Foundation Issues – Episode 4 begins with Paul Morgan (Ray Romano) remembering his older brother, Mikey Morgan (Denis Leary) locking him in the attic after catching him playing with his toys. In the present, Mikey is still dead and Lydia Morgan (Lisa Kudrow) can’t stop apologizing. Lydia can tell Paul is extremely upset because he is being far too quiet. When she does manage to get him to speak, it only leads to an argument where he points out that the last time they were in a situation like this, they called Mikey. He practically laughs at her offers to help and eventually tells her that the only dead thing in the house is her because she has cut herself off from the world since Jacob Morgan’s death (Wyatt Aubrey).

Margo Starling’s (Linda Cardellini) entire outlook on life and JD Campbell’s (Luke Wilson) has changed now that his agent has scored him a potentially career-altering role. JD, on the other hand, isn’t clearly ready to forgive Margo and is nearly ready to sell the home. Mention of selling the home only makes Margo happier, until she learns that Lydia likely wouldn’t even consider her as a prospective buyer.

After Paul’s earlier insults, Lydia sets out to leave the home while calling Emily Morgan (Chloe East) at the same time. This eventually leads to her hitting Margo, who tricks her into coming back to her house and getting her liquored up. While Margo works her magic on Lydia, JD meets Drew (Johnno Wilson) to learn that the talent agency is letting him go.

Paul has Mikey wrapped in a tarp and nearly out the door when Greg Boycelane (Matt Rogers) shows up unexpectedly with the Sampson family. Paul gets the body back upstairs and hidden in the nick of time, but just as he closes the attic door, Mikey opens his eyes. Things become even more awkward when Greg discovers Paul upstairs. Paul tells a sob story about his brother’s death to get Greg to reschedule the visit but Greg reminds him that not even 24 hours ago, he was talking about framing his brother and getting him sent to prison.

Unfortunately, things are no less awkward for Dennis Sampson (O-T Fagbnle) as he tries to tell Denise Sampson (Anna Maria Horsford) that he and Carla Owens (Teyonah Parris) want to move into the home alone. This does not go as Dennis intended and ends with Denise withdrawing her offer. Greg makes matters worse when he returns to share the news about the death of Paul’s brother. Much to both Dennis and Carla’s surprise, Greg tells them to increase their offer. Lucky for Dennis, he is interrupted by a call from Doctor Jim Henderson (Thomas Fowler).

By this time Margo tells Lydia that she always looked up to Jacob and enjoyed seeing him spend time with Harper Campbell (Joni Rossi). In addition to this, Margo admits that she killed her brother by accidentally leaving the space heater on. She claims she got over this. Things get even more awkward when Margo admits to being intimidated by Lydia. Lydia responds by asking if Margo gets up every day and does her hair and makeup. Margo admits that she does and offers Lydia a makeover.

At the exact same time, Dennis is stewing over his prognosis from Dr. Henderson when Paul walks in on him in the bathroom. Dennis not only introduces himself to Paul but tells him about the prognosis. This brief conversation leads to a bit of sharing and hugging. Carla attempts to mend fences with Denise, who is not at all ready to forgive her for kicking her out of Dennis’s life. Denise doesn’t respond to this any better and tells Carla that she might one day understand after becoming a mother.

Paul does not respond well when he uses Mikey’s phone to tell Nate Morgan (Kevin Alves) that he loves him and is going out of town for a bit. He responds even more poorly when he hears Mikey making all kinds of noise from the attic. By the time he gets there, Greg, Dennis, Carla, and Denise are already there. Greg tries to play the noise off as mice while Paul blames it on raccoons. Much to his surprise, this works.

Things are no less awkward when Harper and JD return to greet Margo, who claims she couldn’t pick Harper up at school because she got run over. Harper clearly does not believe her and JD’s disdain is even more apparent than his young daughters. Despite all this, JD blatantly lies about his meeting with Drew. Even worse, it appears he’s nearly ready to forgive her for cheating on him.

Dennis is back at home when he walks in on his mother smoking. Much to his surprise, she admits to never quitting. She becomes mocking when he tells her that smoking will kill her and he needs her around. Despite his attempt to mend fences, Denise doesn’t buy it and tells him about her earlier confrontation with Carla. Dennis attempts to share his news from Dr. Henderson with Carla but ends up telling her that he hasn’t even started his book. As expected, Carla does not handle this well at all.

Paul attempts to mend fences with Paul from the safety of the bedroom with the access to the attic. As Paul spills his guts, the scene from the opening plays out to reveal their father blamed and punished Mikey for the encounter, although Paul was clearly the party to blame. Lydia comes home to hear Paul spilling his heart to Mikey and is immensely relieved.  That relief soon turns to disdain when He reveals himself to be alive and goads Paul over their earlier kiss. Much to everyone’s surprise, Paul not only beats the crap out of Mikey but permanently seals him in the attic.

 

No Good Deed Review

This was a great episode thanks to the Sampsons, although they are the farthest from my favorite couple. They are certainly starting to grow on me while Leslie and Sarah are becoming more and more distant. I am not entirely sure how to feel about JD’s situation with Margo. I don’t know whether to feel sorry for him or look down on him for the way he lets  Margo treat him.

Mikey, Paul, and Lydia’s relationship is obviously the most intriguing and I certainly can’t wait to see where it ends at the end of season 1. I’d give this episode a 6 out of 10.

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