The Middle Episode 1.19 The Final Four

When Mike drops off Frankie at the car dealership, he has the pleasure of meeting the blustery Mr. Ehlert. We're not being sarcastic. Mike and Ehlert bond immediately over their love of college basketball. Frankie's boss likes Mike so much that he gives him tickets to both Final Four basketball games. Sweet!

Brick is invited to a birthday party that he does not want to attend. He talks Sue into helping him get out of it. He wants her to call his classmate's mom while posing as Frankie. Brick sweetens the deal by offering to do his sister's math homework. Sue makes the call which is followed by a rush of adrenaline from lying. Brick is just pleased that his plan worked.

Frankie gets a call from Aunt Edie. Her Great Uncle Mack has died. He was Edie's favorite brother. Frankie knows that Aunt Edie will need the support of her entire family to get her through the funeral on Saturday. Of course, that happens to be the day of the Final Four. Uh oh.

Saturday is also the day of the birthday party Brick was supposed to attend. Frankie will have to send regrets which means she'll find out about Sue's fake call. Brick has a plan. Sue will call back to say that he actually can come to the party. Then when their mom calls for real, it'll make sense when she cancels.

Sue does the dial-a-lie thing one more time but forgets to say her name. She calls back and leaves a string of panicked messages as the fibs spiral out of control. Brick is forced to do damage control by yanking the phone cord from the wall.

Mike doesn't want to miss the Final Four to attend the funeral of a guy he only met twice. Frankie says they are not going for Uncle Mack's sake; they're going to support Aunt Edie. Mike reluctantly agrees to go, but he's truly not happy about it. Frankie's not happy either. She says, "I don't want you to go because I want you to go. I want you to go because you want to go." The problem is he still doesn't.

Sue is cracking under the pressure of all her lies. Brick wants her to make one more call to say that someone has been making prank calls posing as Frankie. But this time Sue doesn't get the machine; she gets the mom. Brick wants her to abort, but it's too late. Sue spills her guts before quickly hanging up the phone. The mission has ended in utter failure.

A flustered Sue tells Frankie that she made the call saying that Brick won't be going to the party. Frankie thanks her for doing that, as she hadn't had time to do it herself. Brick and Sue are in shock. They actually got away with it. This is no comfort a guilt-ridden Sue. She begins to cry. Good thing they're going to a funeral.

When Axl picks up a photo album for the memorial slideshow, he's surprised to learn that Aunt Edie lived with them for awhile. Mike forgot about that, too. It was just after Axl was born. He and Frankie had to work and Aunt Edie moved in for a few months to help take care of the baby. As Mike flips through the photo album, he realizes that he really should go to the funeral. Actually, he realizes that he wants to go to the funeral.

Mike will tape the games and watch them after the service. As they are getting ready to leave, Mike experiences some pain in his gut, but still makes it to the funeral. During the eulogy, Aunt Edie thanks everyone for coming to her birthday party. She's a little confused. But Frankie doesn't have the heart to tell her the truth. So she leads the crowd as the awkwardly sing "Happy Birthday." Yes, Frankie Heck puts the "fun" in funeral.

Frankie feels horrible. Mike truly didn't need to go to the funeral. She tells him to head off to the Final Four. But those stomach pains he had earlier are from appendicitis. Mike is taken to the hospital where they must operate right away. Hey, at least he's taping the games, right? Too bad the doctor spills the details about what happened just before putting him under. Spoiler Alert: It was a great finish!