Ep 2. A Tough Pill To Swallow

A Tough Pill To Swallow is the second episode of The Middle season 8. The show revolves around the Heck family, who live in the small town of Orson, Indiana. Frankie and Mike Heck are the parents of three children - Axl, Sue and Brick. The family is middle-class and struggles with everyday issues and challenges.

In this episode, Frankie becomes a bit suspicious of the new woman in Mike's life. Mike has recently started dating his dentist, Dr. Goodwin, but Frankie begins to worry that she might have ulterior motives. To put her mind at ease, she decides to do some recon and follow Dr. Goodwin around town.

Meanwhile, Sue is struggling with her college classes, specifically with Chemistry. She is getting frustrated with the course and considers dropping it altogether. However, her professor, Dr. Fulton, encourages her to stick with it and even offers to tutor her personally.

Brick, on the other hand, is dealing with the aftermath of a failed book club. He is the only member who actually read the book, and his club mates were upset with him when he couldn't attend the meeting due to a dental appointment. Brick decides to try and make amends by inviting them to his house for a new book club meeting and promises to bring snacks.

As the episode progresses, Frankie's suspicions about Dr. Goodwin continue to escalate, and she ends up confronting her at the dental office. Sue is also having a tough time with her tutoring sessions, feeling embarrassed and frustrated with her lack of progress. Meanwhile, Brick's book club meeting gets out of hand when his guests begin to over-indulge in his snacks, leaving him feeling resentful.

In the end, all of the issues are resolved in typical Heck fashion. Frankie discovers that her suspicions about Dr. Goodwin were unfounded, and the two of them end up bonding over a common interest. Sue decided to stick with her Chemistry course and even impresses Dr. Fulton with her knowledge during a quiz. And Brick learns to stand up for himself and sets some boundaries with his book club mates.

Overall, A Tough Pill To Swallow is a typical episode of The Middle - one that combines quirky humor with relatable family issues. The Heck family may not always have it all together, but they always manage to find a way to stick together and overcome their obstacles.