Stuck in Diaz Court

**"Stuck in Diaz Court"** is the seventeenth episode in Season 3 of ***Stuck in the Middle*** and the fifty-fourth overall. It first aired on July 12, 2018, to 0.77 million viewers.

## Plot

When the family car rolls into the garage and causes severe damage, Tom and Suzy look for a culprit; Ethan and Harley don't have alibis, so they head to Diaz Court.

## Full Plot

When the family car rolls into the garage and gets damaged, Tom and Suzy have enough reasons to suspect one of the kids is responsible. All the other kids except Harley and Ethan have alibis. Harley could have done it because lately, she spends a lot of time in the car video-chatting with Aidan. Ethan could have done it because he goes to record his music in the car. So, it turns into a Harley vs Ethan situation - **BFTF** vs **BFTF**. To determine which one of them is the culprit, Suzy calls for a Diaz Court.

Whenever the Diazes can't figure out who committed a crime, they usually hold a Diaz Court trial. The parents are usually the jury while the kids are randomly assigned different roles like the judge, court reporter, and lawyers. Georgie is randomly selected as the judge. Daphne is selected as the court reporter. Ethan gets Lewie as his lawyer, meaning that Harley is stuck with Beast as her lawyer. This makes Harley worried because Lewie is usually the best lawyer in the family while Beast is the worst. All of Beast's clients usually end up being found guilty. Since Harley knows that she didn't do it, she concludes that Ethan must have done it. So, to avoid a trial, she goes to Ethan's room to help him backpedal his way out of the situation. However, instead of saying directly that she knows he did it, she starts talking hypothetically, which makes Ethan conclude that Harley did it and is trying to get his help out of the situation. Harley denies it and leaves angrily, ready to face Ethan at the trial.

Before the Diaz Court trial, Beast arrives late with some prepared statements but then Daphne shreds them almost immediately, claiming that it's part of her court reporter duty. He tries to piece them together but it's no use. Lewie, on the other hand, gives them a presentation of Ethan's baby pictures to appeal to their emotions. Lewie convinces the court that Ethan couldn't have done it because he was up in the game room practicing the roll-ball game all day since he's really terrible at the game. On noticing that Beast isn't going to help prove where Harley was, Harley takes the stand and explains that she was working on an invention and she couldn't have done it earlier because one of the key parts was delivered yesterday. She calls Bethany to prove that she signed for the package. However, Lewie shuts them down by asking if Bethany actually saw what was in the package. Judge Georgie calls for a recess.

During the recess, Harley and Ethan admit to each other that they don't believe either one of them did it. So, Harley decides to take the fall for it to save her BFTF. However, when the court resumes, Daphne comes in with new evidence. She puts on her Officer Sasha Phluff police costume and reveals that Ethan deleted a file from the cloud. Harley concludes that Ethan did, in fact, record a new song in the car. So, he must have deleted it to avoid anyone suspecting that he was in the car. Harley says that Ethan must have a backup of the song and if he were to play it, they would hear the sound of the car crashing. Ethan refuses to defend himself or prove otherwise. So, Georgie dismisses the court for the jury to come up with a verdict.

Suzy and Tom go up to the attic to discuss the verdict. They have ordered Chinese food, and are in the process of opening it up when Tom gets a call which changes everything. He says that they have a verdict, and Suzy is annoyed because she didn't even get to open up her chopsticks.

After the trial, Harley and Beast are sitting on the swing set as Beast apologizes for not being of much help during the case. He says that everyone wants Lewie as their lawyer but Harley tells him that he did great and she would be glad to have him as a lawyer in the future. Beast then casually reveals that the files are usually backed up in their dad's laptop. This is all Harley needed. Evidence. She thanks Beast for saving the day. She then goes to her dad's laptop to look for Ethan's file. She finds it but it's not what she expected. It is a rap video that Ethan made inviting people to Harley's quinceañera, in which he says a lot of good things about Harley. Ethan deleted the file because he wanted it to be a surprise for Harley.

Just before the jury's verdict, Harley barges in and declares herself guilty. She tells Ethan what's going on by saying lines from the rap video. Ethan and Harley smile at each other. Luckily, Tom and Suzy reveal that they got a call from the manufacturer telling them that the car transmission is faulty. So, it rolled by itself. The Diaz Court's **BFTF** vs **BFTF** case concludes as a mistrial.

Later, the family watches the quinceañera invite videos together. Harley concludes that even when there's enough doubt, there are some people in your life - like her **BFTF,** Ethan - that you can always count on.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Jenna Ortega  as Harley Diaz
* Isaak Presley as Ethan Diaz
* Ariana Greenblatt as Daphne Diaz
* Kayla Maisonet as Georgie Diaz
* Nicolas Bechtel as Lewie Diaz
* Malachi Barton as Beast Diaz
* Cerina Vincent as Suzy Diaz
* Joe Nieves as Tom Diaz

## Goofs

* When Daphne shredded Beast's notes, they were shredded vertically. However, when Beast reads them, they are shredded horizontally.

## Continuity

* The punishment for the guilty is "lockdown" - the highest level of Diaz punishment which was the central plot of Stuck in Lockdown.
* Daphne puts on the Captain / Officer Sasha Phluff costume once again to help solve the crime. The costume debuted in Stuck in a Mysterious Robbery and appeared again in Stuck Without the Perfect Gift.
* Georgie being indecisive is part of the reason she and Wyatt couldn't work out Stuck in a Nice Relationship.
* Harley has been video-chatting with Aidan since he moved away in Stuck Without the Perfect Gift.
* Ethan sends out invites for Harley's Quinceañera which will take place in Stuck in Harley's Quinceañera.
* Suzy's special Découpage plate from Stuck Without the Perfect Gift is seen displayed on the shelf Tom set it on.
* The twins complain when Daphne uses the Peeby and Jay car from Stuck in a Mysterious Robbery. Their Peeby & Jay characters were created by Ethan in Stuck without a Ride.
* Bethany's knitting hobby was mentioned by Aidan in Stuck with a Non-Diaz, when he said that she was going to a knitting convention.
* The roll-ball game machine was invented by Harley in Stuck in a Besties Battle. The speakers that Ethan destroyed were never fixed.
* Harley and Ethan were first introduced as **BFTF**s in Stuck in the Middle. In this episode, Georgie questions why it isn't **BFITF** since it stands for "best friend in the family."

## Trivia

* Malachi Barton celebrated his eleventh birthday during the production of this episode.
* This episode premiered as part of the 2018 Disney Channel **GO!** Summer promotion.
* Rachel and Aidan are mentioned.
* This episode marks the final appearance of Bethany.

## References

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