The Middle s07e08 Episode Script

Frankie: Out here in the middle, every day is pretty much like the day before.
You get up, you get dressed, you go to work, you Smile Superstars International? Mm-hmm.
It's some huge franchise.
Apparently, they buy up struggling dental offices and turn them into these one-stop super clinics, like Jiffy Lube for teeth.
Mm.
Well, at least you still have your job.
Yeah, but we're closed until January.
I guess goodwin has to remodel the office to look like all the other smile superstars, so no paycheck for two months.
Happy holidays to us.
Mm.
Mm.
I really don't want to get another job for the holidays.
I mean, I'm too old to flip burgers.
I'm too young to be a Walmart greeter.
Actually Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing.
You're not too young to be a Walmart greeter.
That's not what I was gonna say.
Oh.
- Your hair looks pretty.
- Mm.
What I was gonna ask is, how's the diaper business going? I think you should get a job for the holidays.
Damn it.
Well, you are not gonna believe this.
which is good.
I'm back at heritage village.
When in doubt, go back to the prairie.
Wait for the bad news.
Always do.
Heritage village is open on Thanksgiving, and I'm working the Harvest Feast.
So now I don't know what we're supposed to do about our Thanksgiving.
I hate to say it, but we may have to float it.
Would everybody be okay with that? All: Fine.
Okay is that a "fine" fine or a "TV's on" fine? It's fine.
Now I can go out to the bar and drink with my friends as the Pilgrims intended.
Yeah.
Works for me.
I can pick up some extra shifts at spudsy's.
The mall's gonna be open for 48 hours straight.
Except they don't call it Thanksgiving anymore.
Now it's called black Friday Eve.
Hm.
So, dad, looks like it's just you and me at home.
Maybe we can do something together.
but, uh, you're welcome to do something right over there.
All right, well, if nobody cares, Wait.
That's too close to Christmas.
How about January? Can't.
Our a cappella group is doing this big month-long tribute to the '80s Cindy's got something big planned for Valentine's day.
What's a couples retreat? Okay, how about march? - March madness! - March madness! Okay, who's free in May? Yeah, nothing good happens in May.
Well, except mother's day.
Like he said, nothing good happens in May.
And it'll be warm out, so maybe we can eat outside.
Ooh, we can put some turkey on the grill.
There's no rule that says we got to eat a turkey.
We could eat hot dogs or potato salad.
This is starting to sound a lot like Memorial Day.
Fine.
Thanksgiving June 12th.
Done.
Brad! What are you doing here? I didn't know you were picking up extra hours.
Aw, shoot.
You just missed me.
I'm heading home to bed.
Got to get up early to help with Thanksgiving dinner.
I'm added a fourth bean to the three-bean salad and pulling a layer out of the seven-layer dip.
So watch out.
Oh, I know why you're here.
To serve delicious potatoes to hungry shoppers.
And possibly see Logan.
Is it that obvious? You keep darting your eyes over at Abercrombie.
It doesn't take Benedict Cumberbatch to figure it out.
It's like we're so totally star-crossed.
I mean, we had the best time at prom and then I saw him up at school and I lost him.
I didn't have his number.
So I thought if I am working over break, maybe he's working over break.
So today, I am going to casually go over to Abercrombie on my break and try to casually run into him.
Oh, my god, Sue.
You're like a really adorable '90s movie.
I know, right? - You go, Meg Ryan.
- Yeah.
Oh, well, hello, kind people.
If you're wondering what tool I'm using to make my husband a fine Thanksgiving feast, this is a a What is it? Um hang on.
Oh, I remember.
It's an old-timey corn grinder.
Pbht! 'Tis a grist mill.
Good morrow, and welcome to our humble cabin.
I'm Rachel Moody Cochran, and this is my husband, Obadiah.
Hey.
Hi.
Sorry, but I think I'm supposed to be playing Obadiah's wife.
Perhaps thou has been stricken with the devil's fever, for it was I who wed dear Obadiah on my 14th birthday.
Did you not read your packet? You're not Rachel.
I'm Rachel.
You're Abigail, the barren spinster sister-in-law with the clubfoot.
Are you sure? 'Cause I come back here and play Obadiah's wife and I get fired a lot.
Trust me, lady, 'tis I.
Fine.
Relax.
I'll be the sister-in-law.
But I'm not playing the clubfoot.
Barren, on the other hand, sounds fabulous.
All right, Nick will be here after pecan pie.
That's pretty much the whole class.
Whoo.
We are gonna rage! So how'd you convince your mom to let you out early on Thanksgiving? Well, I told her, "mom, I'm a vegetarian now.
I'm not eating anything with a mother anymore.
" And she said, "you don't have a mother anymore.
" Whoa.
I don't think I've even seen your mom mad.
Man, she needs to chill.
I mean, I-I'm evolving.
I-I'm not even sure if I want to be a doctor anymore.
It's like I've always just done whatever Ron and Nancy want.
What what about what I want? Yeah.
Well, no one's really expected much of me, so I guess I'm delivering.
See, you're lucky.
Nobody hassles you.
You can just be the Ax-man.
Yeah, well Ax-man's not so awesome these days.
I mean, football is a total bust, um, got kicked out of my house at school, so now I'm living at home with my parents, like a loser.
I don't even know what Devin and I are doing anymore.
And school everyone's talking about jobs and grad school, and I'm just like, I don't even know if I'm gonna make it, you know? In the back of my mind, I always thought my hair would be enough to separate me from other people, but maybe that's just not enough anymore.
I don't know.
I just, uh It's just really, really hard.
Dude, are you crying? Uh, no.
So the house may not have smelled like turkey, but it did smell like cool ranch Doritos, and Mike was fine with that.
Aw, crap.
Well, it's not a fuse.
Whole neighborhood's out.
How you doing? I'm good.
Okay, then.
Hey, you want to do something? Well, I'm reading, but you're welcome to do something right over there.
Let's play poker.
Edwin, I need a break.
Sorry, Sue.
This is the black Friday Eve rush.
We're on course to shatter our sour cream record.
I'm about to roll out a third drum.
Okay, but I have been here 10 hours, and I haven't had a break.
I am pretty sure that's illegal.
Come on, please.
Just let me take a little stroll on over to Abercrombie.
Later! Right now, I need you to push the turkey-cranberry potato, 'cause at midnight, we start moving our Christmas product.
Oh, no.
Not the peppermint potato.
Yep.
No, no, no.
This year, it's the gold, frankincense, and myrrh potato.
The gold is cheese sauce, the frankincense is ham, 'cause nobody knows what frankincense is, and the myrrh is also ham, 'cause nobody knows what myrrh is, either.
And then I stirred the almonds into an earthen basin with flour and gum dragon and baked it in a wood-fired oven.
Oh.
And how did you make the soup? Well I threw some vittles in a pot, then I got some water from yon crick over yonder and poured that into a cotton gin.
Then Paul Bunyan ate it and declared, "soup is good food.
" Prithee a word, Abigail.
Did you even read your packet at all? I skimmed it.
Okay, since you're clearly unprepared, I'll do the talking, and you can go in the back and make the potato balls.
Do you think you can do that? Potato balls? Really? That's gonna take forever.
Why don't we just do mashed potatoes and take a rain check on the potato balls? Nobody will even notice.
They're all looking down at their phones anyway.
Obadiah: Ladies.
Your idle gossip is best saved for 'round the water pump.
Ah, 'tis true, husband.
Listen, sister.
I don't care what kind of slipshod schemes you got under your bonnet to short-shrift our guests, but on my watch, we do things properly.
Fine, fine, okay.
Hey, but listen, is there a-an outlet by a pot or something, 'cause I'm down to 1%.
See, poker on Thanksgiving is a tradition in my family.
Uncle rusty and I used to play all the time.
Are you sure I never taught you how to play poker? You taught me how to get you a beer while you played.
Oh, well, okay.
I'm gonna deal an open hand so I can explain the rules.
The game is five-card stud, no draw.
Aces are high only, one-eyed Jacks are wild.
Pretzels are worth a quarter and peanuts are a buck.
So ante up.
I have no idea what you just said.
Put a pretzel in the pot.
Pot is in the center of the table.
All right.
Now, you have two fours.
- That's a pair.
- So that's good? It's it's not bad.
I've got Three sevens.
That's three-of-a-kind, which is better.
- Oh, so you win.
- What? No, hang on.
See, in a real game, we don't see each other's cards, so you can pretend that you have a really good hand and the other guy might believe you and quit.
You mean lie? That doesn't seem very sporting.
Well, it's called bluffing, and it's part of the game.
So, now I'm gonna deal a hand where I can't see your cards.
So I'm not gonna be able to help you.
You're on your own.
Ooh.
I have a great hand.
I'm bluffing.
Okay, our problem here is that you have what we call a tell, and your tell is that you tell.
- Mm.
- So we're gonna have to work on that.
You're eating money.
Edwin, I need a break right now.
Well, you can't.
We're swamped.
You can't keep me here.
I know the law.
Oh, really? So, uh, what is the law? Okay, I don't actually know the law, but my mom has a cousin who was a paralegal, so I am gonna take a break right now or you can expect to hear from her.
Or him.
Her name is Jean, so I'm not sure whether she's a man or a woman.
Point is, I will be back in 10 minutes.
Finally, Sue was free to casually pursue Logan, but shoppers on black Friday Eve are anything but casual.
Brenda, candles & Such No, no, no, no, no.
Let me through! Just let me And Obadiah whittled me this butter paddle from an old maple branch, which we are using to make today's feast.
Oh, what a time we live in such convenience.
Okay, look.
The potatoes were still kind of hard.
This can just be our little secret.
Nobody out there needs to know.
Believe me, two years ago when I worked the squash harvest, this thing was a lifesaver.
You've done this before? Look, if anybody sees me, I'll just tell them that my cousin from the Louisiana territory just invented it.
The great inventor Hosiah Newton-John.
My soul would die At the thought of people getting anything less than the authentic experience they paid $8 for.
They did not pay to have somebody cut corners.
Well, guess what.
Historically, I come from a long line of corner-cutters, so cutting corners now is actually me being authentic.
So there.
Get rid of it and use the wooden masher.
Sheila, come on.
It's Rachel! Rachel Moody Cochran.
Respect the material! Why don't you just step aside and let me whip the crap out of these potatoes 2015-style? Use the wooden masher.
Make me.
You listen here, sister.
I did not claw my way up from milkmaid to cinder girl to seamstress to Obadiah's wife to get kicked out of here because of you.
You think I'm not eyeing mayor's wife next? 'Cause I am.
I am gonna get there, and you are not taking me down.
Oh, no.
You did not just do that.
Debbie: Hey, Axl.
Are you okay? We heard a rumor you were out here crying.
What? God, no.
I'm fine.
Aww.
Can we see? I bet your eyes look so pretty with tears in them.
Right, Court? Yeah, Debs.
So pretty.
If you were a girl.
There's no tears.
I don't know what people told you, but I'm not crying.
Oh.
I'm so glad.
What do you say, Court? Group hug? Definitely group hug, Deb.
Wow.
Déjà Sue! Are you just starting your shift? I never left.
You worked three shifts in a row? Please tell me you saw Logan.
No.
But I saw one of the other greeters.
Turns out, Logan is in Chicago visiting his grandma.
Oh, no.
I'm sorry.
Mm.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Are you kidding me? This is great because now I have a new plan.
I just need to casually drive to Chicago and casually find out where his grandma lives and casually wait outside her house Sue, I'm gonna write you a reality check payable right now.
This is not who you are.
Where is the girl who was quoting "lean in" all summer? The Sue Heck I know doesn't cross state lines to chase after some guy just because maybe he likes her.
You're right.
What am I doing? You know, we always used to make fun of people like this, and now I've oh, my god.
Is that Logan? No, that's not him.
That's Dale.
I think.
Seriously.
Could I be any more pathetic? This is not the kind of woman I want to be.
And it's Thanksgiving.
We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year Did you forget to pay the electric bill again? Not unless we forget to pay for the whole block.
How was the mall? You know, working all day on Thanksgiving wasn't as fun as I thought it'd be.
Well, you look great.
Really? Thanks, Brick.
Aww.
Bluffing.
Nice.
Dude, you okay? Yeah.
Fine.
Why wouldn't I be? Yeah.
Well, I got to warn you.
Word's kind of getting around about the Okay.
Da da da.
Uh, okay, look.
Um, I don't know what y'all heard about me, but I'm doing great.
Actually, no.
I'm doing awesome.
Last month, I played the best game of my life.
I was on the field for 72 seconds.
Yeah.
I'm still a business major, and I pretty much know what that is now.
And hey, I grew 1/4 inch when I thought I was done, so yeah.
It's all good.
I guess what I really wanted to say is, um You know, it really means a lot to me that you guys are That you guys are all worried about me, 'cause 'Cause it's just really hard.
Ah.
Didn't expect you home this early.
They run out of Jagermeister? Eh, ended up being kind of lame.
Seeing people's overrated.
Huh.
Hey, you want to play poker? Dad taught me how to lie.
Hmm.
I could play some poker.
Oh, dad, by the way, there might be a rumor going around town that you and mom died, so just go with it.
Turns out my pal Sheila reported me to the town elders, and I was demoted to cinder girl.
I can't tell you how much it means to Obadiah and me to have you here with us today to share in our lord's bounty.
You see, this summer, my dear brother Samuel sent news that his wife, Priscilla, was stricken with typhoid fever, and she might not survive the harvest.
So we packed up our family in Lynchburg and began our three-month journey by wagon.
But with the rain and hail, the mountain pass proved treacherous.
For weeks, our wagon was mired in mud, our food supplies dwindled.
But even as we grew weak with hunger and fended off bear attacks, the thing that kept us going was the thought of being with our loved ones on Thanksgiving.
So after four grueling months, we finally arrived in Orson, and my dear brother greeted our wagon with open arms and good news Priscilla was going to live.
'Tis truly a time to rejoice, for now our family is together on this day of thanks.
Sadly, the trip proved too much for little Johnny.
He contracted scarlet fever.
The doctors say he may not live to see Christmas.
What? Read your damn packet! That is why today we give thanks because you never know how many more thanksgivings you're gonna get.
What was wrong with me? With my family? The Moody Cochrans didn't float their Thanksgiving.
They crossed rivers and climbed mountains and ran from bears and mashed potatoes with wooden sticks to be together.
They weren't all, "it's fine.
I don't care.
I want to go to a bar.
" Well, it wasn't too late.
I had to make it home before Thanksgiving was over.
I had to remind my sweet, sweet family how thankful we should be.
Our life is good.
We've got nothing to complain Where's my phone? Well, I guess things that are worthwhile don't come without a struggle.
If the Moody Cochrans could do it, so could I.
Mike: Okay, we're almost done with the Whoo! Keep it.
Hey! Mom's here.
Look.
Power's out.
Living in the 1800s.
Tell me about it.
Mom, come play! You'll be on my team.
Oh, dad, we can have teams, right? I'll allow it.
Pull up a chair.
Wow.
Looks like you guys have been at this a whole.
- You having fun? - Yeah.
It's fine.
Is that a "fine" fine or "the TV and the power are out, so I had nothing else to do" fine? No, it's, uh actually good.
- Are you crying? - Yeah, I'm crying.
The thing is, I may have come from a long line of corner-cutters, but we don't really cut corners where it counts.
I guess sometimes you have to be without Thanksgiving to be thankful for it.
Mom.
Guess what today is.
- Hmm? - June 12th.
- Mm.
- Thanksgiving! Oh, yeah, no.
There's no way we're doing that.
We'll float it to next November.