The Michael J. Fox Show Episode 1.06 Teammates

Eve knows she can convince her mom to let her do just about anything, so long as Annie thinks it's her own brilliant idea! Just when Annie is about to okay Eve's desperate plea to see Vampire Weekend in concert, Mike overhears and drops the hammer: he already said no, and he and Annie are a team. Later, Leigh indulges in more relationship hijinks. She bought a rescue dog for the sole purpose of picking up hot guys at the local dog park. Mike's been down this road before, though, and remembers all too well who did all the "taking care of" last time Leigh had a dog: him! But Eve believes in her aunt so much she's willing to bet on it: if Leigh can successfully take care of her dog, then Mike has to let Eve go to the Vampire Weekend concert. Mike accepts; there's nothing like a bet you can't lose!

Ian's business has no shot at succeeding as long as its HQs are the car-shaped bed in the smallest bedroom of the house! So Ian does what any partially-Cornell-educated, over-qualified slacker would do and gives his parents a PowerPoint presentation on why they should let him have his old, bigger room back. Annie says no, wishing Ian would spend his time doing more productive things. Ian agrees, and moves on with the nobler goal of "scaring" his younger brother out of his old room. He tells young Graham about a horrible monster named Shadowpus living in his closet. With the look of terror still in Henry's eyes, Ian rushes out to create an actual monster puppet to place in his brother's bedroom and validate his nefarious claims.

Mike and Annie finally slip away from their kids long enough to go on a dinner date. However, when a rude neighbor enters the elevator on the first floor before Annie can get off, her sense of justice overtakes her, and she can't help but interject. Does he not know how elevator etiquette works?! It's been this way for like, a thousand years... Mike hopelessly waits in the hall as Annie decides to take the elevator all the way back up the building just so she can berate the new neighbor a little longer. It's a tough job, relentlessly restoring justice in the world, but someone has to do it!

Every year Harris combines all the office birthdays into one giant karaoke party, and every year Mike and Annie find a way to miss it! As Mike regrettably cancels with Harris over Annie's untimely "flu," Eve gets off the elevator and notices Leigh's dog running around unattended. No! She grabs it and hides behind a wall before her dad can see. Phew, that was close. Later, Mike sees Annie's elevator victim from the night before, Bill, and introduces himself. Annie recently went off her meds or something, violent mood swings, you know how that is... and Bill totally does... because he's a psychiatrist! Mike realizes he's dug himself into a hole, and as Bill consoles Annie about her obvious bipolarity, Mike just goes ahead and ushers himself into the doghouse.

Leigh's successfully reeled in a hunk from the dog park, and as they enter her apartment for a little afternoon delight, both are shocked when Eve stands up from the couch and nonchalantly informs her aunt about her forgotten dog, Icebreaker. Leigh begs Eve to take care of the dog so that she may have some alone time with her new boy toy. However disturbing that notion is, Eve is getting to that Vampire Weekend concert if it's the last thing she does, so she agrees. Nothing will stand in her way, not even a very cute but very neglected dog named Icebreaker.

Mike wonders aloud to his wife if maybe in the future she could just, you know, bite her tongue around strangers instead of going off on them. But Annie is a purveyor of justice; she can't help it, it's a cross she bears everyday, and as her husband, Mike should always have her back! Yes, they're a team, Mike knows that, but does he have to agree with "everything" she does? If Mike wants schism, he'll get schism. After Mike finds out about Eve watching Leigh's dog, he forbids her from going to the concert. But Annie butts in and overrules him: Eve is a responsible girl and can definitely go. While she's at it, Annie rings Harris and lets him know she and Mike will definitely be at karaoke this year; her fever broke at the perfect time! Mike is starting to rethink his "team" position...

At night, Ian goes to place his Shadowpus puppet in Graham's closet while he sleeps but is terrified when he opens the door to find a skeleton already hanging! Ian's scream wakes up both Graham and Mike. Graham placed a scarecrow in his closet to ward off Shadowpus. When he finds out about Ian's sinister plot, Mike tells his son to prioritize his life better. He's a smart guy and should be worrying about bigger things than swapping rooms with a ten-year-old! Once again, Ian's genius is tragically misunderstood.

At the party, Mike confides in Harris about his struggles with backing up his wife in awkward situations. Harris gets the whole "wanting to be friends with your neighbors" thing... but still, marriage is a team bond that shouldn't easily break. As Annie belts out her third song in a row, Mike has an epiphany: Annie doesn't hate karaoke at all, she's just been pretending to dislike it all these years because she's such a great "team player!" Mike wants to prove he can be a better team player, so when a co-worker rudely tries to kick Annie off stage, Mike intercedes. If his wife wants to sing she is going to sing, dammit! Really though, Annie had previously asked the guy to join her for a duet. Mike tries to take back all the horrible things he said as he sheepishly exits stage left.

Later, Mike and Annie find Eve outside their building with Leigh's dog. Since Eve chose looking after the dog over her own self-interest, Mike takes the leash and tells her to go catch the concert. Inside, Ian apologizes for being immature. He's gotten a part-time job and wants to start paying rent. Mike begins negotiations at $1,200 a month and suddenly the car-shaped bed seems heavenly! When Leigh comes in sobbing about her most recent break-up with the guy whose name is escaping her, Mike reluctantly agrees to take in her dog as his own. Because if anyone deserves stress relief, it's Leigh. All this helps Mike realize that, though you can't always pick your teammates, what matters is that you go through things together!