The Middle (2009–2018): Season 2, Episode 9 - Thanksgiving II - full transcript

Thanksgiving means
a lot of things...

the food, the traditions,

but mostly it means family
traveling far and wide

to be together.

Even when times are hard,

you know the holiday will be
worthwhile if family's coming.

You're not coming? Why?

It's not a tone.

My tone is upset, mom.

I'm upset.

But we were gonna do
the black Friday sales together



and use dad's handicapped
placard to park close.

No, don't send the placard.
That is not the point.

Well, if you're not coming,
then send the placard.

What?

Okay. We talked about this
before. Cry first, then talk.

Mom is going

to Janet's house
for Thanksgiving again,

because she doesn't want to miss
Lucy's ballet recital.

Who the hell has
a ballet recital

on Thanksgiving?
Thank you!

Well, at least we'll still have
my aunts and your dad.

Invited your dad, didn't you?

Yeah, of course.
You asked me to.

I'll do it.



Oh, come on!
Just he makes it so damn hard.

He's gonna say that
he doesn't want to be a bother,

and I'm gonna say,
"you won't be,"

and he'll say,
"oh, I don't know,"

and I'm gonna wind up begging
him to please, please, please

come to Thanksgiving. It happens every year.
I want family in this house, Mike.

Otherwise it's not Thanksgiving.
It's just overeating.

Well, I'm up to eight people
for Thanksgiving,

so it should feel pretty full.

You're not gonna bail
on me, are you?

No. Mm. You have to let me
bring something.

Okay.

I was thinking maybe yams...

String beans...

And... my girlfriend.

Really?

Yes. I was trying to slept her
in as if she was another food

but it's not.
It's my girlfriend.

Wow!
You have a girlfriend?

Bob, that's great.

Ohh. So is this someone
you've actually...

You know, met?

Of course. She's a librarian
at the public library.

I would never have
the strength to approach her

if I hadn't been listening
to this motivational podcast.

It has given me the confidence

to just deal
with people differently.

That's right.
I remember last week

when Pete tried to take
the meat out of your sandwich,

and you didn't let him.

I didn't let him!

Hi.

Hey, mom. I've been thinking.
I know you feel bad

'cause grandma's not coming
to Thanksgiving.

So I was thinking,
maybe you and I could start

our own
mother-daughter tradition

that we could do together.

Ohh! I thought we could
bake a homemade apple pie

from scratch.

Yeah. It'll be
super-rewarding and bonding,

'cause Martha Stewart says
apple pie is actually

the most time-consuming
and difficult

of all fruit-based desserts...
so simple, yet so complex,

just like the relationship

between
a mother and a daughter.

Sounds fun. It'll be good
to have another dessert,

'cause Bob's bringing
miss Gibbs from the library.

Hold on. A librarian is
coming here?

That's right.

An actual librarian is
coming here?

Looks that way.

Oh, my gosh.
But what will I wear?

What will I say?
Axl, we have to clean our room.

Yeah,
that's not happening.

Yeah? Let me see
if this changes your mind.

A librarian is coming over.

Oh, my God.
Why didn't you say that?

In that case, uh...

Hey, uh... this stuff is
kinda piling up here.

Have you seen my dad lately?

No, not since they took him
away in the ambulance.

Dad.

Son.

They told me at the desk

you broke your hip
three weeks ago.

Why the hell didn't you
call me?

You fix hips?
I live 15 minutes away.

You don't think I want to know

when my dad goes
into the hospital?

Oh, you got
your own concerns. I was fine.

I-I dragged myself on my belly
from the yard into the house,

knocked the telephone
onto the floor,

and dialed with my face.

When was I supposed
to know this?

I only found out
'cause I went by the house

to invite you to Thanksgiving.

Oh, no. You don't want
an old man with a broken hip

at your Thanksgiving.
That's true, but my wife does.

Please, dad. Please, please,
please come to Thanksgiving.

Oh I don't want to be a bother.

It's not a choice, dad.

The nurses say you gotta be
discharged tomorrow,

and they can't let you
go home alone. Don't worry.

We got tv and crummy food
at our house, too.

You don't exactly roll out
the red carpet, do you?

We were taking turns.
That was the rule.

And then you swoop in
with Lucy's ballet recital.

May I finish?
Fine. Forget it.

Mom, I found
two apple pie recipes.

Which one do you think would
taste better? This one.

If it's
aunt Janet, don't answer it.

It's great that you're keeping
your dad hydrated...

But have the two of you
done any talking

in the last two days? Of course we talked.
We talk all the time.

What's on next?

Don't know.

No, I mean really talk,
Mike,

about what's gonna happen
after Thanksgiving.

He can't go back to that
house by himself.

What does your brother say?
Oh, come on.

You haven't talked to him yet?

Rusty'll just make
everything more complicated.

Your brother has the right to be
involved in this decision, Mike.

He's your brother,
your partner for life.

Nothing is more important
than family.

I said, let it ring!

So Mike sucked it up and went
over to his brother's house.

Hey, Mike. Hi.

Rusty.

Hey. How's it goin'?

What the hell happened?

Huh? Oh. Well, you know
how it is with the economy.

The economy burned down
your house?

Well, no, that was, uh,
that was a massive fire.

Why didn't you call me?
Are you a fireman?

I'm your brother, for God sake.
How'd this happen? Eh, well,

I was, uh, runnin' the hot plate
about four weeks ago,

and I noticed
one of the cords was frayed.

I kept telling myself,
keep your eye on that,

but wouldn't you know it?

I fell asleep facedown
with a cigarette in my mouth.

I blame myself partially.
Well, listen...

I came out to find ya
'cause dad broke his hip.

Never even told me he was in the hospital.
For cryin' out loud.

What does it take that old man
to pick up a phone, huh?

Yeah. Well, he's gonna stay
with us through Thanksgiving.

I'm guessing
you're not doing anything

for Thanksgiving yourself.
Wasn't planning anything big.

Why don't you come stay
with us?

It'd be nice for the kids to see ya.
Oh, you still got the kids, huh?

Yeah, the state makes you
keep 'em until a certain age.

Well, uh, I don't want to be a bother.

So Mike brought Rusty,
and now we had

all three heck men
in the house.

At least now the three of them
could sit down together

and really talk
about the future.

What's on next?

I don't know.

There's gotta be somethin'.

By Wednesday,
the kids were fighting,

the men were on their butts
watching tv,

and the women were
in the kitchen.

It was beginning to feel a lot
like Thanksgiving.

I'm gonna tell dad.
Well, I'm gonna tell him you're an idiot.

He cleaned up all my stuff,
and now I can't find

my nunchakus
from the state fair.

They're the only thing in this house
that I care about! A librarian's coming.

How do you not get this?
I can't talk to him.

No, no. Let me handle this.
Boys, boys, come here.

Let me give you a piece
of advice from my own life, huh?

If you're going to smoke,

don't do it facedown
in a pillow.

I got her for labor day?
Oh, please.

You don't have a leg to stand
on, and you know it.

Ow!
Uh, I got a bleeder.

Okay.
That's not so bad. Here.

Just rinse it off
in the bathroom

and keep it elevated.

I-I'll get the blood
out of the apples.

Hey.
So did you talk to Rusty?

What does he want
to do about your dad?

Uh, I don't know.
Didn't talk to him.

Seems like he's got a lot
on his plate right now.

Heard him talking
to his insurance.

Guess they're not gonna give him any
money to rebuild. What? Why not?

I don't know. So where's he gonna live?
What's he gonna do?

I don't know. You don't know?
So did you guys talk about anything?

We talked about
how lousy Purdue's playin'.

Mike, your dad is
dragging himself around

on his belly.

Your brother's living
in a tent.

They might not see the problem,
but there is one.

You've gotta figure
something out.

Well, I guess what
would make the most sense

is for Rusty to move in
with dad for a while.

That's great.Now if there was
only a way

to transmit ideas
from one person to another.

I'm not gonna tell 'em
what to do, Frankie.

They're grown men.
I don't want to be a bother.

Oh, no. Mike.
Mike, stay with me.

Resist the pull
of history, Mike.

Do not be swept down
that river with them.

You have to be the sane one.

Fine. We'll get into it...
At the half.

Don't worry, mom.

I can still peel the apples
with my good hand. See?

It's okay. I'm good.

See?

So that night,
several halftimes later,

Mike sat down
to have a heart-to-heart

with his family.

So, uh, listen,
the thing is, dad,

the hospital says you're
gonna need somebody to live

in the house with u,

and, Rusty, it's gonna
start snowing any day now,

so you're gonna need a house,
you know, without a zipper.

So what seems
the most logical thing to me

is for Rusty to move in
with dad

and help take care of him.

- Oh, I'll be fine.
- Oh, yeah. Don't worry about me.

Okay then. Good talk.

Let's see what's on tv.

Look, they said they're fine.
They're fine.

Not everybody's like
your family,

with the feelings and the talking and the needs.
Oh, I'm very aware of

how your family is
nothing like my family.

Well, at least
my family's here.

My... family...

Loves me!

Hay turkey day!

Hey, mom, Bob just arrived
with his date, Lisa.

Oh, yeah I-I'm gonna
give you to axl. Okay.

Just talk to her.
Come on.

Happy Thanksgiving, grandmom.
Oh, wait. Hey.

Sue's trying to get
the phone away from me.

Come on, sue. Wait your tu.
You're so rude. God!

Hi, grandma. Frankie, this is the
new ray of sunshine in my life, Lisa.

Thank you for inviting me
into your lovely home.

I brought
my own mashed potatoes.

Oh, you didn't need to do that.

I'm lactose-intolerant.
Trust me, I'm doing you a favor

isn't she amazing?

Uh, grandma, I gotta go.
A librarian just walked in.

Is that pat?

Happy Thanksgiving.

Lisa, I think you probably know
Myon brick from the library.

Hi.

Sure. Nice tie.
Oh, thanks.

It's really hard to find clothes
with a book theme. Tell me about it.

Well, send pictures of the recital.

Let me give you
to big Mike and Rusty.

Uh, y-yeah, sorry.
I couldn't find 'em.

Yeah. Okay. Uh, I gotta go.

Okay, Frankie says
dinner's just about ready,

so let's take a seat.
Bird looks good.

Jeez, it's nice to see
the family all together

like this, huh?
Mm-hmm.

Hey, look at aunt Edie.

She's holding up
pretty good, huh?

If I was a thousand years older,
I'd take run at that.

So you really read
all of dickens?

Yep. I started last summer
and finished by the spring.

When I was his age,
I was quite the reader myself.

No dickens, though.

I was homeschooled.

My reading list was all about
how to avoid the devil.

No kidding?
You're still driving?

Well, that's just terrifying.

You know, you're eating butter,
by the way.

Well, it looks so funny,
but at least it smells g... ow!

My foot!
Oh, it burned my foot.

Oh, honey, this pie
is gonna kill you.

Here.

Oh. For my foot?

No, no. For dessert. Let's just
go back to my old tradition.

As long as you heat it up at home, it's homemade.
Really?

Oh, yeah.

From my mother
to your mother to you.

And so I give it to him,

and he files the book
under 592,

and it was a botany book!

Oh, my God. Everyone knows
botany is 580-589.

Of course!

You know what
book I really love?

"Catcher in the rye."

Really?

What was your favorite part?

When...

He caught the rye.

That's what I thought.

Hello?

Hi, mom.

What?

Yeah, I-I would love that.

She wants to drive down

and meet me at the mall
for black Friday.

Yeah. You know,
that's... that a long way for you.

I could meet you halfway
at the one at decatur.

I know I'm sorry
we've been fighting.

I know. I love you, too.
I'll see you tomorrow.

All right. I love you. Yeah. Love you.

It's nice how y-you guys say
"I love you" to each other

all the time
or somethin' there, huh?

Well, you know us.
We're pretty Gus folks.

Gets a little silly sometimes.

It's not silly. It's nice.
It's really nice.

Oh. I know there's not a lot
of that in your family.

Oh, no. We don't go in for that.
Yeah.

Uh, you know,
once a waitress told me...

she said that if my father had
told me he loved me just once,

that my life would've turned out
complete differently. Oh, Rusty.

Yeah. You would've liked her.
Oh.

Wow, brick.
This is very impressive.

Thank you.

And you've read all these?

Sure have.

Oh, e-excuse me.

I thought
this was the bathroom.

Whatcha doin'?

Brick was just
showing me his books.

He's got an amazing collection.

Oh, really?

I showed Lisa my car
when I drove her here.

'Cause I have a car
and a driver's license.

Do you have
a driver's license, brick?

No, but I have a library card.

Oh, yeah? I stayed up
till midnight last night.

How about you?

Guess what, Mike?
Your family is not fine.

Your brother is crying out
for love.

What?

You know what he just told me?

That if he had ever heard
your father say "I love you,"

it would change
his entire life. Rusty said that?

Well, a waitress said it
to him, and he told me,

but it was very emotional.

Your brother has never heard
your father say "I love you,"

and he has been craving it
all these years,

and now he's reaching out
through the waitress

to me, to you, to your dad.
Was this in a local restaurant?

Oh, Mike.
You're not getting this.

This is huge. That's why
you're all the way you are.

And you know what you have
to do now, don't you?

You have to tell
your father you love him.

Oh, my God.
Words are powerful, Mike.

If you say "I love you"
to your dad,

then he'll be able
to say it back to you

and then to your brother,

and then you'll all
just unlock,

and you'll be able to talk
to each other about this stuff,

and then a floodgate
will be opened

and everything that you've ever
wanted to say to each other

will just come pouring out.

That sounds awful.
Mike.

Not happening.
No.

The enemy
of my enemy is my friend.

Okay.

I know you and your brother
have h trouble in the past.

Maybe we could help
each other out.

Does he have any weaknesses,
vulnerabilities?

Bob, are you scared
that my 9-year-old brother

is gonna steal your girlfriend?

So allergies maybe?

Ooh, if we play
football after dinner,

I call dad on my team.
Mm-hmm.

When you and uncle Rusty
were kids,

did you used to play football
on Thanksgiving?

Uh... you know,
I guess we did.

It was just so long ago.
Did we, Rus?

Well, I remember we played,
uh, poker after dinner

and, uh, we'd use peanuts
for chips,

and, uh, before you knew it,

your dad and I would be
shoving peanuts way up our nose,

and then we'd... we'd shoot them
out at the tv.

He was really good at it.

The last time we were
together on Thanksgiving,

your mother was alive.

All right.

Okay. I'm gonna...

I'm going to...

Okay.

I am, uh, gonna get
the ball rollin'.

And here I go.

Uh... just gonna say it.

I love you, dad.

And I love you, Mike.

And... and I love you, sue.

I love you, too, mom.
And I love you, brick.

Love you, mom.
And I love you, axl.

Got it.

Anybody else wanna chime in,
go ahead.

Love you, axl.
Love you, brick.

Love you, sue.
Love you, axl.

Yeah, yeah. I kinda love you,
brick and sue.

Oh, my God.
I just love you so much.

I...

I love you, miss Gibbs.

I love you, brick.

I loved dick Peterson, but he was a black man...

So it was forbidden.
It was a different time,

just a different time.

These mashed potatoes
are sure something else.

Well, who would've thought
"I love you" would turn out

to be the biggest wet blanket
ever thrown

over a Thanksgiving dinner?

But then two hours later,
the colts won...

Yes! What a comeback!
Oh! How about that?

And what we couldn't
solve in five days...

Peon Manning
solved in five seconds.

Well, I appreciate
the hospitality

these past few days,

but I'best be getting
back to my place.

Well, at least, uh,
let me drive ya, you know?

You probably shouldn't be
driving yourself.

Well, if you're gonna
drive me there,

might as well stay the night.
Yeah, I could pitch my tent in the yard.

Well, if you're gonna
pitch your tent,

you might as well come inside.

Well, if I come inside,
I might as well, uh,

move some stuff around
in your place,

you know, fix you some meals,

and, uh, till you get
rid of the Walker.

Okay. Suit yourself.

Yeah. Suits me.

So long, Mike.

Dad. Been good seeing ya.

Thanks for the meal.

You're welcome, big Mike.

Take care.
Be careful.

Wow. Has that
ever happened before?

No, and I hope
it never happens again.

Okay, this may be
the best Thanksgiving

we've ever had.

It was horrible,

and I don't wanna talk
about it anymore.

Come on!

It was incredibly moving.

Did you... oh...
thank God I spoke up,

'cause I knew your brother
was crying out for help,

and then
when you opened the gate

and the love was just
pouring through...

From you
to your dad to your brother,

I just thought that that was...

Okay. All right. You're gettin'
a little cry-y again here.

Remember, cry first, then talk.