Eric and Annie look forward to a quiet, more tranquil, household now that all five of the kids are starting a new school year but the first day of classes brings a traumatic experience for each of the Camden offspring: Matt is caught wearing his father's pager; Mary gives Lucy an aspirin; Simon is suspended for cutting his chicken with a butter knife; and Ruthie is nagged by her teacher about wearing a hat.

Eric is absolutely positive he knows which of his kids owns a marijuana joint that is dragged into the house by Happy, but Annie warns him not to jump to conclusions. Desperate to keep all of them in one place while he searches, Eric forbids Mary and Lucy from having guests after supper, but changes his mind in order to question Lucy's new boyfriend, Rod, about drugs. Lucy finds a joint in Annie's dresser drawer, and she and Mary suspect their parents are "stoners." Ruthie's attempt at doing her own laundry gives her a whole new wardrobe. Annie reveals a secret about her past to Matt. Eric eventually confronts Matt about the joint he found and while Matt admits he brought it back, he swears he had no intention of smoking it. Eric isn't convinced and drives Matt out of the house, only to see him at the church confessing, making Eric realize he was wrong about everything and promises from now on he will listen to whole story before making a final conclusion.