Man With a Plan – Adam’s Wall Hole Bowl

By: Ujjyani Banerjee

It’s a new day. Andi (Liza Snyder) arrives at work and she puts her belongings on Don’s (Kevin Nealon) desk. He cringes and asks her to pick up her stuff as apparently his desk is “naughty land.” Adam (Matt LeBlanc) offers his desk but Andi wishes to have one of her own now. Lowell (Matt Cook) is already worried as Adam is her husband and Don’s the brother-in-law. Ergo, he’s screwed. He’s had to do loads to earn his desk and will not give it up. Andi comments about him being on edge and assures that no one is going to take it away from him. She asks if he’s feeling better. Lowell nods saying it won’t happen again. Moments later he’s pissed that his pencil sharpener is missing. Andi guesses he might be having trouble adjusting to his newly single status. Lowell sarcastically thanks her for stating the obvious and storms out. Don stealthily reveals he took the pencil sharpener.

At home Teddy (Matthew McCann) asks Andi to help him with a solar system project. She gets an idea to put in on Adam by telling him he promised to help Teddy with the project last week. Just then Adam and Don get home. Adam shares how a “his-and-hers-closet” discussion at work got Lowell all emotional and suggests giving his sad buddy a visit to cheer up things. Andi reminds him about his solar system promise to Teddy last week. Adam struggles to remember secretly and is confused if it were Andi’s turn this time given that last night he washed dog poop off Emme’s shoes again. Andi shoots back saying that she was busy hemming Kate’s band uniform to make it shorter…Err longer. Adam swallows hard. Don finds the couple to be too busy so he grabs a beer and retires for the night. Andi encourages Adam to give Lowell a visit.

Later that evening Adam goes to Lowell’s who was passing his time by playing with his Murphy bed. They uncomfortably sit on his tiny sofa and Adam struggles to strike a conversation. Don walks in, just in time, with beer and snacks. Adam looks around to do something fun and suddenly spots a hole in the wall. Apparently, Lowell was trying to hang a picture but he was way madder than he thought! Adam invents a game out of it. Whomever manages to pass a paper ball through that hole gets 1 point, farther aim is 2 points and failing to pass through is no points. He shoots the paper ball and scores one point but Don wonders how to get the ball out. Adam constructs another hole below that’d help retrieve their ball. Now the game is complete.

As they play on Adam is reminded about Teddy’s project and decides to call it a night but Don says they’ll continue without him, maybe put up a photo in his memory given he invented the game. Adam goes home and tells Andi that Lowell might need more hanging out sessions secretly hoping to get away. She suggests bringing him home but Adam says the family setting would sting him harder. Andi feels sorry and suggests helping Lowell at his own home. Adam agrees with a tired shrug but is ecstatic inside. The men keep the ruse on at office the next day. Seeing Adam support Lowell through hard times Andi’s proud of his emotional maturity and gives him a hug.

At the gaming zone the trio think about naming their game. Lowell suggests “Wall B” but Adam finds it too rhyming. They decide on the name “Wall Hole” in unison. As they play away Joe (Stacy Keach) arrives with his nurse Funchi (Ron Funches) to join the gang. Adam asks how he learned about their new hangout. Apparently, Don filled him in and now Joe’s told Bev that he’s out for rehab walk but when in reality he’ll play some ball!

Marcy (Kali Rocha) and Bev (Swoosie Kurtz) come down to Andi’s home and they want to know where their husbands have been spending their evenings all week. Andi says they’re out helping Lowell and its really mature of them. Bev denies it saying its impossible and Marcy supports her sensing there’s definitely some upside to them somewhere. Andi ponders hard and realizes that she might’ve been fooled. The ladies make a plan.

It’s Friday night and the Wall Hole finals are up. The guys are engrossed and suddenly Adam gets a call from Andi. He asks everybody to shush as he receives it. He lies about Lowell still not doing well and that Fridays used to be his and Jen’s movie night so it’s possible that the guys will binge on all the Harry Potter films. He hangs up and chuckles saying that Andi has no idea.

It turns out the ladies are right outside. Andi cringes that her husband is so bad at lying that he forgot to hang up and she could clearly hear the “Andi has no idea.” Marcy asks what’s their plan. Bev wants to use her pepper spray that she’s had in her purse for four years now and wants to use it before it reaches the expiration date. They knock on the door.

Lowell is expecting the pizza that they ordered but he gets startled upon finding the angry women at his door. Adam turns back, sees them, pretends he never saw them and declares to the men gang in front of him as to how unbelievable it is to have Lowell feeling better at that very second. He suggests to all the guys to now go home to their beautiful wives and spend the day with their family. He turns back and greets Andi.

Andi and Adam are back home and she is pissed that he lied and used his friend’s unhappiness to go have fun and avoid home stuff. Adam admits to have lied but he says she ambushed him even before he could make a good story, so who’s at fault really? She wonders if he was moving away from her as he hasn’t given her a desk at work either. Adam calms her down and says he needed a break and that was it. He is tired of taking care of the kids all the time and needed some time for himself. Andi; however, says that she finds every moment with their kids nothing but blissful. Adam states how two weeks back when she went to Target to buy Teddy’s new shorts she was gone so long that he got worried. So, he went down there and found her drinking an icy watching Dr. Phil in the TV section. Andi embarrassingly tells it must’ve been her long lost twin sister. Utterly botched, she admits to have become a known face there and they’ve now given her the master remote that controls all the TVs there. The duo decide to go down at Target immediately for some fun downtime. Andi suggests watching TV from the bed section. Adam says this is why he loved being married to her.

The next day at work Lowell thanks Andi as the guys time and company really helped him get peace. Don asks him to go say this to Marcy as he had to sleep in the porch swing the night before. Andi says it’s all good and takes a leave to go sit on her desk – the bulldozer. Adam stops her and shows her the new desk he’s built for her- a Murphy desk, which he says is Murphy bed’s hard working younger brother. Andi loves it and is super happy to start work at her new desk.