Axl and Sue help Aunt Edie to find her long-buried time capsule.
Episode 18
Spring Cleaning
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 30 mins
Spring cleaning stirs up a hornet's nest at the Heck house, and Brick starts a neighborhood information stand, handling inquiries for a dollar each.
Episode 19
The Legacy
Wed, Apr 13, 2011 30 mins
Mike punishes Axl for leaving his dirty socks laying around, but Mike might have an ulterior motive. Meanwhile, Sue wins an MVP trophy for cross-country; and Brick is humiliated when he's forced to wear his cousin's hand-me-downs.
Episode 20
Royal Wedding
Wed, Apr 20, 2011 30 mins
Frankie's obsession with the royal wedding worries her family when she buys commemorative knickknacks and an expensive HDTV on which to watch the proceedings. Meanwhile, Sue tries out for the school's news team; and Mike must make cutbacks at work, but he has a mutiny on his hands when he tries to nix the free pretzels.
Episode 21
Mother's Day II
Wed, May 4, 2011 30 mins
A Mother's Day episode finds the family offering Frankie a day to herself as a present, but the idea doesn't come off as planned.
Episode 22
The Prom
Wed, May 11, 2011 30 mins
Axl accidentally texts a prom invite to the wrong girl, and Frankie and Mike insist that he either go through with it or meet her in person to break off the date. Meanwhile, Sue and Carly try to find a group to fit in with at lunch; and Brick puts on a one-man show for Frankie and Mike, but the act soon wears thin.
Episode 23
The Bridge
Wed, May 18, 2011 30 mins
Brick has a fear of crossing bridges, so Frankie and Mike try to help him conquer it; Axl wants to be a lifeguard at the public pool, but so does his nemesis, Sean Donahue; and Sue has trouble picking out a two-piece swimsuit for opening day at the pool.
Episode 24
Back to Summer
Wed, May 25, 2011 30 mins
Season 2 finale: Brick must write a daily journal to pass the third grade; Axl hasn't completed his 30 days of community service; and Sue has to prove that she's never taken a sick day to get a perfect-attendance award.
