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The Award

‘The Award’

Season 5, Episode 14 - Aired February 26, 2014

Frankie discovers that the quarry is honoring Mike with an award for twenty years of service, but Mike is reluctant to attend the ceremony. Sue tries to get the high school students to know each other after she is mistakenly sat on by a guy who didn't even realize she was on the chair. Meanwhile, Axl searches for a mystery girl who left a message on his phone, and Brick gets another box of his cousins' hand-me-downs.

Quote from Brick

Brick: Come on, Dad. I finally have a reason to go out. I've got a real suit. It doesn't wrinkle. It has secret inside pockets. The color's majestic. It broadens my shoulders, slims my waist, and gives me the muscles of an eighth grader. But it's more than just superficial high-end apparel. It feels like armor that protects me against whatever life throws my way. Today, it was sloppy joe flicked from a spoon. This suit makes me feel like a winner, and I want to show it off at your awards ceremony. Not moving you, huh?
Mike: No.

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Quote from Mike

Frankie: You know, you are a really difficult person. Let's just say you had to say something. Gun to your head, you had to say something what would it be?
Mike: Uh, I guess I would say... "For 20 years, this job's put a roof over my family's head. I've had a great group of guys working for me hard-working guys who show up on time, rarely take sick days. We've seen each other's kids grow up. I've been lucky, not only for the work, but my crew has made this a good place to go every day."
Frankie: Well, where have you been hiding that? That's beautiful. Can't you just go and say that? It's one dinner, Mike. One dinner that maybe doesn't mean a lot to you, but might mean a lot to everyone else. [Mike groans] Oh, yay! You're gonna be so good! You know, if I wasn't wearing five pairs of pajamas, I would totally break out the lady jazz.

Quote from Brick

Chuck: Nice suit, little dude. Off the rack?
Brick: Out of the box.
Chuck: What's the label?
Brick: I don't know. Shah-nee-a Twan.
Chuck: Shania Twain?
Brick: The "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" collection. Oh, no, this isn't Cousin Ryan's. It's Cousin Allison's. I've been wearing women's clothes for the last three days.
Chuck: It's cool, baby Mike. Man, woman, we're all just energy.

Quote from Mike

Frankie: Oh! Look at this. They're honoring two guys at your quarry. Uh, Mike, one of them is you. "Michael Heck and Robert Branderson are being honored for their 20 years of dedicated service to Orson Limestone." Wait, what? There's a dinner?! Did you know there was a dinner? Of course you knew there was a dinner. Were you ever gonna tell me this?
Mike: No, I was not.
Frankie: Mike. You have to go. This is a big deal.
Mike: It's not a big deal. The whole thing is stupid. I just stayed in one place for 20 years. It's like giving an award to a tree.

Quote from Mike

Frankie: [shivers] Hey, handsome.
Mike: I'm not going.
Frankie: [scoffs] Seriously. What happened to you in your childhood?
Mike: Nothing. Nothing happened to me. You know me. Does this really seem like something I'd be into?
Frankie: It's once in a lifetime.
Mike: Not in my lifetime, Frankie. It's not my thing. None of it is my thing. I don't like attention. I don't like giving speeches.

Quote from Mike

Bob: Okay, okay, I'm taking too much of your time now. You got to save some of that love for our other honoree, Mike Heck.
Mike: Uh, yeah, oh, okay. [chuckles] [clears throat] I still don't get why I'm up here. Uh, maybe I-I-I just don't get it. But, you know, I had to lay off four guys a couple months ago, and these were all guys with families, you know? So it doesn't feel right to be honoring me when I couldn't find a way to save their jobs. And, you know, I mean, am I am I gonna have to lay off 10 more? I don't know. Look around the room. It's like, "Hey, is he next? What about her?" But, hey, in this economy, we're all just hanging on by a thread, right? I mean, look, everyone loves Bob Branderson here, but they could, you know, hire some outside accounting service, and then, uh, he'd be out of a job. Hell, the whole quarry could close. It's a threat that we live with every day. So maybe longevity is something that should be recognized? I don't know. Just saying, uh, it seems weird to me. But, uh, it is what it is. So... yeah. I'll.. I'll... I'll put this somewhere. [scattered applause]

Quote from Sue

Frankie: Not important? It was on the Patch.
Sue: The Orson Patch? The whole world can see that!
Brick: Uh, what's the award for? Did you lift a boulder off somebody?
Mike: No, for 20 years, I showed up.
Frankie: [sighs] And there's an awards dinner and everything, but your father is refusing to go.
Sue: What?! Is there a red carpet? Is it called "The Quarries"? Oh, my God! I want to go to The Quarries!

Quote from Frankie

Frankie: [v.o.] Out here in the middle, winters are chilly, and you got to bundle up. But usually, it's when you leave your house.
Frankie: All right, I'm home. [puts on a coat]
Mike: The AC won't turn off no matter what the damn switch says. "Heat" is cold. "Off" is cold. Smacking the thing with a hammer, even more cold.
Frankie: Maybe you should call Darrin.
Mike: I did. He'll be here sometime Friday between 8:00 and 5:00.
Frankie: Oh, the long window. I bet that's the first thing they teach him.

Quote from Sue

Frankie: [v.o.] The upside of our house being as cold as an Arctic research station, the kids were never more excited to get to school.
[As Sue and her science class watch a video, a jock sits down on Sue's lap and removes his varsity jacket.
Sue: Excuse me. Buddy, you're in my seat.
Teacher: Shh.
Sue: Hey, you're sitting on me.
Brian: Whoa! What are you doing?!
Sue: This is my seat. I was sitting here and you came in and you sat on me.
Courtney: I don't think so. Maybe they do that in your home country of the Ukraine, but here in America, we don't steal people's seats.
Debbie: Brian, I think the new girl likes you. [both laugh]
Sue: I am Sue Heck, and I am not new.
Courtney: Wow. Your English is so good! Isn't her English so good, Deb?
Debbie: So good, Court.

Quote from Sue

Sue: I got sat on, Brad. Sat on. A person sat on me.
Brad: Was it the jock with the rock-hard abs or the mixed-race guy with the perfect skin?
Sue: I don't know. I guess the abs, maybe. But the saddest part of all was that nobody even knew my name.
Brad: Aw, everybody in high school feels like that at some point.
Sue: Yeah, but that's just it. People in this school don't know each other. I need to get back to my original goal making sure everybody knows everybody, because we all know the friends you make in high school are the friends you have for life.

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