The BEST episodes of The Middle season 8

Every episode of The Middle season 8, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Middle season 8!

Frankie Heck and her husband Mike have lived in Orson, Indiana, their whole lives. A man of few words (every one a zinger), Mike is a manager at the town quarry and Frankie is the third-best used car salesman (out of the three) at the local dealership. She may not be a high-powered career woman, but when it comes to her family, she'll go to just about any length. And with kids like these, she had better. There's Axl, her semi-nudist teenage son conceived while under the influence of Guns N' Roses; Sue, the awkward teenage daughter who fails at everything... but with the utmost of gusto; and their seven-year-old son Brick, whose best friend is his backpack. Sometimes it seems like everyone is trying to get to the top, or struggling not to hit bottom, but we think Frankie and her family will find a lot of love, and a lot of laughs, somewhere in "The Middle".

Last Updated: 9/24/2024Network: ABC (US)Status: Ended
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Fight or Flight
star
7.99
891 votes

#1 - Fight or Flight

Season 8 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/16/2017

Having finally graduated college, Axl tells Frankie and Mike that he's planning on going to Europe over the summer with Kenny. Although Frankie thinks this is a great once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Mike is less than pleased and thinks his slacker son should be putting all of his summer efforts into finding a job. Meanwhile, Sue begins to panic after she barely scrapes a parked SUV and doesn't hear back from the owner after leaving several notes on the windshield, and Brick discovers that his sudden onset of backaches is due to not sitting in his lawn chair, which was replaced by a normal kitchen-table chair.

Watch Now:Amazon
Exes and Ohhhs
star
7.94
959 votes

#2 - Exes and Ohhhs

Season 8 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/14/2017

Axl is startled to run into nearly all of his former flames at a St. Patrick's Day party leaving him to wonder if it is a sign about his love life; Brick buys an old microfiche machine at a library sale, leaving Frankie and Mike less than thrilled.

Watch Now:Amazon
A Very Marry Christmas
star
7.86
913 votes

#3 - A Very Marry Christmas

Season 8 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/13/2016

As Christmas approaches, Sue keeps a holiday secret from the family. After agreeing to watch the neighbor’s three kids, Brick finds himself trying to hide from them as they had such a good time that they keep wanting to come over and play. Mike doesn’t know how to react when Bill Norwood gives him a Christmas gift for the first time ever,

Watch Now:Amazon
The Final Final
star
7.81
892 votes

#4 - The Final Final

Season 8 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/9/2017

Frankie, Mike and Brick notice that luck is on their side after the Prairie Scouts inadvertently paint the Donahue's address on their curb; after Axl misses his final college exam before graduation, he asks his teacher to let him take it.

Watch Now:Amazon
Adult Swim
star
7.80
896 votes

#5 - Adult Swim

Season 8 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/18/2017

After Axl discovers that he doesn't have a decent suit to wear for business interviews, he is excited when Frankie agrees to take him shopping to help him find a suit; Mike threatens to get rid of the summer pool if Sue and Brick don't use it.

Watch Now:Amazon
Swing and a Miss
star
7.80
945 votes

#6 - Swing and a Miss

Season 8 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/7/2017

Lexie joins the Hecks for their spring break plans where she confesses to Sue that she has a crush on Axl; Mike hires Coach Babbitt as a ringer to help the quarry softball team; Frankie tries to figure out the root of an underhanded comment.

Directors: Danny Salles
Writer: Roy Brown
Watch Now:Amazon
The Par-tay
star
7.77
895 votes

#7 - The Par-tay

Season 8 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/4/2017

Mike's friendship with Bill Norwood is in jeopardy after Bill gets angry when Mike poaches his plumber at a reduced rate; Frankie is disappointed when Sue refuses to tell her who she has a crush on; Brick wants Axl to party with him at college.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Confirmation
star
7.77
932 votes

#8 - The Confirmation

Season 8 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/11/2017

After being reminded that Brick was never confirmed, Frankie and Mike send him to Reverend TimTom's Wilderness Jesus Jam weekend camp to brush up on his religious knowledge in preparation for the blessed event. But Brick is shocked to discover that his bunkmate is no other than Blake Ferguson - the boy he was switched at birth with and raised by his parents for the first month of his life.

Watch Now:Amazon
A Tough Pill to Swallow
star
7.75
917 votes

#9 - A Tough Pill to Swallow

Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/18/2016

Mike tries to help a devastated Sue get back into college after discovering she has been kicked out for not renewing her financial aid, and Frankie attempts to teach Brick how to swallow a pill when he gets sick.

Watch Now:Amazon
Sorry Not Sorry
star
7.75
927 votes

#10 - Sorry Not Sorry

Season 8 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/14/2017

Frankie and Mike frantically attempt to shut off the water and save some treasured items when the pipes burst in the basement. But after freaking out and bickering amongst each other, Axl, Sue and Brick call a family intervention meeting to let their parents know that their constant fighting and bickering is negatively affecting them. But while the kids feel like they can benefit from their parents’ newfound realization, Frankie and Mike start to think that the kids’ lack of support makes them the ones who should be sorry,

Directors: Phil Traill
Writer: Tim Hobert
Watch Now:Amazon
True Grit
star
7.73
885 votes

#11 - True Grit

Season 8 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/1/2016

A clueless Sue turns to Axl for help in figuring out how she can break up with her boyfriend; Brick's attempts to make friends in high school are foiled by his best friend, Troy; Frankie unintentionally buys underwear with a lewd graphic.

Watch Now:Amazon
Halloween VII: The Heckoning
star
7.73
898 votes

#12 - Halloween VII: The Heckoning

Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/25/2016

As Halloween approaches, Frankie is taken aback when she discovers that, if the circumstances ever arose where she and Mike got divorced, the kids would all choose to live with Mike. Meanwhile, Sue tries everything in her power to get her room back from Brick, and having to be so nice around girlfriend April all of the time leads Axl to lash out at his family,

Watch Now:Amazon
Roadkill
star
7.72
895 votes

#13 - Roadkill

Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/15/2016

Frankie and Mike's embarrassment over forgetting Brick's birthday turns to fear when they realize it's time to teach him to drive. Sue learns something surprising from Frankie.

Writer: Roy Brown
Watch Now:Amazon
Hoosier Maid
star
7.71
892 votes

#14 - Hoosier Maid

Season 8 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/10/2017

Frankie wins a free maid service for a month and is excited for the break, but the Heck household might pose a bigger challenge than she expected. Mike and Rusty's dad, Big Mike, begins to have trouble taking care of himself.

Watch Now:Amazon
Clear and Present Danger
star
7.70
907 votes

#15 - Clear and Present Danger

Season 8 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/2/2017

Frankie searches the house for Axl's graduation gift that she purchased months before and hid; Sue wants to make a sweet video for Mike's birthday; Cindy embarrasses Brick when she chases away a boy who was bullying him.

Watch Now:Amazon
Thanksgiving VIII
star
7.68
889 votes

#16 - Thanksgiving VIII

Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/22/2016

Frankie decides that April is not good enough to be with Axl and does anything she can to keep her out of the annual family Christmas photo. Frankie must fight for Axl's attention when he announces that he will be spending Thanksgiving with April.

Directors: Elliot Hegarty
The Core Group
star
7.68
961 votes

#17 - The Core Group

Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/11/2016

Frankie and Mike are excited to be introduced to the love of Axl's life, April; the family is surprised when she reveals an unusual personality trait; Sue decides to change her major while Brick begins high school and wants to change his image.

Look Who's Not Talking
star
7.67
910 votes

#18 - Look Who's Not Talking

Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/29/2016

Frankie is upset that Axl refuses to answer her calls or texts after she unintentionally admits her true feelings about his girlfriend April. Brick forms a tick in the form of a phrase that causes him trouble; Brad surprises Sue.

Writer: Tim Hobert
Dental Hijinks
star
7.67
935 votes

#19 - Dental Hijinks

Season 8 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/21/2017

Frankie tries to convince Mike to visit Dr. Goodwin and get his toothache taken care of; Mike tries to convince Frankie that the tooth should be left alone; Axl, Hutch and Kenny decide to sell the famous Winnebago.

Trip and Fall
star
7.66
881 votes

#20 - Trip and Fall

Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/6/2016

Trashy neighbor Rita Glossner talks an apprehensive Frankie into taking a road trip to an unknown destination. Mike takes an embarrassing fall at the quarry and has to deal with even more embarrassment when OSHA is called in to investigate. Sue attempts to convince Axl to end his estrangement with the family after learning their true feelings about April.

Directors: Elliot Hegarty
Writer: Rich Dahm
Escape Orson
star
7.66
933 votes

#21 - Escape Orson

Season 8 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/3/2017

The Hecks find themselves spending New Year's Day attempting to stave off a zombie apocalypse in the Orson Escape Room, desperately trying to beat the Donahue's record of getting out with more than one minute, eight seconds to spare. Meanwhile, Brick is convinced that the mild-mannered man assigned to the family's Escape Room group is really the famous author of the "Planet Nowhere" books; Sue divulges a secret about herself to Axl that's she's been keeping since childhood; and Mike is stunned when Frankie reveals that she had a romantic dream involving Frank Sinatra.

Pitch Imperfect
star
7.63
773 votes

#22 - Pitch Imperfect

Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/17/2017

Axl begins to panic when he realizes that he only has four months of college left before he graduates, and he hasn't sent out any job resumes - something he should have started when he was a junior. Meanwhile, Brad agrees to lead Sue's no-cut a cappella group as they enter a music competition, and Brick desperately asks for Frankie and Mike's advice when girlfriend Cindy tells him that he reads too much, and if he doesn't stop, she'll break up with him.

Ovary And Out
star
7.63
927 votes

#23 - Ovary And Out

Season 8 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/7/2017

Frankie becomes sad when her doctor informs her that her ovaries are shriveled up, which means her days of having kids are over. In an attempt to cheer her up, Mike offers to have him and Frankie babysit the neighbor's baby overnight, which puts some perspective on being an older parent. Meanwhile, Sue and Axl are a bit shocked when romantic sparks fly between Sean Donahue and Sue's roommate Lexie; and Brick tries his best to hone up on his font knowledge when he meets Gibson, a worthy font opponent.

Directors: Elliot Hegarty