Man With a Plan – Adam’s Not Sorry

By: Ujjyani Banerjee

It is Lowell’s (Matt Cook) first foreclosure auction. Adam (Matt LeBlanc) advises him not to raise his hand. Don (Kevin Nealon) shows a house to Adam that he wishes to flip next. Adam says no as he’s already finalized on one and reminds him how it’s always been his decision to choose the houses. The auction begins. Disobeying Adam, Don wins the auction on that house. Adam is furious. At home Andi (Liza Snyder) is excited to spend some one-on-one bonding time with her mother-in-law. Bev (Swoosie Kurtz) calls Andi her favorite and informs her that she knows about the surprise birthday party that’s being planned for her. Andi is taken aback as she had completely forgotten about it. Bev is promised a memorable bash. On their ride home the brothers continue to argue while Lowell enjoys a sparkling blue slushie. Don wants an equal say on which houses they would flip. Adam simply agrees with him and purposefully steers the car steeply so as to drop the whole slushie on Don’s lap.

Adam gets home and finds Andi working on Bev’s birthday party. She wants him to be part of a barbershop quartet, but he’s in no mood for that. Don shows up with slushie spilled all over his pants. He discloses the foreclosure auction incident to Andi and then reveals that therapy has made him more assertive. Adam rolls his eyes. Andi goes to Joe’s (Stacy Keach) to check out his and Bev’s wedding album. She wants to recreate their wedding cake for Bev’s birthday. Joe warns Andi that Bev can never be fully impressed. He even declines to help her plan the party as he doesn’t want to tread troubled water later. Andi gets back from shopping party-essentials and she has bought everything red. Adam lets her know that Bev despises that color. Seeing Adam sulk, Andi asks him to sort it out with Don by simply apologizing to him. Adam says no as he believes that Don should be the one apologizing. Don and Marcy (Kali Rocha) are at Dr. Felicia’s (Merrin Dungey) to discuss the same issue since Don wants Adam to apologize to him.

The party is about to begin. Lowell comes in and is bummed to find Teddy (Matthew McCann) wearing the same outfit as him. Andi hopes that Adam invited Don. It turns out that he invited Marcy, but Don’s free to tag along. Lowell hopes that the brothers’ differences have been settled as he’s tired of feeling torn between the two. Don and Marcy walk in. Both brothers demand an apology from one another. Andi shushes both of them and asks them not to steal away her thunder. Joe comes in asking everyone to take their positions as Bev is on her way. Bev walks in and is greeted with the quintessential “Surprise!” She acts startled and soon points out how Andi saved money by not buying flowers. Adam starts serving shrimp. While he offers one properly to Marcy, he tosses the other into Don’s drink. The kids bring out the special cake that Andi got baked by “Sweet Treats.” Though Bev is happy, she does point out that “Sweet Treats” is not her favorite bakery. Andi brainstorms to find a mood-uplifter. She pushes a reluctant Adam to make a toast about Bev.

Adam starts bashing Don in his toast. Don returns it back with equal vigor. He even quits Burns’ Construction. Before Adam can retaliate, Andi puts a halt to their fight and Bev takes over. She thinks that the “red” made her sons go rowdy. She hates how this birthday would later be seen as the very day when her sons tore apart. Bev is also upset that she wasn’t given flowers. Andi looks pissed as her in-laws leave. Later, in the middle of the night, Andi finds Adam wide awake fixing their lawn mower. She asks him to put himself in Don’s shoes and realize that having an equal say in critical decisions only seems just, but Adam isn’t ready. He reveals that in spite of being the younger one, he’s always taken the pressure and accountability of the business. Andi thinks that it’s high time that both of the brothers went to couple’s therapy! The next day, as Marcy and Andi drop their reluctant husbands off at Dr. Felicia’s, Andi clicks a “Before Therapy” picture of the quibbling duo. The session begins.

Dr. Felicia relates their issue to those seen in couples. While Adam blames Dr. Felicia for making Don unnecessarily assertive, she blames Adam for being an incompetent communicator. Adam harks back to how, decades ago, Joe put a system in place where he was considered to be the more responsible sibling who could handle pressure well. Soon Joe gets called in for therapy. He wishes for Bev to be called in too as he wasn’t the only parent involved. Dr. Felicia grants his wish. Joe and Bev reveal how there was always a system in place where Joe made decisions and Bev showed her displeasure by tossing pork chops at his head. Adam starts relating it to his and Don’s situation where he’s Joe and Don is Bev. Dr. Felicia finds it an oddly functioning family. After the session Adam is now ready to settle the differences with Don by sharing the decision-making power as well as the pressures that come along with it. Don starts having second thoughts as he never accounted for the pressure. Suddenly, the old system seems like a better option to him. However, he now has a greater appreciation for what Adam has been dealing with all these years. The brothers hug it out while Andi sneakily clicks their “After Therapy” picture. Don takes back his resignation, too.

Andi goes to Joe’s home. She wants Bev to acknowledge her efforts for that awesome party, but hee thinks it’s a really bad idea for her to confront Bev. Andi’s mother-in-law walks in. She warns Andi to come out strong if she’s even thinking of coming at her. Bev also reminds Andi that she’s just been married into this family. Andi’s fierceness fizzles out in no time and, instead, she claims to have come to apologize for Joe who refused to help her plan the party. Seeing Bev seethe with anger, Joe asks Andi to leave as there is yet another pork chop coming at him!