Stuck in a Besties Battle

**"Stuck in a Besties Battle"** is the ninth episode in Season 3 of ***Stuck in the Middle***  and the forty-sixth overall. It first aired on March 30, 2018, to 1.06 million viewers.

## Summary

Under Abuela’s watch for the weekend, the Diaz kids are committed to making her visit disaster-free, that is, until Harley learns that Ethan spilled her deepest secret.

## Full Plot

The parents and the twins are gone but Abuela is in town and in charge at the Diaz house. Whenever Abuela is in town, her visits always end in disaster because the Diaz kids always manage to ruin things for her. They've come to the conclusion that it's a curse. So, this year, Harley convinces her siblings to make this visit as curse-free as possible. They even agree not to watch television so that they won't have to fight for the remote.

Harley asks Ethan to record some lines into her new game machine so that she can program the machine to say any phrase she wants using Ethan's voice, whenever someone gets a ball into a hole. Ethan accepts hoping this will keep his mind off Chloe. He reveals that he and Chloe broke up after he embarrassingly burped on Chloe's ice-cream cone. Ethan asks Harley to keep this as a "Flea-az Diaz" secret. Flea-az Diaz secrets are the deepest kind of secrets between the **BFTF**s, Harley and Ethan, that no one else can find out. Ever. They started when Harley got fleas and spread them to the entire family.

Meanwhile, Georgie and Daphne become convinced that Harley is Abuela's favorite because of all the things she does for Abuela. Georgie tells Daphne that it's not worth it, but then she secretly starts buttering Abuela to become her new favorite. Daphne finds out and is shocked that Georgie can be tricky like that. This leads to an aggressive competition between Georgie and Daphne to gain their grandmother's favor. Abuela is impressed by how Georgie and Daphne keep competing to do chores and whatever she wants. The kids agree to take a group selfie with Abuela to send to their parents, showing them how much fun they're having.

After taking the photo, Harley scrolls through Ethan's photos to make sure it came out right. To her surprise, she finds the photos of Ethan and Aidan having fun together (in "Stuck in a Nice Relationship"). Harley becomes so furious that Ethan went behind her back to hang out with her worst enemy, whom they had placed in the "Dead to Diaz" list. To avoid fighting in front of Abuela, Harley pushes Ethan to the garage. Ethan apologizes and mentions that he had only done it after realizing how much he has in common with Aidan, but then he stopped hanging out with him since he knew it was wrong. Harley forgives Ethan but says that she is just disappointed and hurt. This peace is short-lived because right after that, Harley goes outside and runs into Aidan who starts making fun of Harley by mentioning "Flea-az Diaz!" Harley gets so mad that Ethan told her worst enemy her deepest secret. She starts plotting revenge against Ethan when Abuela is out.

Fortunately, Harley and Ethan are left home alone because Georgie and Daphne are taking Abuela outside for exercise, as part of their competition. Georgie sabotages Daphne by making sure they go to a gym where Daphne is too young to participate. Daphne is locked outside the window while Georgie is exercising next to Abuela. Daphne tries to get Abuela's attention but Georgie keeps blocking her. When Georgie is forced to leave for talking, she goes over and starts fighting with Daphne. They destroy the window blinds, leading to a huge commotion. They are banned from the gym. Abuela is very disappointed and decides to end their activities early and head back home.

Back at home, Harley starts executing her revenge plan. She invites Chloe over and tells Ethan that she can hang with whoever she wants since Ethan can hang with whoever he wants. She gets Chloe to play the game she was making. It turns out that she modified the game to make it say embarrassing secrets about Ethan - in Ethan's voice. Ethan is so embarrassed in front of Chloe that he starts fighting to destroy the game machine.

Abuela, Georgie, and Daphne return back early from their exercise only to find the chaos in the game room. Abuela is so disappointed in them. She makes both Harley and Ethan explain why they were fighting. At that point, Harley realizes that Ethan only told Aidan about Flea-az Diaz to help convince him that Harley is a good person by letting him know how Ethan and Harley became **BFTF**s. Georgie and Daphne reveal that they were fighting because they thought Harley was Abuela's favorite, but Abuela reveals that she has no favorites. They agree to go play together in the game room.

Before the family game night, Harley and Ethan overhear Aidan talking on the phone with his dad. They learn that Aidan is sad that his dad is never there for his games. He's also having a hard time making friends. At that moment, Ethan and Harley realize that he could probably use some company. Harley invites Aidan to join them for the Diaz family game night, marking a new beginning.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Jenna Ortega as Harley Diaz
* Isaak Presley as Ethan Diaz
* Ariana Greenblatt as Daphne Diaz
* Kayla Maisonet as Georgie Diaz

### Recurring Cast

* Olga Merediz as Abuela
* Alana Baer as Chloe
* Joshua Bassett as Aidan Peters

### Absent Cast

* Nicolas Bechtel as Lewie Diaz
* Malachi Barton as Beast Diaz
* Cerina Vincent as Suzy Diaz (mentioned)
* Joe Nieves as Tom Diaz (mentioned)

## Continuity

* Harley finally finds out about the time Ethan went behind her back to hang out with Aidan in Stuck in a Nice Relationship.
* She also mentions that Ethan put Aidan in the "Dead to Diaz" list in Stuck with Harley's Bethany.
* Ethan and Chloe started dating in Stuck with Rachel's Secret.
* The game room has expanded significantly since Stuck in a New Room.
* It is seen that Abuela is staying in Tom and Suzy's room which first appeared in the previous episode.
* Chloe's habit of not finishing sentences was also explored in Stuck with a Diaz Down.
* Georgie and Daphne mention the time that Harley organized for the family to go to Abuela's for Christmas in Stuck at Christmas - The Movie. They also mention that Harley sends Abuela an ornament every year, which was also mentioned in the Christmas special.
* The Foosball table from Stuck with Horrible Helpers is seen.
* It is shown that the attic is now the game room. The decision to turn the attic into a game room was made in Stuck in a New Room when the kids agreed to stop fighting over who should get the attic.
* This episode finally explains how Harley and Ethan became **BFTFs.** Harley first mentioned that Ethan is her **BFTF** in the first episode.
* Ethan and Harley mention their "Flea-az Diaz" secrets again in Stuck in Harley's Quinceañera.

## Trivia

* With 4 of the 8 main cast members absent, this episode features the least amount of main characters.
* Abuela returns since Stuck at Christmas - The Movie
* Clips were shown depicting previous visits by Abuela, which always ended in disasters.
* Suzy and Tom are out of town with the twins, making this the only episode where both parents were absent.
* Daphne hides cookies in Deathnee's clothing.
* A "Flea-az Diaz" secret between Harley and Ethan are only known to them.
* Ethan told Aidan Harley's darkest secret.
* Tom's brother Chick is mentioned, he lives in a high rise and has a smaller family.
* Rachel is seen in photos on the girls' room walls.
* This is the only episode of the series that both parents are absent, as most of the episodes involve one of the parents in the main plot.
* Since Harley invited Aidan to game night, he is apparently off the "Dead to Diaz" list.
* Harley and Georgie act like Daphne when Harley embarrasses Ethan in front of his girlfriend and when Georgie tries to become Abuela's favorite.

## References

1. ↑ [1]
2. ↑ [2]