The Middle Episode 1.04 The Trip

Frankie takes her daughter to work to help Sue sell some cheese and sausage for a school fundraiser. If Sue tops $3,000 in sales, she'll win a four-day trip to Indianapolis. Like most fifth graders, Sue can't wait to see the state government in action. Mr. Ehlert approaches and wants Frankie to make coffee, as he would never ask one of his male salespeople to do such a thing. Sue is appalled by his sexist attitude but her mom says, "Eh, it's not worth the fight."

Sue turns out to be quite the salesperson. She hits her quota and Frankie promises to mail her sales check to the food company. The list of field trip winners is posted but Sue's name isn't on it. Frankie thinks it must be some kind of mistake and wants to go down to the school to straighten things out. Sue doesn't. She says, "Eh, it's not worth the fight." Ouch.

Brick has a girlfriend named Olivia, who turns out to be rather high maintenance. She makes a list of Brick's boyfriend duties which includes buying her ice cream and telling her she's pretty. Olivia's a little too demanding for our boy Brick. He wants to break up with her, but Olivia feels she has put too much time and effort into this relationship to see it end.

The Heck men sit at the breakfast nook trying to figure out a way to get Brick out of this unhealthy pairing. Mike says the only way Olivia may possibly move on is if she finds some other poor sucker to torture. Brick takes this advice to heart. Olivia likes goldfish crackers, so Brick brings a baggie full of them to school and drops them next to another boy's lunch tray at school. Olivia sees the crackers, assumes they are this other boy's cheddar-based snack and quickly declares that he is now her boyfriend. Way to go Brick!

Frankie, realizing that "Eh, it's not worth the fight" has become her catchphrase, encourages Sue to take a stand for what's right. That means confronting Mr. Perez, the faculty member running the sausage contest. Sue timidly pleads her case to the teacher, who says he'll look into it. But when the day of the big trip arrives, a busload of cheese and sausage saleskids are off to Indianapolis while Sue sits at home.

Frankie is fed up. She and Sue hop in the car, hit the road and catch up to the Indy-bound bus down the interstate. Frankie encourages her daughter to stand up to Mr. Perez. When Sue is less than assertive, Frankie reads him the riot act in front of the entire class saying her daughter deserves to be on that bus. Mr. Perez begs to differ. He called the sausage company and they have no record of sales from Sue Heck. But Frankie is adamant and Mr. Perez ultimately says, "Eh, it's not worth the fight."

Sue waves to her mom from the back window as the bus pulls away. As Frankie waves back, she pulls down the sun visor. Out falls an envelope. If you guessed it's the envelope holding the check for Sue's sausage sales, you may now reward yourself by taking a trip to your very own state capital.

If you do take that trip, we guarantee you'll have a better time than Sue. Since Frankie never mailed the check, Sue's name wasn't on any of the lists any of the events or attractions. She had to sleep on the floor of the hotel and she completely missed the state government in action. Sue is fuming mad when she returns home and she's lets her mom have it.

You know, this is probably the first time we've ever heard Sue raise her voice in anger. It's both shocking and impressive. Sue is finally standing up for herself. Frankie feels terrible about letting Sue down, but as her little girl continues her rant, she also feels so proud. She finally found her voice. Way to go, Sue!