Last Man Standing Season 7, Episode 11 recap: Common Ground
By Mark Kristl
In Last Man Standing Season 7, Episode 11, Jen and Mike struggled to find commonalities. Elsewhere, Chuck and Kyle tampered with Ed’s ancestry results.
With the new semester in Last Man Standing Season 7, Episode 11, Jen (Kristen Marie Yu) moved into the Baxter house. Vanessa (Nancy Travis) was delighted, but Mike (Tim Allen) and Jen did not easily bond. Back at Outdoor Man, Ed (Hector Elizondo) eagerly awaited his ancestry results. For their own fun, Kyle (Christoph Sanders) and Chuck (Jonathan Adams) changed his results. What ensued surprised us all!
Welcome Jen
Everyone looked forward to Jen moving into the Baxter house. Kyle added ‘Jen’ to the welcome back sign, and Eve (Kaitlyn Dever) came home from Air Force for a few days.
Mandy (Molly McCook) and Eve couldn’t believe Mike accepted a foreign exchange student living in his house. Mike affirmed he liked Jen, and he anticipated Jen and Vanessa spending time together, leaving him to his lonesome.
To make Jen feel welcome, Vanessa wanted Jen to bond with Mike. So Jen watched the Denver Broncos vs San Diego Chargers game. Happy to watch the game with her, Mike told her to ask any of her questions about football. Yet she asked questions he didn’t know the answers to, and she and Eve left to play outside. Take a gander at this funny scene and tell me if you know the answers to Jens’ questions.
The Broncos lost, and Mike felt some disappointment. That night, he informed Vanessa about his predicament. She implored him to find a commonality with Jen so she felt welcome in their house. She suggested Mike take Jen to work at Outdoor Man so they could find a commonality there.
The attempt at Outdoor Man proved futile. Although Jen quickly got along with Kristen (Amanda Fuller), she was too polite to Mike. Jen became excited to see the Outdoor Man Grill kitchen and eat some delicious food. Mike felt frustrated because he let Vanessa down and because everyone else bonded with Jen quickly except him.
Having learned Jen likes origami, Mike sought Mandy’s tutelage so he could bond with Jen. All he found was boredom and more frustration. Mandy noted she and Mike do not share many interests, but they have a healthy relationship. While Mike ignored her comment, Mandy pressed on, telling him she always felt welcome in his presence, and she knew how to talk with him. Her last remark gave him insight.
He finally had a heart-to-heart with Jen. In essence, he told Jen to be her honest self around him. If she doesn’t like football, then tell him! She accepted his advice, she agreed she doesn’t like football, and he expressed his displeasure about her fondness for tea.
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The next morning, Mike and Jen sat together at the kitchen table reading their favorite sections of the newspaper. Glad he found common ground with Jen, Mike handed her a pen to complete the crossword puzzle. When Vanessa entered the kitchen and began to talk, Mike and Jen hushed her. Vanessa lamented they found something to bond over: not talking to other people.
Last Man Standing nicely portrayed the struggle to find common ground between Mike and Jen. Mike is an opinionated sports-loving businessman. He doesn’t relate well to the interests of the Chinese teenage girl Jen. Their mutual desire to appease each other caused difficulties in bonding.
When they finally were honest with each other, they found common ground. The establishment of common ground was a solid first step. Kristen Marie Yu felt at home on Last Man Standing. She even tweeted a photo comparison of Last Man Standing and The Santa Clause, a Tim Allen hit-movie.
https://twitter.com/kristamarieyu/status/1083823807821828096
Jen and Vanessa definitely will bond over many things. Storylines between Mike and Jen will be intriguing to watch for the rest of this season.
Ed’s ancestry results
At Outdoor Man, Ed awaited his ancestry results. He drove Kyle and Chuck crazy by repeatedly stating he was from the Basque region of Spain. Seeking a little fun payback, Chuck and Ed altered the results of Ed’s ancestry results.
Chuck changed the results to Basque and black. They then handed Ed that document. When Ed read it, he immediately surprised Kyle and Chuck.
https://twitter.com/LastManStanding/status/1083894459505336321
Nobody foresaw this reaction, and Ed further surprised Chuck. He pestered him with questions about the black culture. At first, Chuck went along with all the questions, but he finally relented. He told Ed the truth.
Once again, Ed surprised Chuck. Before Chuck and Kyle gave him that document, Ed received his results. He intentionally peppered Chuck with questions. Chuck said not cool, but he deserved it.
Kyle said good night, but Ed discovered Kyle was in on the trick. Ed informed Kyle about his actual results. Ed is Basque and Norwegian. Kyle is also Norwegian. They decided to watch a movie depicting Norway, Frozen of course.
This storyline received less screen time, but it produced laughter. Credit Jonathan Adams and Hector Elizondo for their respective facial expressions in their scenes. Adams kept his cool during Ed’s supposed discovery about his ancestry. Elizondo maintained a straight face the whole time he fooled Chuck and Kyle.
Jen will probably be seen for nearly the rest of this season. We missed Ryan (Jordan Masterson) and Boyd (Jet Jurgensmeyer) in this episode. Kristen only appeared in one scene. Kudos to Last Man Standing writers for leaving us salivating for more episodes.
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Last Man Standing airs Fridays at 8/7c p.m. on FOX.