7.5/10339 votes#1 - Last Whiff of Summer (1)
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/26/2012
Mike accidentally reveals that Axl is his favorite child; Brick tries to grow a giant tomato; Sue encourages her father to participate in a variety of activities with her.
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/10341 votes
#2 - Last Whiff of Summer (2)
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 9/26/2012
Mike accidentally reveals that Axl is his favorite child; Brick tries to grow a giant tomato; Sue encourages her father to participate in a variety of activities with her.
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: N/A
7.3/10304 votes#3 - The Second Act
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 10/3/2012
After being fired from the car dealership and vowing not to take any job that comes her way, Frankie goes to tech school to get a real career; Axl begins his senior year of high school; sophomore Sue mentors a freshman.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/10319 votes#4 - Bunny Therapy
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 10/10/2012
To help Brick's interactions with people, the school therapist urges Frankie and Mike to get him a small pet, but the ill-tempered bunny they give him teaches the family the true meaning of evil; Axl dates two cheerleaders.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/10331 votes#5 - The Hose
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/17/2012
A neighbor accuses Frankie of stealing her hose; Sue cancels a road trip to Cincinnati after seeing Mike's paycheck; Brick learns about the birds and the bees.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/10319 votes#6 - Halloween III: The Driving
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 10/24/2012
Sue accidentally runs over Axl's foot while practicing driving; Axl looks forward to voting; Brick binges on Halloween candy.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/10341 votes#7 - The Safe
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/7/2012
Frankie does not make a good impression on the first day of dental assistant school; Mike and Frankie ask Axl to get a tutor and improve his grades; Sue and Brick try to pawn an item they found in an old safe.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/10326 votes#8 - Thanksgiving IV
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 11/14/2012
Frankie invites a couple of Marines to share Thanksgiving with her family; Axl gets good news; Sue tries to find the person who stole the chicken head from her uniform; Brick is mesmerized by a book.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/10319 votes#9 - Christmas Help
Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 12/5/2012
Mike helps his brother Rusty move some furniture into the Heck family's garage, only to realize the furniture is stolen; Frankie hopes to land a part-time job in a department store so she can get a discount on Christmas presents.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/10320 votes#10 - Twenty Years
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/12/2012
Frankie worries Mike is tiring of her as their 20th anniversary draws close; Sue tries to get Axl and Brick's help planning a party for their parents; Axl spoils the end of a book for Brick.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.4/10385 votes#11 - Life Skills
Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 1/9/2013
Axl feels embarrassed when he and Sue are asked to work on a school project together; Brick's school therapist (Dave Foley) tries to help him make friends.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/10310 votes#12 - One Kid at a Time
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 1/16/2013
When Frankie and Mike dedicate a day to each of their children, Axl takes them to a paintball range, Sue has them do 17 separate activities and Brick wants to go to a sci-fi convention.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/10334 votes#13 - The Friend
Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 1/23/2013
Frankie tries to get Mike to spend time with a new neighbor who shares his interests; Sue demands a cheer-off between the Wrestlerettes and the cheerleaders.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/10337 votes#14 - The Smile
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 2/6/2013
Frankie and Mike worry that Axl may not get a sports scholarship; Sue's school science project involves smiling; Brick wants an iPad.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10325 votes#15 - Valentine's Day IV
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 2/13/2013
Axl and his friends, Darrin and Sean, offer to help guys break up with their girlfriends; Sue's ex-boyfriend, Matt, invites her to a Valentine's Day dance at school; Mike accidentally sends a romantic text to a co-worker instead of to Frankie.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/10320 votes#16 - Winners and Losers
Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 2/20/2013
Frankie is worried when Brick decides to go on a three-day school trip to Chicago; Sue wants to know if Darrin, one of Axl's friends, has feelings for her.
Director: John Putch
Writer: David S. Rosenthal
8.0/10325 votes#17 - Wheel of Pain
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 2/27/2013
When Axl, Sue and Brick accidentally break the family room window, they decide to blame the Glossner children -- the bad seeds of the neighborhood; Frankie tries to land a prime dental rotation spot.
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: Michael Saltzman
7.4/10307 votes#18 - The Name
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 3/27/2013
Frankie's sister (Molly Shannon) offers to help at the house while Frankie studies for her finals for dental-assistant school; Axl tries not to act jealous when Cassidy's ex-boyfriend visits.
Director: Alex Hardcastle
Writer: Roy Brown
7.9/10319 votes#19 - The Bachelor
Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 4/3/2013
Disappointed with the finale of "The Bachelor," Frankie mopes for days; when Sue joins the school's tennis team, Mike tries to toughen her up by complimenting her opponents during matches; Cassidy and Axl consider the future of their relationship.
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: Tim Hobert
7.3/10292 votes#20 - Dollar Days
Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 4/10/2013
Frankie has a difficult time describing herself during a job interview; Sue dispenses unwanted advice to Axl and his band mates; Brick joins the Prairie Scouts.
Director: Phil Traill
Writer: Mitch Hunter, Jana Hunter
7.2/10304 votes#21 - From Orson with Love
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 5/1/2013
Frankie tries to make Sue appear more popular on Facebook; Frankie's dad (Jerry Van Dyke) makes Mike listen to long-winded life stories; Brick and Axl try to create a viral video.
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: Robin Shorr
7.6/10292 votes#22 - Hallelujah Hoedown
Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 5/8/2013
Frankie tells the kids what she wants for Mother's day so one of them can clue in Mike; after repeatedly failing the driving test, Sue feels resentful when her friends get their licenses; Axl receives stunning news from Cassidy.
Director: Blake T. Evans
Writer: David S. Rosenthal
7.3/10288 votes#23 - The Ditch
Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 5/15/2013
While dressed in a lab coat for her dental assisting job, Frankie is mistaken for a doctor and receives special treatment; Axl talks Sue into ditching school for the day; Mike and Axl's fishing trip goes awry.
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Writer: Roy Brown
7.9/10330 votes#24 - The Graduation
Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 5/22/2013
Tension builds as Frankie tries to plan a graduation party for uncooperative Axl; Sue tries to get her driver's license for a sixth time; Brick must assemble a slide show highlighting the past four years of school.
Director: Eileen Heisler
Writer: Tim Hobert
The Best Episodes of The Middle Season 4
Every episode of The Middle Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Middle Season 4!
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.
Genre:Comedy
Network:ABC
Season 4 Ratings Summary
"Last Whiff of Summer (1)" is the best rated episode of "The Middle" season 4. It scored 7.5/10 based on 339 votes. Directed by Lee Shallat Chemel and written by N/A, it aired on 9/26/2012. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Last Whiff of Summer (2)".