Thanksgiving Episodes
A list of Thanksgiving episodes of The Middle.
Thanksgiving
Season 1, Episode 8 - Aired November 25 2009Frankie's plans for the perfect Thanksgiving are scuppered when Mr. Ehlert makes his staff work over the holiday. Meanwhile, Axl loses Brick in a corn maze.
Thanksgiving II
Season 2, Episode 9 - Aired November 24 2010Mike begrudgingly invites his brother, Rusty (Norm Macdonald), who is temporarily living in a tent, and his father, Big Mike, who has recently broken his hip, to join him for the annual Heck family Thanksgiving. But when Frankie observes the macho Heck men's non-communicative nature, she encourages a not-so-receptive Mike to engage them in a real conversation and express their feelings. Meanwhile, Brick is ecstatic when he discovers that Bob is bringing his girlfriend, Linda - the local librarian who loves books as much as Brick does - to Thanksgiving; and Sue wants to start a mother-daughter tradition of baking a pie for the holiday, but ends up getting more sliced up than the crust.
Thanksgiving III
Season 3, Episode 10 - Aired November 23 2011Frankie's parents, Pat (Marsha Mason) and Tag (Jerry Van Dyke), invite the Hecks to spend a few days at their house to celebrate Thanksgiving together. But the festivities begin to fall apart quickly when Frankie's sister, Janet (Molly Shannon), and her family also join in, and soon the siblings are at each other's throats over their widely differing parenting techniques. Meanwhile, Mike tries to offer some advice to Axl on how to pick up girls when he witnesses his son trying to impress a pretty mini-mart cashier - and fails miserably; Brick attempts to prove his innocence when he is accused by Janet of damaging her daughter's expensive toy; and Sue is stoked when Frankie, Pat and Janet invite her to take part in their gossip sessions.
Thanksgiving IV
Season 4, Episode 8 - Aired November 14 2012Frankie tries to do a good deed for Thanksgiving by inviting a couple of Marines to celebrate the holiday with her family. But with Frankie's parents, Pat and Tag (Marsha Mason and Jerry Van Dyke), constantly bickering, the good deed may not go unpunished. Meanwhile, while Axl grapples with his growing feelings for tutor Cassidy, he receives the good news that his foot is healed and he can play in the big game; Sue tries to track down the thief who has stolen the chicken head off of her school mascot uniform; and Brick becomes mesmerized by a book on the making of the film "Love Story".
Thanksgiving V
Season 5, Episode 7 - Aired November 20 2013Thanksgiving finds the Heck family in turmoil when Axl tries to figure out the perfect time to tell his parents that he dropped three out of his four college classes. Frankie's dad, Tag, admits to Mike that he lost a lot of money gambling online and won't be able to take his wife Pat on a planned cruise. Sue is hiding a shocking secret from her discount shopping excursion with Frankie, Dr. Goodwin and Uncle Rusty's wife and kids show up unannounced for Thanksgiving dinner, and Brick goes to extreme measures to have lime green jello salad during the feast.
Thanksgiving VI
Season 6, Episode 7 - Aired November 19 2014With the Heck house in disarray due to the kitchen sink hole and miniature dining room table, Frankie suggests that the family enjoy a Thanksgiving feast at the local King's Feast buffet. But all does not run so smoothly when Sue invites her boyfriend Darrin to dine with the family and gets the feeling that Mike doesn't like him very much, Brick invites his quirky girlfriend Cindy, and Axl is forced by Frankie to invite a girl he doesn't even know to the holiday meal.
Thanksgiving VII
The Hecks agree to forgo Thanksgiving after Frankie finds out that she's out of a job until January and must pick up a holiday position, which requires her to work on Thanksgiving in order to make ends meet. Much to her dismay, she ends up once again having to portray an overworked 19th century woman back at Heritage Village during the Harvest Feast and finds herself going face-to-face with Sheila, a woman who definitely takes her job too seriously. Meanwhile, Sue goes back to work at Spudsy's over her holiday break in the hopes that she'll once again run into Logan - the dreamy Abercrombie guy, Axl finds himself in foreign territory when he starts becoming emotional over how his life has turned out, and Mike and Brick find themselves needing to find a bonding experience when the electricity goes out at the house and they are forced to interact with each other.
Season 7, Episode 8 - Aired November 18 2015
Thanksgiving VIII
Season 8, Episode 6 - Aired November 22 2016Frankie has come to the conclusion that April is not good enough for Axl and does everything in her power to keep her out of their annual Christmas family photo. But she finds herself vying for Axl's attention by trying to rearrange timing for the family's Thanksgiving dinner when she discovers that he plans to go to April's multiple family get-togethers that day. Meanwhile, Sue goes ballistic when she discovers that Brick will now be her new co-worker at Spudsy's.
Thanksgiving IX
Season 9, Episode 7 - Aired November 14 2017The Hecks take a hectic road trip for Thanksgiving to Frankie's sister's house but soon find themselves running into barriers that could make them late to the feast; and with Axl now working with Sue and Brick at Spudsy's, they have been informed by their manager that, due to budget issues, one of them needs to quit, and they must decide amongst themselves which one will take the hit.