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The Best Episodes of The Middle Season 1

Every episode of The Middle Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Middle Season 1!

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The daily mishaps of a married woman and her semi-dysfunctional family and their attempts to survive life in general in the city of Orson, Indiana.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    The Middle Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot
    7.6/10(950 votes)

    #1 - Pilot

    S1:E1

    Meet the Hecks – an ordinary family struggling to survive each other and life in Middle America. PATRICIA HEATON stars as a working mother whose family life is one big happy mess.

    Director:Julie Anne Robinson
    Writers:Eileen Heisler, DeAnn Heline

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  2. The Middle Season 1 Episode 2 - The Cheerleader
    7.6/10(706 votes)

    #2 - The Cheerleader

    S1:E2

    Facing financial disaster, Frankie tries to save her job; Sue fails swim team tryouts, then learns she needs glasses; and Brick starts reading his mother's steamy romance novels.

    Director:Lee Shallat Chemel
    Writers:Eileen Heisler, DeAnn Heline

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  3. The Middle Season 1 Episode 3 - The Floating Anniversary
    7.3/10(674 votes)

    #3 - The Floating Anniversary

    S1:E3

    Frankie and Mike's romantic plans for their anniversary are thwarted by a sick Brick, a lovesick Sue, a learner's permit-toting Axl, two crazy aunts and their diaper-wearing dog.

    Director:Gail Mancuso
    Writer:Rob Ulin

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  4. The Middle Season 1 Episode 4 - The Trip
    7.6/10(611 votes)

    #4 - The Trip

    S1:E4

    Frankie urges Sue to fight for her right to attend a class trip after making the grade by selling thousands of dollars worth of sausage and cheese; Brick gets his first girlfriend.

    Director:Lee Shallat Chemel
    Writers:Mitch Hunter, Jana Hunter

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  5. The Middle Season 1 Episode 5 - The Block Party
    7.8/10(593 votes)

    #5 - The Block Party

    S1:E5

    After Brick’s teachers tell his parents that he’s “socially challenged,” Mike tries to help Brick make friends; while Frankie needs her son’s coveted football jersey.

    Director:Ken Whittingham
    Writer:Alex Reid

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  6. The Middle Season 1 Episode 6 - The Front Door
    7.6/10(588 votes)

    #6 - The Front Door

    S1:E6

    Mike insists that only Axl fix the front door after he knocks it down; Frankie must sell a car within a week; and its school picture time for a photographically challenged Sue.

    Director:Michael Spiller
    Writer:Russ Woody

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  7. The Middle Season 1 Episode 7 - The Scratch
    7.7/10(621 votes)

    #7 - The Scratch

    S1:E7

    Frankie must create the illusion of a picture-perfect family when an accident causing a small scratch on Brick leads a social worker to visit the Heck household.

    Directors:Wendey Stanzler, Alex Reid
    Writers:Eileen Heisler, DeAnn Heline

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  8. The Middle Season 1 Episode 8 - Thanksgiving
    7.7/10(591 votes)

    #8 - Thanksgiving

    S1:E8

    Frankie’s dream of the perfect Thanksgiving turns into a nightmare when Mr. Ehlert forces the staff to work on the holiday – and Axl loses Brick in a corn maze.

    Director:Michael Spiller
    Writer:Vijal Patel

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  9. The Middle Season 1 Episode 9 - Siblings
    7.6/10(553 votes)

    #9 - Siblings

    S1:E9

    Frankie encounters two perfect siblings and vows to make her children stop fighting and become a loving family. Meanwhile, Aunt Edie makes a costly mistake at the quarry and Mike considers firing her.

    Director:Barnet Kellman
    Writer:Rob Ulin

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  10. The Middle Season 1 Episode 10 - Christmas
    7.9/10(572 votes)

    #10 - Christmas

    S1:E10

    Mike takes over the responsibility of organizing the Heck family Christmas while Frankie practices for a solo that she is singing at midnight mass. However, she gets jealous when Mike seems to be doing a better job than she ever did. Meanwhile, Frankie and Mike help Brick get over a problem so he can get into the Christmas spirit.

    Director:Reginald Hudlin
    Writer:Roy Brown

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  11. The Middle Season 1 Episode 11 - The Jeans
    7.6/10(556 votes)

    #11 - The Jeans

    S1:E11

    A hormonally charged Sue wants a cool pair of jeans in order to fit in with her peers, resulting in Frankie and Mike enduring the unpredictability of teenagers, while Axl wants a car to impress a girl. Meanwhile, attempting to teach Brick about responsibility, Frankie and Mike reluctantly allow him to take care of Aunt Edie and Aunt Ginny's dog Doris for a few days.

    Director:Jamie Babbit
    Writers:Mitch Hunter, Jana Hunter

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  12. The Middle Season 1 Episode 12 - The Neighbor
    7.7/10(597 votes)

    #12 - The Neighbor

    S1:E12

    When Sue has a run-in with her sons, Frankie fears that a confrontation with the trasy neighbor may be at hand. Meanwhile, Axl attempts to bribe Brick after he's asked to teach his little brother how to kick a ball for a gym requirement. However, Brick is the one turning the tables and it ends up bribing him for another favor.

    Director:Lee Shallat Chemel
    Writers:Mitch Hunter, Jana Hunter

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  13. The Middle Season 1 Episode 13 - The Interview
    7.7/10(540 votes)

    #13 - The Interview

    S1:E13

    Mike loses his job when the plant shuts down for scientific research after he discovers a dinosaur bone in the quarry. However, Mike starts to get irregular feelings when he discovers how drastically things have change technologically over the years when considering the terms of searching for a job. Meanwhile, Frankie feels she must once again come to Brick's rescue when he decides to run for school historian.

    Director:Ken Whittingham
    Writer:Vijal Patel

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  14. The Middle Season 1 Episode 14 - The Yelling
    7.5/10(527 votes)

    #14 - The Yelling

    S1:E14

    Frankie makes a deal with her kids, that if they do their homework and keep chores she won't nag them. Meanwhile, Mike takes a job as a night driver with Bob.

    Director:Elliot Hegarty
    Writer:Rob Ulin

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  15. The Middle Season 1 Episode 15 - Valentine's Day
    7.8/10(559 votes)

    #15 - Valentine's Day

    S1:E15

    Valentine's Day unexpectedly finds Frankie and Mike home alone and ready for a romantic evening while Brick is away at his first sleepover, Sue goes to her first boy-girl party, and Axl has a big date night planned with some friends. But Cupid's arrow doesn't exactly hit the target, and the best laid plans soon begin to unravel.

    Director:Chris Koch
    Writer:Bruce Rasmussen

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  16. The Middle Season 1 Episode 16 - The Bee
    7.8/10(549 votes)

    #16 - The Bee

    S1:E16

    When Mike discovers that Brick is a spelling whiz and won the school spelling bee, he puts all his efforts into training him to win the regional bee, which could ultimately lead to competing in the Scripps Spelling Bee. But as the family gets set for their road trip to Chicago for the regional bee, Frankie and Mike are horrified when they realize they forgot one thing -- Sue's birthday.

    Director:Ken Whittingham
    Writers:Eileen Heisler, DeAnn Heline

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  17. The Middle Season 1 Episode 17 - The Break Up
    7.9/10(545 votes)

    #17 - The Break Up

    S1:E17

    Axl is heartbroken when his girlfriend (Alexa Vega) breaks up with him; Sue and Brick watch a scary movie.

    Director:Wendey Stanzler
    Writer:Vijal Patel

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  18. The Middle Season 1 Episode 18 - The Fun House
    7.4/10(537 votes)

    #18 - The Fun House

    S1:E18

    Frankie fears for her job when a motivational consultant comes to get the sale team into shape. While Frankie is putting in many extra hours, Mike has to deal with the children and their issues, including making the house more fun for Axl and his friends, giving advice to Sue's ex-boyfriend and helping Brick with a school project.

    Director:Chris Koch
    Writer:Roy Brown

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  19. The Middle Season 1 Episode 19 - The Final Four
    7.4/10(499 votes)

    #19 - The Final Four

    S1:E19

    Mike's dream comes to fruition when Frankie's boss, Mr. Ehlert, offers him two tickets to the Final Four. Unfortunately, Frankie's uncle dies and the funeral is set for the same day, leaving the two in a battle and Frankie making Mike chose what life event is more important to him. Meanwhile, Sue gets Brick out of going to a birthday party by impersonating Frankie over the phone, but the plan hits a bump when Frankie needs to call and tell them that Brick cannot attend because of the funeral.

    Director:Alex Reid
    Writer:Rob Ulin

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  20. The Middle Season 1 Episode 20 - TV or Not TV
    7.6/10(510 votes)

    #20 - TV or Not TV

    S1:E20

    After failing to pay the electric bill on time, the electric company shuts off the Heck's power. This leads Frankie and Mike to cut down on their unnecessary expenses, including their cable TV. The kids take up other activities to fill the void, but Frankie and Mike have a hard time figuring out what to do. Meanwhile, Brick and his other socially-challenged friends have to go outside for recess when the school library shuts down.

    Director:Lee Shallat Chemel
    Writer:Vijal Patel

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  21. The Middle Season 1 Episode 21 - Worry Duty
    7.6/10(515 votes)

    #21 - Worry Duty

    S1:E21

    Frankie is worried that Axl's going to get his heart crushed again when his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Morgan (Alexa Vega, "Spy Kids," "Ruby & the Rockits"), re-enters his life and tries to mold him into the man she wants him to be. Meanwhile Brick learns what it means to be a mother hen when he has to watch over a baby chick for a school science project.

    Director:Lee Shallat Chemel
    Writer:Bruce Rasmussen

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  22. The Middle Season 1 Episode 22 - Mother's Day
    7.5/10(529 votes)

    #22 - Mother's Day

    S1:E22

    Mother's Day for Frankie is anything but serene when she finds herself doing more for Mike and the kids and less for herself. But she learns that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when she escapes the family for a few hours to go to her mom's (Marsha Mason, "The Goodbye Girl," "Chapter Two") and ends up acting like a child by making her mom wait on her hand-and-foot. Meanwhile, Sue feels guilty when she steals a motivational magnet from a store whose message actually enticed her to shoplift it.

    Director:Barnet Kellman
    Writer:Mitch Hunter

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  23. The Middle Season 1 Episode 23 - Signals
    7.7/10(514 votes)

    #23 - Signals

    S1:E23

    Frankie points out to Mike that his social ineptness has been passed on to Brick, leading Mike to decide that both he and Brick need to be more social, and the Heck family BBQ is the perfect time to try. Meanwhile, Axl volunteers to clean the family pool in an attempt to get girls to stop by and swim and Sue tries to raise money for a local parish because her new friend, Reverend TimTom might be leaving in order to keep costs down

    Director:Jamie Babbit
    Writers:Eileen Heisler, DeAnn Heline

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  24. The Middle Season 1 Episode 24 - Average Rules
    8.1/10(554 votes)

    #24 - Average Rules

    S1:E24

    Parent-Teacher conferences cause Frankie to worry about the kids. In them she's told Axl is gifted but not applying himself, that her teachers still do not know who Sue is, and Brick may have to repeat the second-grade due to failure to return over 30 library books. Guest star Betty White as the school librarian.

    Director:Wendey Stanzler
    Writers:Eileen Heisler, DeAnn Heline

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Pilot" is the best rated episode of "The Middle" season 1. It scored 7.6/10 based on 950 votes. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson and written by Eileen Heisler, DeAnn Heline, it aired on 9/30/2009. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "The Cheerleader".