Mike Baxter and secrets don't mix.
On Thursday's episode of Last Man Standing, titled "Jen Again," Mike (Tim Allen) does his best to surprise Vanessa (Nancy Travis) with a visit from their former exchange student, Jen (Krista Marie Yu), that may last a bit longer than she expected.
In ET's exclusive clip, Mike breaks the news to Kyle (Christoph Sanders) about Jen's impending arrival, hoping that he'd be in on the secret -- only it's turning out to be a bit more of an ask than Mike initially planned for.
"It's supposed to be a surprise," Mike shushes Kyle, when he gives him an Outdoor Man uniform for Jen.
"Oh, and it was. I did not see that request coming!" Kyle exclaims.
"Not for you, this is for Vanessa. Now that it's safe to travel, Jen is coming to visit," Mike happily reveals, who shares that Jen will be arriving in just two days.
"Yeah," Kyle sighs, knowing those 48 hours of keeping this surprise under wraps will be a near impossible task. "I'm never going to make it!"
And just when Kyle starts to explain to Mike why this will be a struggle for him, Vanessa comes into the room. Talk about immaculate timing. "What's everyone whispering about?" Vanessa asks, forcing Kyle to struggle through his fib. "Just... no one's visiting ever."
Watch ET's exclusive clip below.
With the final season of Last Man Standing set in a post-COVID world, executive producer Kevin Abbott told ET ahead of the season that bringing back special guests for a final goodbye is a little bit more difficult this time around.
"We went into the season where I basically said, 'Guys, we're going to have to do most of the series with just the people we have,' because bringing in people, there are too many variables," Abbott said. "We're very conscious of trying to be safe on the set and everything. Anytime you introduce another person, you're just running an extra risk. So, the edict is if it's a great story, yes, we'll bring somebody in. Otherwise, can we tell the story with our people? The hoops are already much more difficult to jump through in order to get any show shot. Adding in another thing is very, very difficult. But again, that being said, we have had a couple of guest people already. If the story's great or if it's Kaitlyn Dever, then we'll have them on."
Last Man Standing airs Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on Fox. For more on the series, watch below.
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