S9E21 "The Royal Flush"
The episode begins with Axl telling Mike that he has a potential job offer in Denver. They agree that Frankie can't know about this, but it is harder to hide this from her than it might seem, as Frankie runs into Axl in the middle of the night, and Mike tries to cover up when he accidentally mentions Denver. Based on this, Frankie thinks they are planning something for Mother's Day, and her attempts to find out what it is are entertaining.
When Sue realizes that Mother's Day is coming up, she scrambles to plan something. It's hilarious when she texts the others about it in the family's group text, which Frankie reminds them she is part of. Brick and Sue discover that the prize to a trivia contest is a trip to London for the royal wedding.
Brick and Sue go to the bar for the contest, and there is a funny joke about how Brick looks 32 when you ignore his body. They win, but discover that this was just the semi-final. In the final, they are doing well until Sue takes an ill-timed bathroom break. The two get disqualified when Brick texts Sue to come back to answer a Taylor Swift question, which is disappointing, though it was expected, and the text conversation is quite funny.
When Mother's Day arrives, the family tells Frankie of their two failed plans, first the royal wedding one, then fixing the toilet. The moments here where she gets her hopes up are really funny. The family instead makes the royal wedding day the best it can be for Frankie, which is really nice considering how the last royal wedding went for her. However, the day isn't perfect when Axl finds out that he got the job, and Frankie overhears. The look on Frankie's face is heartbreaking. This final scene gave me goosebumps, the end is near for this show and I am not ready.
There were some slower moments earlier in the episode, but the episode came to a wonderful conclusion with the Heck family putting in an effort for Frankie, and then gave us a final moment that is letting us know to brace for what's to come. Expect laughs and tears in the final hour and a half of The Middle over the next two weeks.
Score: 9.5/10
What did you think of "The Royal Flush"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!