Mike Makes Right

Billy Barton is pounding on little Donnie Hollman at recess, and Mike Caldwell is the only kid brave enough to tell him to stop. Now Billy wants a showdown - and he's told Mike to bring a bun and some mustard, because tomorrow he's turning him into hamburger. Mr. Whittaker says the Lord takes care of those who do right, just like David and Goliath... but when Billy tears the shirt Mike's grandmother gave him, Mike swings blind, bloodies Billy's nose, and becomes the school hero, "Magnificent Mike." Soon Mike is strutting, snapping at his best friend Freddy, and sounding an awful lot like the bully he beat. Then a new kid named Sam - who has never heard of Billy Barton and isn't impressed - puts a fist in Mike's stomach and Mike back in his place. Over a milkshake at Whit's End, Mike learns the hard way that pride goes before a fall, and that his name is just Mike.

Found on Heroes Album 03 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0014 Missed it by that Much A chronically late girl gets a nightmarish glimpse of where her tardiness could lead - and one morning to prove she can change.

0015 My Brother's Keeper Fed up with his pesky six-year-old brother, Phillip asks Whit for help getting rid of Dean - and learns to be careful what you wish for.

0016 No Stupid Questions A curious ten-year-old girl with endless questions and nowhere to go after school finds a welcome at Whit's End - and crosses paths with a bitter man who wants to be left alone.

1 of 2 0017 A Member of the Family When his pampered nine-year-old grandson arrives in Odyssey for the summer, Whit discovers that love sometimes means holding the leash tight.

2 of 2 0018 A Member of the Family When Whit's estranged daughter arrives furious over how he disciplined her son, a family crisis forces three generations to confront the hurts they've never spoken aloud.

0019 Recollections When Connie wonders why Whit is away from the shop, Tom Riley shares the bittersweet story of the remarkable woman behind Whit's End and the fight to save an old building the whole town had forgotten.

0020 Mike Makes Right When mild-mannered Mike Caldwell stands up to the schoolyard bully on behalf of a helpless classmate, he learns that doing the right thing can cost more than he bargained for.

0021 The Case of the Missing Train Car When a prize-worthy model train engine vanishes from Whit's End just before a state-fair competition, suspicion falls on a foster child whose troubled past makes her an easy target.

0022 A Simple Addition When a new baby arrives, a little boy waiting on a promised pair of boots wonders whether there's still room for him in his parents' hearts.

0023 The Quality of Mercy When a small-town farmer catches a boy stealing apples and lets him off easy, he soon discovers that mercy is a lesson some people have to learn the hard way.

0024 Gotcha! Whit's End's resident prankster learns the hard way that being the best practical joker in Odyssey just makes you the biggest target.

1 of 2 0025 Harley Takes the Case When a boy vanishes on his way to softball practice, a small-town officer must decide whether he's chasing a kidnapper or a kid who doesn't want to be found.

2 of 2 0026 Harley Takes the Case When a small-town search for a missing boy spirals toward panic, one overlooked officer's quiet hunch leads him somewhere no one else thought to look - and into far more danger than he bargained for.

Featured characters

John Whittaker Hal Smith

Minor characters & crew 13 more roles

13 supporting roles

Girl Actor Unknown Sam Christopher Lewis Freddy (b) Nathan Fisk Freddy (c) Nathan Fisk Johnny Actor Unknown Receptionist Actor Unknown Girl (c) Heather Sanders Boy (d) Actor Unknown Billy Barton Chad Reisser Mrs. Caldwell Robyn Sanders Mike Caldwell David Griffin Donnie Hollman Darren Malo Principal Jones Walker Edmiston

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer Steve Harris Director · Producer Phil Lollar Director Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Recess at Odyssey Elementary School, and Mike Caldwell finds his best friend Freddy calling the blow-by-blow like a TV fight announcer while Billy Barton beats up Donnie Hollman. Freddy shrugs it off - every school has a bully, and there is nothing anybody can do about it - but Mike can't watch. He yells at Billy to leave Donnie alone and pick on somebody his own size. Billy lets Donnie go, corners Mike, and asks who made him the school peacemaker. Then he sets the terms: tomorrow it's the two of them, and Mike should come with a bun and some mustard, "Because I'm going to turn you into hamburger."

Over chocolate sundaes, compliments of the house, Mr. Whittaker tells Mike he is proud of him for standing up to a bully to help someone else - exactly what their Sunday School class has been talking about. Mike would rather move to the North Pole and hire a bodyguard. Whit agrees fighting is a bad idea, urges him to find any way around it, and points him to David and Goliath: if you are doing what's right, the Lord will take care of you. Next morning Mike tries to stay in bed with a disease that hides when you look for it, but his mother offers him school or the doctor, and school it is. The rumor that Billy is absent holds up only until Billy finds him. Talking fails, the crowd gathers, and Billy knocks Mike around - until he tears the sleeve of the shirt Mike's grandmother gave him for Christmas. Furious, Mike swings wildly with his eyes closed and lands a solid punch on Billy's nose. Billy runs off bleeding, crying that he is telling his dad, while Freddy, back in his announcer role, crowns a new school hero: Magnificent Mike.

A couple of weeks later, the win has gone to Mike's head. Principal Jones calls him in to warn that by all the talk around school, somebody new is taking Billy's place as the bully - this guy they've been calling Magnificent Mike. Mike bristles, especially at the word going around that his punch was a lucky one, and walks out having heard, as the principal notes, not a word - including the old saying that pride goes before the fall. When Freddy agrees it was a lucky punch and says Mike has changed, Mike snaps that he doesn't need him anyway - "Magnificent Mike to you, Fred." Minutes later he bumps into Sam, a new kid on a first day at school, who has never heard of Billy Barton, is not impressed, and punches Mike in the stomach when he refuses to pick up the books he knocked from Sam's arms.

Alone at Mr. Whittaker's counter, Mike orders a milkshake to soothe an upset stomach and admits he has been put back in his place. Whit is not surprised: for every tough guy, there is always somebody tougher. He returns to David and Goliath - David was not trying to be tough; he fought because Goliath was laughing at God - and draws the line between fighting because a friend needs help and fighting to look cool. Mike supplies the moral himself, "pride goes before the fall," and is startled to learn it comes from the Bible: "pride goes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before a fall," Proverbs 16:18. Whit asks if Magnificent Mike still wants that milkshake. Yes, please - and his name is just Mike.