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Original Airdate: 10/18/97
It's another day at school for the kids and Matt meets up with one of his friends, Mitch. Mitch invites Matt over to a friend's house for a part but Matt declines the invitation. Mitch heads off down the hallway, but not before dropping a joint in the palm of Matt's hand. Matt is shocked and doesn't know what to do so he puts the joint into his jacket pocket.Later at home, the kids get back from school and take their turn petting Happy. While Matt says hello to her, the joint falls on the floor at Happy's feet but Matt fails to notice. Happy picks it up in her mouth.
Simon finds Annie in the kitchen and tells her that having his mother pick him up from school is not acceptable anymore and that being picked up by his older brother is much cooler. Ruthie has been busted by her teacher for wearing the same clothes to school for three days in a row and asks Simon to help show Ruthie how to do the laundry properly and he reluctantly agrees.
Mary Lucy join the gang in the kitchen where Mary reminds her mother that Wilson is coming over that night. Lucy also asks if her new boyfriend, Rod, can also come over. Annie tells them to check with their dad first. Eric's car is heard parking outside and he comes in to greet Happy at the front door. Happy drops the joint at Eric's feet and Eric goes to the kitchen where he tells the kids he needs to talk with Annie alone upstairs. He shows Annie the joint and asks her what they are going to do now. Eric comes up with a plan where he will talk to each of the kids about drugs until the guilty party confesses.
Ruthie and Simon talk about the laundry and Ruthie puts on her swimsuit since that and her pajamas are the only clothes she has that are clean. Simon says the first thing Ruthie needs to do is separate her colors. She ecstatically picks up her box of crayons and displays them proudly to Simon who realizes this is going to be a long day.
Eric tells Mary and Lucy their friends can come over so Lucy tries to decide what she is going to wear. She decides to spice up her black outfit with one of her mom's scarves. As she goes through Annie's top drawer, she finds the joint and she and Mary are convinced that their mom is doing drugs. Matt overhears them and quickly checks his pockets for the joint and discovers it isn't there. Matt calls Mitch and says he wants to go to the party after all.
Eric has a talk with Simon about middle school and asks him about his drug education section in health class. Simon says it's just a bunch of videos with druggies laying on the sidewalk with needles in their arms and drooling. He tells Eric it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know drugs are bad for you. He then tells Eric he doesn't know why anyone would use any kind of drug in the first place – but if Eric finds out to let him know.
Mary and Lucy find Eric looking for a box of matches near the fireplace and Eric interrogates Lucy about Rod. Mary asks if he could not check in on their dates every five minutes and trust them a little more. Eric somewhat agrees and Lucy suggests that he might spend a little more time with mom.
Simon and Ruthie continue their laundry experience where they check the pockets for any money. Simon explains they can make a fortune checking dad's pants for change. He tells Ruthie to use one of his mom's bras as an indication of how much detergent to use. He then warns her never, ever to open the washer door while it is running because it could tear your arms off.
Rod arrives, complete with his motorcycle helmet, moped and a pathetic moustache. Introductions go around as various family members can't help but laugh. Matt tells Eric the Rod is just trying hard to be cool but Eric is still convinced that Matt is the one doing drugs. Annie drops a bombshell on Eric as she tells him that once before college she too smoked pot. Eric is furious but says they should concentrate on the important issue – Matt.
Simon and Ruthie go to check the laundry and find a load of pink clothes where once all of Ruthie's whites were. Simon rummages through the clothes to find a pink sock and reminds Ruthie of his instructions to separate the colors. Ruthie is overjoyed at all of her "new" pink clothes but Simon doesn't think their mom will be that enthused.
Eric asks Wilson if he thinks Rod is doing drugs and he says he can only speak for himself – he's clean. Eric asks him how a parent would tell if their kid was doing drugs and he tells Eric that his father gives him a drug test every now and then. He explains to Mary that since he became a teenage father, he pretty much blew the lid off the trust thing.
Annie goes outside where Matt is playing basketball and tells him about her drug experience. She tells him how the night she got stoned, her friend Rachel's boyfriend was driving home and a block away from his house was killed in a car accident. Matt listens to his mother, knowing that both she and his dad think he is a dopehead. A family meeting is called where Mary and Lucy find out it wasn't their mom's joint. Simon doesn't understand and asks whose joint it is then. Matt speaks up to say it is his and Simon yells at him and runs upstairs, heartbroken. Eric explodes and Matt explodes in hand. He turns and runs out of the house leaving Eric yelling behind him – wondering where he went wrong.
Eric and Annie argue about which incidents of their past they should share with their children and which they should not. Eric finally decides he needs some air and they both go for a drive.
Matt is going to the party with Mitch when he tells Mitch to pull the car over and he gets out. Matt starts walking down the street and goes to the church where he sits in a pew and starts praying to God, wondering how his parents will ever trust him again. He explains out loud how he never touched any kind of drug, but his dad won't listen. Unknown to Matt, Eric and Annie also arrived at the church and heard Matt's prayer. The three embrace and Eric promises to try and listen a little harder – but is overcome with joy knowing that he has his son back.