The Middle Episode 3.16 The Concert

Sue desperately wants tickets to an upcoming Justin Bieber concert in Indianapolis. Frankie decides to help her out after recalling how badly she wanted to attend a Shaun Cassidy concert when she was a kid. His live version of "Da Doo Ron Ron" gave her chills.

Frankie has a little trouble locking down tickets online thanks to the blurry, slanted security words in that little box. Then two news words appear onscreen. Their message is quite clear—SOLD OUT. Sue takes the devastating news in stride. Wait, no she doesn't. Sue is crushed, but not defeated. They can still score tickets from a promotion. All they have to do is camp out at a radio station overnight.

Frankie is willing to go to extremes for the concert because it's a chance to spend quality time with Sue. That's been hard to come by lately. Chances of scoring tickets dwindle once others start cutting in line. Frankie convinces Sue to cut, too. This gets her banished to the back of the line. Fortunately, Sue goes unnoticed. She scores the tix as her mom sleeps on the sidewalk. Feel free to let out your best excited Sue Heck scream.

Brick wants to participate in the spelling bee. He plans to go all the way this year. Mike signs the consent form because there's a trophy involved. He even helps prep for the first round in the classroom. Mike is confident Brick will breeze by this opening round, but the little guy gets tripped up on the spelling of "reindeer." Just like that, he's out of the competition.

The fact that Brick did a little touchdown dance in the front of the classroom only adds to his humiliation. Frankie and Mike are actually thrilled to see their son showing an appropriate emotional response to the situation. That social group is really starting to pay off! Now if they could just convince Brick to go back to school.

Mike eventually persuades his youngest son to return to the scene of his ultimate embarrassment. He stands right beside Brick as a show of support. What Mike doesn't know is that special guests to the classroom are given the honor of leading the kids in the Pledge of Allegiance. Too bad Mike doesn't remember all the words. It's a humiliating scene. He may never go back to that school again.

Axl boasts to his friends that he could walk faster than the speed limit posted in a 15 miles per hour zone. This leads to a challenge between the three boys as they takes turns sprinting past the radar gun linked to an electronic sign. The guys can't seem to go faster than 12 miles per hour until Axl finally hit 15. But the challenge was to break the speed limit. Too bad they take the sign away before any laws can be broken.

Frankie has "Bieber Fever" as concert night arrives. Her symptoms fizzle when she realizes that Sue was planning to go to the concert with Carly, not her. Frankie is truly depressed until Axl arrives home to join her on the couch for some cookies and TV. It's not the Biebs, but it's not bad.