Man With a Plan – Spring Fling

By: Julie Mante

Because Adam (Matt LeBlanc) and Don (Kevin Nealon) are busy with a project at work, Andi (Liza Snyder) volunteers to be room parent for the week. She wants the opportunity to impress Emme’s (Hala Finley) kindergarten teacher Mrs. Rodriguez (Dianna Maria Riva) so Emme will be recommended for the good first grade teacher’s class. After the meeting with the project boss Lisa McCaffrey (Christine Woods), Lisa wants to talk to Adam privately. She tells Adam that she does not want Don to attend the investors’ meeting. The investors will expect professionalism and Don does not take anything seriously. She tries to assure Adam that it will not be too bad. She fired her mother on Saturday and took her Easter brunch on Sunday. At least Don is not being fired from the project, he has to sit out the meeting. She tells Adam that the direct approach is the best approach. Look the person in the eye, put your hand on their shoulder and just tell them.

When they return back to work, Don and Adam tell Lowell (Matt Cook) how the meeting went. Don tells him that things went well. Adam tells Don that he cannot come to the investors’ meeting. Don is sure that Adam quit right then and there, but Adam says he did not fight with Lisa because they need to keep this job. They turned down other offers to do it. Don does not care what Lisa said, he will go to the meeting. Angry that he is being pushed aside, Don decides to stew in his truck alone. As Adam tries to think of a way to calm Don down so he will not yell at Lisa and get them fired, Lowell tells him that he used to send gift baskets to upset clients when he was in marketing. Adam decides to send Don a gift basket and say Lisa sent it to him.

Andi shows up at Alicia Rodriguez’s classroom and tells her that she will be replacing Adam this week as room parent. Alicia is relieved and Andi thanks her for being an amazing teacher to Emme this year. Andi is positive that a coffee and a muffin, from Alicia’s favorite bakery, is enough to sway her to recommend Emme to the good first grade class. It seems like the other parents know the same information because Alicia’s desk is filled with goodies. Andi asks her what she needs to do to get Emme in the good class and Alicia says that if Andi can plan a successful Spring Fling Hawaiian luau party that Emme will be in the good class. Andi agrees.

The next day, Adam shows Lowell the basket he bought for Don. Don is still upset with Adam when he comes into work but he immediately notices the basket. The card reads, “Dear Don, between us, you’re my favorite Burns brothers. Lisa.” Don is confused why Lisa would send this if she does not want him to attend the meeting. Adam pushes Lowell to answer Don’s question so he says that Lisa sent the basket because she appreciates Don. Don realizes that Lisa sent the basket to him because she is attracted to him. Now that he knows about Lisa’s feelings, Don thinks it is a bad idea to yell at her and Adam agrees.

Later, Lowell volunteers to help Andi plan the Spring Fling party for Alicia. He tells her not to stress, but Andi points out that his daughter already has a seat in the good first grade class. He smiles as he tells her that he learned Spanish so he could pick Alicia’s mother from the airport. Don and Marcy (Kali Rocha) have dinner at Adam’s and Andi’s house. The foursome speaks about the basket and Lisa. Marcy does not seem surprised that another woman is attracted to her husband. Adam wants to drop the conversation. Marcy encourages Don to talk to Lisa and tell her to back off. Adam says that is a bad idea, but Andi agrees with Marcy. Don decides to call Lisa to talk about the situation and ignores Adam telling him not to. When Marcy and Don leave, Adam tells Andi that he sent Don the basket, not Lisa. Don cannot call Lisa or they will be fired from building the mini-mall. Andi tells him that he has to keep lying to Don. She tells Adam to send Don another note from Lisa saying that they need to keep their feelings a secret and never discuss it.

The next day, Lowell helps Andi pack all the supplies for the party in her car. Back at the job site, Don gets another note from Lisa saying, “Dear Don, we have to keep our feelings a secret and never discuss them, not even with each other. I know you may want to, but you shouldn’t. Lisa. P.S. Don’t talk to me about this.” Don tells Adam that he already sent Lisa some flowers and a steamy note. Adam is shocked. Don thinks that if he encourages Lisa’s feelings, then they will not be fired from the mini-mall job. After Andi returns from setting up the party, she finds Lowell sleeping on the couch. When she greets him, he wakes up and it is obvious that he is drunk. Andi realizes that the punch she gave the kids has alcohol in it. She races back to the school so she can stop the kids from drinking it.

Adam sneaks into Lisa’s office so he can remove the flowers and letter that Don sent Lisa but he gets caught. Lisa does not understand what Adam is doing in her office holding flowers. When Andi sees Alicia holding a drink in her hand, she quickly pushes it out of her hand and the juice splashes all over her face. Alicia can taste it, but asks Andi if there is alcohol in the juice and Andi admits that there is. Back in Lisa’s office, Lisa is learning that Adam pretended Lisa sent Don the basket. She is upset that Don thinks she is in love with him. Adam admits that he wanted to keep his job and protect Don’s feelings. Adam says to her that either both brothers are in the meeting or they walk. She agrees and Adam slowly walks out, hoping she changes her mind. Frustrated, Adam stops buffing and admits that while business is important, but family is very important to him as well. Lisa admits that she needs more empathy and she is working on it with her therapist. Besides firing her mother, she also evicted her too. She decides to pretend that this whole Don thing did not happen and they can keep their job. She even says that Don can attend the investors’ meeting. Adam is relieved, but it is short lived when Don comes bursting into Lisa’s office. Don tells her that she needs to back off because he is a married man who loves his wife. As she is ready to fire Don, Adam reminds her not to treat him like she treated her mom. So, she decides to “admit” her feelings, but tells him that it will never work and he should go. Don tells her that she is a special woman and if anything ever happens to Marcy, he will put her on his list for wife number two.

Lisa is impressed that Adam reminded her about mom so she would treat Don differently. This is it. Adam has two strikes against him now so everything has to be professional from now on. She lets him know that first strike was when he relieved himself in the parking garage and it was caught on camera. In the closer, Andi tells Adam that she got Emme in the good first grade class. In return, she and Adam will not be room parent next year. When the doorbell rings, she sees a basket. Andi reads the card, “Thanks for your help this week. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Love, Adam.” When she opens the basket, she is not thrilled to find a Sausage McMuffin. He jokes that this is their thing because she remarked that he bought Don a basket and only bought her a Sausage McMuffin. As Adam sees her eating it, he realizes he should have bought two. Andi says if that if she wants it, he will have to fight for it. He chases her around the house so he will get the Sausage McMuffin.