The Middle (season 7)

The Middle
Season 7
Region 1 DVD cover art
Starring	Patricia Heaton Neil Flynn Charlie McDermott Eden Sher Atticus Shaffer
No. of episodes	24
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	September 23, 2015 (2015-09-23) – May 18, 2016 (2016-05-18)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 6 Next → Season 8
List of episodes

The seventh season of the television comedy series The Middle began airing on September 23, 2015, on ABC in the United States. It is produced by Blackie and Blondie Productions and Warner Bros. Television with series creators DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler as executive producers.

The show is about Frances "Frankie" Heck (Patricia Heaton), a middle-class, middle-aged Midwestern woman married to Michael "Mike" Heck (Neil Flynn) who resides in the small fictional town of Orson, Indiana. They are the parents of three children, Axl (Charlie McDermott), Sue (Eden Sher), and Brick (Atticus Shaffer).

YouTube Encyclopedic

1/5
Views:
176 059
207 246
582 049
144 549
225 785

Transcription

Cast

Main cast

Patricia Heaton as Frankie Heck
Neil Flynn as Mike Heck
Charlie McDermott as Axl Heck
Eden Sher as Sue Heck
Atticus Shaffer as Brick Heck

Recurring

Alphonso McAuley as Charles "Hutch" Hutchinson, Axl's football teammate and best friend at college. His full name is revealed this season.
Tommy Bechtold as Kenny, Axl and Hutch's weird roommate, a hardcore gamer. He speaks for the first time in "Halloween VI: Tick Tock Death".
Casey Burke as Cindy Hornberger, Brick's classmate, with whom he is in the early stages of a relationship.
Daniela Bobadilla as Lexie Brooks, Sue's closest friend at college who becomes her second roommate and is an incredibly kind rich little girl.
Jen Ray as Nancy Donahue, the Hecks' neighbor and friend.
Pat Finn as Bill Norwood, the Hecks' neighbor and friend.
Julie Brown as Paula Norwood, the Hecks' neighbor and friend.
Beau Wirick as Sean Donahue, one of Axl's friends who is away at college. He shows up this season with a hipster look and claims he is now a vegan.
Gia Mantegna as Devin Levin, Frankie's hairdresser's relative and Axl's college classmate/ex-girlfriend. They break up when Devin thinks they should see others.
Brittany Ross and Natalie Lander as Courtney and Debbie, airheaded cheerleaders who dated Axl as one in high school.
Paul Hipp as Reverend Timothy "TimTom" Thomas, a youth pastor at the Hecks' church.
Jack McBrayer as Dr. Ted Goodwin, Frankie's boss at the dental office.
Jovan Armand as Troy, Brick's tall, heavyset classmate who initially protects him at school, then becomes his friend.

Guest

Norm Macdonald as Rusty Heck, Mike's brother.
Brooke Shields as Rita Glossner, the Hecks' uncouth and troubled neighbor.
Marsha Mason as Pat Spence, Frankie's mother.
Faith Ford as Sheila, Frankie's co-worker at Heritage Village.
John Cullum as "Big Mike" Heck, Mike's father.
Cheryl Hines as Dr. Sommer Samuelson, head of the company that takes over Frankie's dental office.
Alan Ruck as Jack Kershaw, Axl's boss at Little Betty.
Brian Stepanek as Merv, Cindy's father.
Lauren Drasler as LuEllen, Cindy's mother.
Emily Rutherfurd as Dierdre Peterson, the Hecks' new neighbor.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
145	1	"Not Your Brother's Drop Off"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Tim Hobert	September 23, 2015 (2015-09-23)	4X7101	8.21^[1]
The Hecks face obstacles as they prepare to drop off Sue and Axl at college. Axl has an extra week before his classes begin and doesn't want to go with the family, but Sue insists because they all went with Axl two years ago. Frankie can't bring herself to cry like she did when Axl was leaving, while Mike shows his love for Sue by trying to teach her life lessons. Meanwhile, Brick starts eighth grade and is worried when Cindy says they should take their relationship to the "next level", as he has no idea what that is. Frankie finally realizes that she's not upset about Sue leaving; she feels more confident about Sue doing well on her own away from home than she did about Axl being on his own.
146	2	"Cutting the Cord"	Danny Salles	Rich Dahm	September 30, 2015 (2015-09-30)	4X7102	7.91^[2]
Frankie and Mike have a difficult time in letting Sue figure out things for herself at college. Brick learns he has a protector at school, but gets a little creeped out when the boy starts following him around; and Axl and Hutch deal with a rash of ants in their apartment.
147	3	"The Shirt"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Jana Hunter & Mitch Hunter	October 7, 2015 (2015-10-07)	4X7103	7.30^[3]
Mike and Frankie have dinner with the Norwoods, and Mike wears a Hawaiian shirt instead of one of his favored plaids. This causes surprise and shows new sides of Mike's personality, as he also buys a motorcycle. With both Axl and Sue now in college, Brick realizes he's the only one who must do chores. He thus tries to clean the bathroom following instructions in a YouTube video, but ends up destroying the wall on one side of the bath. While signing up for college clubs, Sue causes a rift by telling Devin about Axl’s feelings for her. Eventually, Devin and Axl reconcile after a very brief breakup and agree that while in college they should just hang out and have fun.
148	4	"Risky Business"	Phil Traill	Ilana Wernick	October 14, 2015 (2015-10-14)	4X7104	7.12^[4]
Mike helps his brother Rusty with his new business idea: printed "rivalry" disposable diapers, but Frankie fears it will be a failure. Axl is back home and determined to convince his parents that he should be trusted to ride the new motorcycle. He starts doing 'dangerous' things to prove he knows how to be safe. Brick is glad Axl is home so he can help him with chores and asks for his help with his new desire -- being allowed to walk home alone from the library at night. Brad assists Sue in trying to kick out her disruptive roommate by 'hooking up' together in front of her and her boyfriend. Brad officially comes out to Sue about his sexuality.
149	5	"Land of the Lost"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Roy Brown	October 21, 2015 (2015-10-21)	4X7105	7.08^[5]
Sue invites Brick to campus for the weekend, but ends up losing him after running into Logan. Mike is mopey and upset but doesn't say why, so Frankie calls Reverend TimTom hoping he'll find out what is worrying Mike. It turns out Mike can't cope with Frankie turning 50, taking it as a sign they are both getting close to death. Meanwhile, Axl and Hutch try to complain to their landlord about the conditions at the rental house, they discover that they've been paying rent to a fake landlord. The real one evicts them, so Axl, Hutch, and Kenny temporarily move into the Hecks' home.
150	6	"Halloween VI: Tick Tock Death"	Elliot Hegarty	Tim Hobert	October 28, 2015 (2015-10-28)	4X7106	7.43^[6]
Tired of Rita Glossner's constant harassment, Frankie convinces Sue to help her egg the Glossners house. Scared when someone dressed as Death knocks on the door and keeps standing in the garden staring at the house, Axl and his friends eventually pack up and flee. Brick goes to the Orson Heights part of town with Mike to get better candy and learns that there is a woman named Cindy, married to a man who loves books, looks like Brick, and whose surname is Heck. All these strange coincidences make him think he is a time traveler. "Death" ends up being Cindy in costume, who was waiting in the yard for Brick to get home.
151	7	"Homecoming II: The Tailgate"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Ilana Wernick	November 11, 2015 (2015-11-11)	4X7107	7.62^[7]
Frankie worries that her visiting mom will embarrass her at the tailgate party, and Sue signs up to be the mascot for the big game at her old high school. Meanwhile, Mike loses his partner in the homecoming cornhole tournament when Axl gets sick, but he soon discovers that Brick is better at the game than his brother...as long as he's not playing in front of a crowd.
152	8	"Thanksgiving VII"	Elliot Hegarty	Rich Dahm	November 18, 2015 (2015-11-18)	4X7108	7.93^[8]
Frankie learns that her dentist office has been taken over by a chain and that it will be closed through the end of the year for renovations. She decides to get holiday work at her old standby, the Heritage Village, where she gets called out by co-worker Sheila (Faith Ford) for not taking her role seriously enough. Axl meets Sean and some old high-school friends at a bar, where he laments his current situation at college and shocks everyone by crying. Amidst the crazy holiday shoppers, Sue works all-day at Spudsy’s hoping to run into Logan again. At home, a power outage ruins Mike's day of football-watching so he decides to teach Brick how to play poker. One by one, they are joined in the game by Sue, Axl and Frankie as they return home from their tough days.
153	9	"The Convention"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Jana Hunter & Mitch Hunter	December 2, 2015 (2015-12-02)	4X7109	7.64^[9]
Frankie is upset when Dr. Goodwin's office goes through the change of being taken over by a dental conglomerate. She is then forced to go to a convention in Des Moines, Iowa and ropes Mike into going with her, given that the trip's expenses are covered. While there, the two are excited to find that the hotel room has more bells and whistles than their house. They begin raiding the room's mini bar, ordering room service, and renting movies...then later learn that "extras" aren't covered in the convention expenses. Grandpa Big Mike is asked to babysit Brick while his parents are out of town, but Brick soon finds their roles reversed. Elsewhere, Axl temporarily crashes in Sue's dorm, making her room party-central. However, things head downhill when she misses an exam, and Axl has to teach her how to properly lie so she can make it up.
154	10	"Not So Silent Night"	Melissa Kosar	DeAnn Heline & Eileen Heisler	December 9, 2015 (2015-12-09)	4X7110	8.06^[10]
Christmas Eve starts off well as the Hecks decide to skip church and relax while watching a service on TV as Frankie doesn't want to go through sitting in the church overflow room. Sue coerces everyone into wearing Santa hats and taking a family picture so she can share them on social media. But somehow, in the process of uploading and doctoring the digital photo on the family's old computer, she accidentally deletes seven years of photos that Frankie never backed up or printed. This sends Frankie into a full breakdown as she also realizes she misplaced the family's analog photos.
155	11	"The Rush"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Roy Brown	January 6, 2016 (2016-01-06)	4X7111	7.84^[11]
Sue goes through sorority rush, and though she doesn’t get a bid, she becomes friends with her rush buddy, Lexie (Daniela Bobadilla). Frankie feels useless when she learns Brick went shopping by himself and bought a new pair of pants. Axl starts interviewing for internships and helps Mike learn how to use social media for his diaper business.
156	12	"Birds of a Feather"	Victor Nelli	Tim Hobert	January 13, 2016 (2016-01-13)	4X7112	7.46^[12]
Axl's first day as an intern at Little Betty isn't exactly what he thought: he gets assigned the "grunt" work. Frankie is no happier as she returns to work at Smile Sensations and doesn't like the changes. Mike later tells her that both she and Axl are natural-born complainers. After her comparative politics class, Sue’s professor (Josh Cooke) gives her the chance to redo her paper, encouraging her to think more critically and express that in her work. Meanwhile, Cindy tells Mike that she kissed another boy and insists that Mike tell Brick.
157	13	"Floating 50"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Rich Dahm	January 20, 2016 (2016-01-20)	4X7113	7.24^[13]
Mike asks Axl and Brick to help him organize a belated party for Frankie's 50th birthday, but Brick is detained by Coach Tink who is convinced that she can turn him into an athlete. Feeling neglected by Mike, Frankie drives up to surprise Sue, but finds an empty dorm room instead of her daughter, who drove back home to surprise her mom. There's a further hitch in the plan when the party-goers realize Mike never gave Frankie a time to arrive, leaving the guests anxious and hungry for the party to begin.
158	14	"Film, Friends and Fruit Pies"	Blake T. Evans	Jana Hunter & Mitch Hunter	February 10, 2016 (2016-02-10)	4X7114	6.85^[14]
Axl learns a secret from his boss at Little Betty (Alan Ruck) that affects the regular staff, causing him to stress out. Sue has money-troubles when her new roommate, Lexie, begins buying new additions for their dorm room. At home, Brick must create a short video for a school project and gives Cindy and Troy the lead roles, then turns tyrannical and replaces them with Frankie and Brad. When Frankie steps on a mysterious piece of plastic, she and Mike try to figure out which household appliance it belongs to.
159	15	"Hecks at a Movie"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Ilana Wernick	February 17, 2016 (2016-02-17)	4X7115	7.29^[15]
The Hecks give Brick his first movie-theater experience, but the book-lover becomes outraged during the preview for an upcoming film based on the Planet Nowhere series. Meanwhile, Frankie becomes irritated at Mike after he "shushes" her when she interrupts Bill Norwood's story multiple times. In the theatre, Axl and Sean reminisce about their first kisses and the photos that were accidentally deleted from the computer on Christmas Eve return, giving everyone some perspective. While at the concession stand, Sue runs into Logan and they have their first - and last - kiss once Logan admits he wants to change his major to become a priest, ending their brief attachment, but agreeing its for the best.
160	16	"The Man Hunt"	Danny Salles	Roy Brown	February 24, 2016 (2016-02-24)	4X7116	7.30^[16]
- With Logan out of the picture, Sue realizes she sucks at flirting. When Frankie's advice doesn’t work at the next party, Sue decides to leave early, but she unknowingly hits it off with the 'Safe Ride' guy on the drive back to her dorm. (Additionally, Sue’s lost sock makes an appearance). Axl and Hutch move into a motor home they bought at a police auction, but discover few places they may legally park it. Meanwhile, Brick returns from a friend's bar mitzvah and asks Mike about their Protestant family's own rites of passage into manhood.
161	17	"The Wisdom Teeth"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Stacey Pulwer	March 16, 2016 (2016-03-16)	4X7117	7.15^[17]
Sue and Axl get their wisdom teeth removed during spring break, giving Frankie the chance to take care of them, but Brad steps in to help out. While still drugged up, Axl tells Sue she's a nice person and he loves her, which Brick gets on video. Mike tries to derail Rusty's ex-wife Marlene from pursuing a lawsuit after Rusty claims that she came up with the idea for their diaper business.
162	18	"A Very Donahue Vacation"	Jaffar Mahmood	Rich Dahm	March 23, 2016 (2016-03-23)	4X7118	7.24^[18]
After making a big sale in the diaper business, Mike treats the family to a vacation at Mammoth Cave and Frankie insists that the Donahues come along. Frankie gets a big head when both Nancy and Sean Donahue tell her she's a good mother. Later, the youngest Donahue daughter overhears Frankie calling Nancy "smothering" in a conversation with Mike and uses it to blackmail Frankie. Sue tells Mike that she and Brad are working at Dollywood in the summer, upsetting Mike when he realizes Sue isn’t a little girl anymore. Elsewhere, Axl uses Brick in a game of "jerk/no jerk" to pick up women.
163	19	"Crushed"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Tim Hobert	April 6, 2016 (2016-04-06)	4X7119	7.04^[19]
Once Sue’s crush on her professor (Josh Cooke) becomes glaringly obvious, he tries to talk with Sue by acknowledging it, but the encounter only embarrasses her. Later on, he subtly sets Sue up with another classmate named Jeremy by asking for Sue's assistance in helping someone catch up on the coursework. Coincidentally, Jeremy turns out to be tree-chained activist that frequently pesters Sue on the way to class. Elsewhere, Frankie, Mike, and Brick go out to dinner with Cindy to meet her parents, who end up asking the Hecks for a substantial loan to save their home.
164	20	"Survey Says..."	Lee Shallat Chemel	Ilana Wernick	April 13, 2016 (2016-04-13)	4X7120	6.98^[20]
Learning that Axl wants to quit football, Mike tries his best to dissuade him. Meanwhile, Brick labors over his answers to a customer-satisfaction survey regarding graph paper he bought online. Meanwhile, Sue introduces Frankie to her new activist boyfriend, Jeremy, who irks Frankie.
165	21	"The Lanai"	Blake T. Evans	Jana Hunter & Mitch Hunter	April 27, 2016 (2016-04-27)	4X7121	6.72^[21]
Frankie is excited when Mike's co-workers build her a lanai, but finds she can't relax on it because new neighbor Dierdre (Emily Rutherfurd) has three noisy, rambunctious children. Brick asks Mike if his "friends" can build him a new bookshelf after they finish the lanai. Mike says that's not fair to his friends, but Brick makes him realize that his co-workers only do nice things for him because he's their boss. Axl and Hutch start a business selling Kenny's grilled cheese sandwiches out of their RV on campus. Meanwhile, Sue and Lexie hit the dorm lottery jackpot, but once they encounter the girls they would be evicting, they begin to rethink where they will live next year.
166	22	"Not Mother's Day"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Rich Dahm	May 4, 2016 (2016-05-04)	4X7122	7.02^[22]
After a man behind her in line pays for her groceries, Frankie vows to pay the good deed forward. Having previously canceled Mother's Day, Frankie makes each member of the family do something nice for another by drawing names from a hat. Naturally, chaos ensues as the Hecks and visiting Pat (Marsha Mason) try to fulfill their promises.
167	23	"Find My Hecks"	Phil Traill	Roy Brown	May 11, 2016 (2016-05-11)	4X7123	6.73^[23]
Axl invites Sue along to some local parties once school's out for summer, upsetting Mike and Frankie when they ignore their warnings and stay out late. Frankie downloads an app to track their location to ease their worries, but soon Mike gets consumed in it. As middle-school graduation nears, Brick desperately tries to discover who he's up against for class valedictorian.
168	24	"The Show Must Go On"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Tim Hobert	May 18, 2016 (2016-05-18)	4X7124	6.73^[24]
After almost forgetting that Brick's middle-school graduation is only days away, Frankie goes on a mission to right a wrong when Brick discovers that the song he was supposed to sing at the ceremony has been cut. Axl takes a job as a country-club day-camp counselor and finds himself being mocked by a 10-year-old carbon copy of himself. Sue finds out she has to be in Dollywood on Brick’s graduation day, cutting her celebration time with him short, but at the last minute, the entire family decides to jump in the car and drive down south to help Sue move in.

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	Total (18–49)
1	"Not Your Brother's Drop Off"	September 23, 2015 (2015-09-23)	2.1/8^[1]	8.21^[1]	0.9	3.0^[25]
2	"Cutting the Cord"	September 30, 2015 (2015-09-30)	2.2/8^[2]	7.91^[2]	—	—
3	"The Shirt"	October 7, 2015 (2015-10-07)	2.0/7^[3]	7.30^[3]	0.9	2.9^[26]
4	"Risky Business"	October 14, 2015 (2015-10-14)	2.0/7^[4]	7.12^[4]	0.8	2.8^[27]
5	"Land of the Lost"	October 21, 2015 (2015-10-21)	1.9/7^[5]	7.08^[5]	—	—
6	"Halloween VI: Tic Toc Death"	October 28, 2015 (2015-10-28)	2.0/7^[6]	7.43^[6]	0.8	2.8^[28]
7	"Homecoming II: The Tailgate"	November 11, 2015 (2015-11-11)	2.0/7^[7]	7.62^[7]	—	—
8	"Thanksgiving VII"	November 18, 2015 (2015-11-18)	2.1/7^[8]	7.93^[8]	0.8	2.9^[29]
9	"The Convention"	December 2, 2015 (2015-12-02)	2.0/7^[9]	7.64^[9]	0.7	2.7^[30]
10	"Not So Silent Night"	December 9, 2015 (2015-12-09)	2.0/7^[10]	8.06^[10]	—	—
11	"The Rush"	January 6, 2016 (2016-01-06)	2.1/7^[11]	7.84^[11]	0.8	2.9^[31]
12	"Birds of a Feather"	January 13, 2016 (2016-01-13)	1.9/7^[12]	7.46^[12]	0.7	2.6^[32]
13	"Floating 50"	January 20, 2016 (2016-01-20)	1.8/6^[13]	7.24^[13]	0.7	2.5^[33]
14	"Film, Friends and Fruit Pies"	February 10, 2016 (2016-02-10)	1.8/7^[14]	6.85^[14]	0.8	2.6^[34]
15	"Hecks at a Movie"	February 17, 2016 (2016-02-17)	1.9/7^[15]	7.29^[15]	—	—
16	"The Man Hunt"	February 24, 2016 (2016-02-24)	1.9/6^[16]	7.30^[16]	—	—
17	"The Wisdom Teeth"	March 16, 2016 (2016-03-16)	1.7/7^[17]	7.15^[17]	0.8	2.5^[35]
18	"A Very Donahue Vacation"	March 23, 2016 (2016-03-23)	1.7/7^[18]	7.24^[18]	0.7	2.4^[36]
19	"Crushed"	April 6, 2016 (2016-04-06)	1.7/6^[19]	7.04^[19]	0.7	2.4^[37]
20	"Survey Says..."	April 13, 2016 (2016-04-13)	1.7/6^[20]	6.98^[20]	0.7	2.4^[38]
21	"The Lanai"	April 27, 2016 (2016-04-27)	1.7/6^[21]	6.72^[21]	TBA	TBA
22	"Not Mother's Day"	May 4, 2016 (2016-05-04)	1.7/6^[22]	7.02^[22]	TBA	TBA
23	"Find My Hecks"	May 11, 2016 (2016-05-11)	1.6/6^[23]	6.73^[23]	TBA	TBA
24	"The Show Must Go On"	May 18, 2016 (2016-05-18)	1.6/6^[24]	6.73^[24]	TBA	TBA