The Middle Episode 2.13 Super Sunday

Brad is back! Sue's former suitor has exciting news about the biggest sporting event of the year: Square Dancing with the Stars! He's partnering with Sue hoping to win top honors at this prestigious competition. Unfortunately, the event coincides with some archaic championship football game that still uses Roman numerals to indentify itself.

Actually, Mike Heck likes to watch the big game. He's jazzed when Brick asks to check out an article on it. He's not interested in the star running back they're writing about though. No, Brick is more impressed with the Copperplate Gothic font used in the headline. Mike convinces Brick that the article itself is cool, too. There's lots of soothing three-syllable words like quarterback and flea-flicker.

Brick reads up on the history of football. Soon, he's a walking, talking encyclopedia of gridiron knowledge. Axl is confused when his dad doesn't seem to care that he's watching the game over a pal's house. No biggie. Mike still has his youngest son to help dole out color commentary from the couch.

Rehearsals for the big Square Dancing with the Stars competition get off to a rough start. Brad's a natural on the grease-stained garage floor. As far as Sue's square dancing skills are concerned, well, do-si don't even go there. Time to take the training up a notch! But for Mike's sake, they should probably do it with the garage door closed so the neighbors can't see.

Mr. Ehlert is taking Frankie to a managerial seminar in Indianapolis. It's quite an honor, though her coworkers believe the boss man may have more than business on his mind when he pulls up in a motor home. Fear not, Frankie. Mr. Ehlert says, "If I wanted to cheat on my wife, I'd go to the big city and do it with an ethnic gal." Still, there is no seminar. Ehlert just needs Frankie to drive him home after a colonoscopy in Indianapolis.

Frankie is bummed. She thought this trip was all about Mr. Ehlert's belief that she was management material. Things go from bad to worse when the doctor says the patient can't have the procedure because he ate solid food beforehand. It'll have to wait until tomorrow. That means Frankie will miss the game. Not to mention Square Dancing with the Stars!

Super Sunday is coming fast and there's just so much happening in Indiana. There's an early morning colonoscopy, an eight-couple square dancing competition and some game is on TV. Frankie lets her boss know that she's totally ticked about the way he's treated her, so she quits. Ehlert tries to woo her back by offering a half-percent bump on commissions, but Frankie negotiates her way up to four percent. Can't learn that in a management seminar!

Back in Orson, Sue realizes they have only one shot at winning Square Dancing with the Stars. She'll stand perfectly still while Brad dances circles around her. But when her partner freezes up on the floor, Sue does an impromptu interpretive square dance to bring home an eight-place ribbon. We did mention that there were only eight couples in the competition, right?

Over at the Heck house, Mike's buddies are impressed as Brick displays his newfound football knowledge during the pregame festivities. He even knows the odds of which team will win based on the coin toss. But Brick's incessant historical updates get real old, real fast. Soon the only folks left watching are a flabbergasted father and his stat-savvy son. Later, Axl returns home to reclaim his position as Mike's number one football buddy. Brick continues watching, too. After all, the big game's logo was done in a super cool font.