The Best Episodes of 'The Middle'
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- 1
Last Whiff of Summer Part 1 & Part 2
Season 4 Episode 1: On the season premiere, the Heck’s summer includes Axl in summer school, Brick growing a giant tomato, Sue bonding with Mike… and Mike choosing his favorite child! - 2
The Wonderful World of Hecks
Season 5 Episode 24: In the second part of the two-part season finale, the Hecks arrive at Walt Disney World and attempt to stay positive, despite a barrage of mishaps that threaten to ruin their trip. - 3
Wheel of Pain
Season 4 Episode 16: Frankie and Mike try to get the kids to confess to a transgression by spinning the “wheel of pain,” that’s filled with consequences, putting Sue’s “Sue-weet 16” Party at risk. - 4
Life Skills
Season 4 Episode 10: Axl is mortified when he is assigned to be Sue’s partner on a “Life Skills” project at school; while Brick’s school therapist (DAVE FOLEY) attempts to teach him how to make friends. - 5
The Graduate
Season 6 Episode 24: Unforeseen events threaten to ruin Sue's graduation, while Brick is offered the chance to skip a grade, and Axl worries that his girlfriend might be over him in the season finale. - 6
One Kid at a Time
Season 4 Episode 11: Feeling guilty over not being able to spend enough quality time with each of their kids, Frankie and Mike decide to dedicate each day of a three-day weekend to Axl, Sue and Brick. - 7
The Christmas Tree
Season 5 Episode 9: Home from college, Axl would rather spend his Christmas vacation with his friends vs. his family; while Sue's allergic reaction to the Christmas tree threatens to ruin her holiday. - 8
A Simple Christmas
Season 2 Episode 10: Frankie's plans to have a simple holiday are threatened when her parents (guest stars MARSHA MASON & JERRY VAN DYKE) come to town to spend the 12 days of Christmas with the family. - 9
Winners and Losers
Season 4 Episode 15: Frankie frets when Brick informs her of his three-day school bus trip to Chicago, while Sue tries to find out if Axl’s friend, Darrin (JOHN GAMMON) has actual feelings for her. - 10
The Show Must Go On
Season 7 Episode 24: On the 7th season finale, Frankie's on a mission to ensure Brick sings a song at his middle school graduation, while Axl finds himself being mocked by a 10-year-old copy of himself. - 11
Halloween III: The Driving
Season 4 Episode 5: Halloween scares the heck out of the Hecks when Sue tries to drive for the first time; Axl gets to vote in his first election; and Brick eats too much candy. - 12
The Sit Down
Season 3 Episode 16: Axl, Sue and Brick call a sit down meeting with Frankie and Mike and ask to be given the chance to do what they're supposed to do – without being harassed by their parents. - 13
Taking Back The House
Season 2 Episode 11: Frankie and Mike decide it's time to regain control over their lives and the Heck household after years of bing at their kids' beck and call. - 14
Major Changes
Season 3 Episode 3: Frankie demands major changes be made to every aspect of the Heck household – then flees to her mother's (MARSHA MASON) house – after she is humiliated by a family member's actions. - 15
Thanksgiving V
Season 5 Episode 7: Frankie's parents - along with some uninvited guests - show up for Thanksgiving dinner; while Axl tries to find the perfect time to tell his parents some bad news. - 16
A Birthday Story
Season 2 Episode 7: For his birthday present, Brick demands that Frankie and Mike tell him the true story about the day he was born - which has always remained a Heck family secret. - 17
The Royal Wedding
Season 2 Episode 20: Obsessed with the upcoming royal wedding, Frankie shocks her family when she treats the event like the Super Bowl and begins purchasing commemorative "tchotchkes" -- as well as an expensive HDTV -- to enjoy the festivities. - 18
Year of The Hecks
Season 3 Episode 11: Frankie decides that each Heck family member will be assigned a New Year's resolution anonymously, after realizing that no one follows through on their yearly promises. - 19
Orlando
Season 5 Episode 23: In the first part of a two-part season finale, Sue counts down the days until the family departs on their road trip to Disney World, while Axl anxiously awaits his grades. - 20
The Front Door
Season 1 Episode 6: Mike insists that only Axl fix the front door after he knocks it down; Frankie must sell a car within a week; and its school picture time for a photographically challenged Sue. - 21
Not Your Brother's Drop Off
Season 7 Episode 1: Sue and Brick have to scramble to catch up when Frankie discovers that they missed the first day of school. And Sue finally gets her braces off on the sixth season premiere. - 22
Christmas
Season 1 Episode 10: Rehearsing for the church's midnight mass, Frankie becomes jealous when it seems that Mike is doing a better job at organizing the Heck family Christmas than she would have done. - 23
Hecks on a Plane
Season 2 Episode 16: After Sue wins a family trip to New York, Murphy's Law goes into full effect and it's anything but a smooth flight, when the Hecks board a plane and fly to the Big Apple. - 24
Hecks on a Hard Body
Season 5 Episode 22: Sue enters a "Hands on a Hard Body" contest to try to win a car, while Mike and his wayward brother Rusty (NORM MACDONALD) take a road trip with Brick to a Chicago spelling bee. - 25
The Wisdom Teeth
Season 7 Episode 17: An excited Frankie looks forward to re-bonding and taking care of Sue and Axl, who both have to stay home during Spring Break to recuperate from having their wisdom teeth removed. - 26
Hecking Order
Season 3 Episode 2: Axl plays a trick on Sue that gets her into trouble in school, while Mike meets with Brick's new fourth grade teacher (CHORD OVERSTREET) to find out why he's allowed to skip gym. - 27
Homecoming
Season 2 Episode 2: Frankie and Mike must choose which of them is going to proudly walk Axl onto the field at Homecoming...or wait for Sue to stagger over the finish line at her first cross-country meet. - 28
Thanksgiving
Season 1 Episode 8: Frankie's dream of the perfect Thanksgiving turns into a nightmare when Mr. Ehlert forces the staff to work on the holiday - and Axl loses Brick in a corn maze. - 29
The Map
Season 3 Episode 12: Frankie vows to celebrate all of the family's important life milestones after attending Aunt Ginny's funeral; Axl accidentally eats Brick's Indiana dough school map project. - 30
Roadkill
Season 8 Episode 5: Frankie and Mike (NEIL FLYNN) are alarmed to discover that it’s time to teach Brick how to drive; while Sue frets over choosing her major, she learns a shocking secret from Frankie.