Sue tries out for show choir with disastrous results. Frankie desperately tries to close a sale with disastrous results. Brick has trouble relating to his teacher with odd results.

Payments delayed until 2009 come due just as the dryer breaks, Sue needs glasses and Frankie comes within a jelly bean of losing her job. Sue tries out for the swim team with disastrous consequences but a tornado brings good fortune.

Mike gives daughter Sue questionable advice on handling a crush. Mirroring Newton's laws, growing Independence by Axl and Brick are balanced by codependency by Frankie's aunts. Assured the world won't stop without her, Frankie takes a fifteen minute break, and the world falls apart.

Socially indifferent Brick didn't bother to protest when classmate Olivia declared him her boyfriend, but soon tires of her 'romantic' demands to the point of despair. Alas, Axl's advise doesn't cut it and Mike is no match for the possessive, selectively deaf mini-bitch either, but Brick's brain ultimately finds a way out. Eager to see Sue succeed at something, both parents invest ludicrous effort in helping her win a place on a cheap bus trip to nearby Indiana by selling $3,000 food for the school. When her name is absent from the winners list, teacher in charge Perez is not allowed to 'get away with his error', nor with vague promises until it's too late anyhow. Only once Sue is aboard, non-assertive bad example Frankie discovers the real error, with twisted consequences.

Frankie is caught in the middle when Axl accidentally breaks down the front door, and Mike insists that he fix it - which could leave the Heck house wide open for days. Meanwhile, Frankie must sell a car within a week or be forced to wear a dog suit outside the lot, and it's school picture time for Sue, who has never had a flattering photo taken of her.

An accident leads to a visit from a social worker; Bob tries to help Mr. Ehlert shoot a commercial.

The Hecks' Thanksgiving plans are thrown into a loop when Mr. Ehlert makes her work a shift at the car dealership on Thanksgiving Day.

The family takes a weekend trip to Chicago so that Brick can take part in a spelling bee, but Sue gets to call the shots because Mike and Frankie forgot her birthday.

Mike and Frankie are shocked to find out that Axl is dating the head cheerleader, but what will happen when she breaks up with him? Meanwhile, Sue and Brick become freaked out after they watch a horror movie about zombies.

Mike gets a pool table so that their house can be the "fun house" in the neighborhood, and Frankie's job could be in jeopardy when a motivational consultant visits Ehlert Motors.

Mike's once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to the Final Four is put into jeopardy when Frankie's uncle's funeral is scheduled for the same day.

Frankie becomes distressed when Axl gets back together with Morgan one more time and she begins telling him what to do again, while Brick struggles to take care of a baby chick.

Frankie plans to get ahead of the game with her children's school needs, but winds up failing miserably.

Frankie's dream of being Axl's escort for the homecoming football game is shattered when Sue's cross-country meet is scheduled for the same day. Meanwhile, Brick attempts to rake the leaves in the backyard.

When Axl is suspended for skipping school, Mike decides it's time to teach his son a lesson about life and makes him go to work with him at the quarry. But Mike's master plan backfires when Axl likes the job so much that he wants to quit school and lead the life of a quarryman. Meanwhile, Frankie is devastated when she fears that she accidentally prayed away Sue's cross-country team after it's cut by the school; and while practicing a magic trick, Brick makes the main TV remote disappear - and can't figure out how to make it reappear.

Mike encourages Brick to take an interest in football right before the Super Bowl, Sue and Brad enter a square dancing competition, and Mr. Ehlert invites Frankie to a "management seminar," which turns out to be his colonoscopy.

Mike decides to give Frankie the gift of having the day to herself without any family for Mother's Day, but they day is disastrous. However, the "do-over" the following week turns out to be even worse.

Frankie gets fed up with the kids and leaves to spend some time with her mom, leaving the kids with Mike to figure out what they did wrong and how they can change.

Mike gets the unwelcome task of signing up to volunteer at Brick's school because Frankie is stuck at work, while Sue blackmails Axl to get free rides around town for her and her friends.

Frankie contemplates a new career after Mr Ehlert lets her go, Sue mentors a popular freshman girl, and Mike considers punishing Brick for his rudeness.

During the Orson Centennial parade, Mike and Frankie volunteer to drive a float, Sue tries to make Darrin jealous, Axl tries to make some money, and Brick is upset over his town slogan not being chosen.

Frankie decides to hold "office hours" for the kids to discuss their needs in order to unclutter her brain, and Mike becomes worried when Darrin starts spending all his time at their house with Sue.

Rusty joins Mike and Brick on a road trip to Brick's spelling bee, Frankie helps Axl find his missing dorm desk so she can get her deposit back, and Sue enters a contest at Ehlert Motors to win a car.

Mike gives Sue a job at the quarry, Axl helps Mike's dad fix the sink, Frankie has to work at Ehlert Motors for one more day to earn her expired paycheck, and Brick starts watching old game shows.

When Orson is named as one of Indiana's Top 200 Most Livable Cities, Frankie is reminded that she must come up with something to place in the time capsule that will be buried in the base of the newly-rededicated Orson Cow. Meanwhile: when Bill Norwood informs Mike that he and Paula are separating, gobsmacked Mike starts to appreciate Frankie more; Brick must complete three acts of bravery to win back Cindy; and Axl volunteers Sue to be his personal assistant to impress prospective employers.