During this week’s second episode of Last Man Standing, Mandy and Kyle took a major step in their relationship, which inspired Mike and Vanessa to re-examine their own finances. It escalated to a point where Mike jokingly called Vanessa a “sweet old Bernie Sanders.”
In “Sibling Quibbling,” Mandy (Molly McCook) and Kyle (Christoph Sanders) decided to combine their bank accounts. This led to Mandy discovering that Kyle was sending money to his brother Lonnie, who is struggling to find work in Colorado. Mike (Tim Allen) advised Kyle to stop, but he was so desperate to feel charitable that he went out to a homeless shelter to serve soup.
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Vanessa (Nancy Travis) defended Kyle, telling Mike it was hard for your heart to say no to your family.
“Your heart doesn’t know anything. That’s why it’s not called the brain,” Mike snapped back.
Vanessa said this was similar to her situation with her sister April. Mike was under the impression that Vanessa stopped sending April money, but she was still helping her. The last time they talked about it, Mike said he did not want to hear about the topic. So Vanessa kept sending April money, and Mike never heard about it.
Later, Mike was still upset with Vanessa when she offered him a piece of cake. She apologized for the misunderstanding and Mike admitted he should have been more clear about how he felt.
“Look, I know you think April is taking advantage of me,” Vanessa said.
“Listen, I know April. There’s nothing that is enough for her, right,” Mike said. “She’s like a freeloading socialist and you’re a sweet old Bernie Sanders.”
“Oh thank you, ‘old’ and ‘Bernie Sanders’ in one sentence,” Vanessa said as she rolled her eyes.
“Look, I’m not saying you’re a lunatic leftist, I’m saying you’re acting like a lunatic leftist,” Mike said.
Vanessa insisted that Mike does not know April well, explaining that they helped each other because their mother was never around. She does not know if sending her money or a phone is really helpful, but she cannot say no to someone she loves.
Later on, Mike told Mandy that he and Vanessa decided it was fine to send April money. Mandy thought this meant she should let Kyle help his brother, but Mike said they should not copy their decision.
“You can’t just copy us. Every relationship is different,” Mike explained. “It’s like a classic car, right?”
“You said that at Chuck’s wedding… just before Kyle called Mom fat,” Mandy reminded him.
Vanessa said Mike was right, adding that “financial matters are too personal to copy what somebody else does.”
“It’s like a classic car. Every marriage is different, requires a different amount of work,” Mike said. “Sometimes it’s the valves, sometimes it’s the carburetors.”
“I understand,” Mandy said. “What if our cars electric?”
“Then I don’t really want to talk to you,” Mike said.
“Great advice, Dad. And since your favorite movie is The Godfather, ‘I’ll be back!’”
New episodes of Last Man Standing air on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
Photo credit: Michael Becker / FOX
