Operation Infiltration 

While Frankie attempts to help a socially awkward Brick make friends on a school field trip, Axl tries to impress Devin by pretending that he and Sue are the best of friends.

Director:

Melissa Kosar

Writers:

DeAnn Heline (created by), Eileen Heisler (created by)

Stars:

Patricia Heaton, Neil Flynn, Charlie McDermott

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Patricia Heaton	...	Frankie Heck
Neil Flynn	...	Mike Heck
Charlie McDermott	...	Axl Heck
Eden Sher	...	Sue Heck
Atticus Shaffer	...	Brick Heck
Norm MacDonald	...	Rusty Heck
Dave Foley	...	Dr. Fulton
John Gammon	...	Darrin
Gia Mantegna	...	Devin Levin
Irene White	...	Joyce
Beau Wirick	...	Sean Donahue
Samuel Gilbert	...	Parker
Skyler James Sandak	...	Dante (as Skyler James)
Marypat Farrell	...	Mom
Tommy Bechtold	...	Kenny

Storyline

Frankie accompanies Brick on a school field trip and attempts to help her socially inept son make friends with a couple of boys. Meanwhile, when Devin scolds Axl for being mean to his sister, he tries to make it look like they are the best of friends when Sue spends the weekend at his house; and while trying to thin out some of their hoarding father's massive stockpile of junk, Mike gets a sinking feeling that he may have bullied his brother Rusty a bit too much as kids and turned him into the hapless man that he is today.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

As part of an April Fools Day night of programming, Troy Gentile appears at the party looking just like his character Barry Goldberg from The Goldbergs (2013), which aired right after this series on ABC. Due to The Goldbergs taking place in the 1980s, and The Middle set in present time, he could not realistically be playing Barry Goldberg, unless Barry time traveled from the past.

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Goofs

As part of an April Fools Day night of programming, ABC purposely created a few alterations in this episode when it first aired on April 1, 2015. "Orson" on the side of the school bus is misspelled as "Orsen". This might be "corrected" for future airings and home video releases.

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Connections

References You've Got Mail (1998)

User Reviews

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 April 2015 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blackie and Blondie Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

21 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD