Eric and Annie decide to renew their vows; a widow seeks Eric's help to confront the juvenile who murdered her husband; Mary is reluctant to put down her crutches.

Eric and Annie are taking the day off to spend time together since it's the first day of school for the 5 Camden children. Although, things go array on their first day back in school. Ruthie is caught wearing a hat backwards which violates school policy. Ruthie insists on wearing her cap backwards and ends up getting a 'time out' by her teacher. During Simon's first day at Junior High School, he is caught with a knife that his mother had given him to cut his chicken. Simon is suspended for a day. Mary offers to help Lucy with her locker that doesn't open because of Eric's old lock that he had given her. Meanwhile, when Lucy takes an aspirin that Mary had given her, the principal notices them with the medicine and takes them to the office. Matt later joins his sisters after Mr. Koper catches him with a beeper- the one Eric left in Matt's jacket after borrowing it. All three of them are suspended for a day. Also, Mary learns that Mr. Koper is her new basketball coach and he's going to he

Mary tries to make Wilson say that he ""loves"" her, but Wilson thinks it's a big commitment and that they haven't known each other long enough to say those words to each other. Meanwhile, Simon and Ruthie are reading Matt's love letters to Heather and get caught. Matt tricks them by addressing one of the letters to ""Mrs. Matt Camden."" By this, Eric accidently finds the letter leading to think Matt and Heather got married over the summer, which worries himself, Annie and Heather's mom, Mrs. Cain. Lastly, Eric helps Lucy's friend, Laurie get closer to her mother.

Eric accuses Matt of doing drugs after finding marijuana in the house and after Matt's friend Mitch askes him to hold his marijuana. Meanwhile, at the same time Eric finds the marijuana in the house, it leads Annie to a confession of own her about her experimentation. Also, Simon teaches Ruthie about the fine art of doing laundry, eventhough Ruthie is little too young. Lastly, Lucy introduces her new clothing of all black and her new boyfriend Rod to the family.

One of the members of Eric's congregation, Mrs. Bink persuades him to investigate the real reason of why her best friend Mrs. Hinkle is moving into a retirement home. Meanwhile, Simon and Ruthie are performing an experiment and are trying to convince Matt that Simon is shrinking, but the tables suddenly turn for Simon. Also, Lucy tries to get to the bottom of one of her classmates, Shelby as she is rumored all over school of being bulimic.

The Camden kids get a lesson in love as Mary decides to call it a quits with Wilson. Simon is obsessed with getting his first girlfriend, while Ruthie learns the do's and don'ts of kissing on the school playground. Matt receives devastating news from his girlfriend Heather, which leads him on a long journey to Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Lucy laments over being single until she accidently gets close to the school hunk.

Against Eric's advice, Matt takes a job caring for a dying boy named Steve. Annie goes into the muffin-making business after being convinced by her daughters Mary and Lucy. Annie goes into business with a cookie shop owner, David Friel who's looking to expand his profits, although it's much harder work for Annie than what she had originally anticipated. Also, Ruthie teaches Simon a tough lesson about the art of being a salesperson when being his competition in selling greeting cards.

Against Eric's wishes, Simon asks Mrs. Kerjesz (guest-star real life survivor, Rita Zoharm) to tell her story about being in the Holocaust in his class presentation. To form a strong sisterly bond, Mary and Lucy decide to hate Matt's new girlfriend for no good reason and end up hurting her feelings and breaking up with Matt. Also, Annie suffers heartache when Ruthie tells her she ""hates"" her for making her clean the walls in her room after scribbling crayons on them.

Mary coerces Matt into asking his friend Brian (guest-star Jason Behr) to take her out on a date despite his lack of interest in her. Although, things begin to heat up between the two kids while on the date---but ultimately ends in disaster after Mary finds out the truth. Meanwhile, Lucy is invited to a sleepover of popular girls, but Lucy is unaware of the group's real intentions for inviting her. Also, Simon begins to teach Ruthie how to swim without taking lessons. Lastly, Eric becomes convinced he's fat and thinks he's getting away with cheating on his diet.

Eric and Annie try not suspecting the worst when they discover money missing from the church treasury and all the evidence points to Lou, the church treasurer. Later, they all find out it is for his disabled son who was kicked out of his home and needs to find a new one. Believing that Coach Koper has more than basketball on his mind where Mary's concerned, Matt and Lucy risk alienating their sister to discover the truth. Also, Simon lets the game of golf overwhelm his life and ends up breaking a lot of things.

Eric helps a single mother named Harriet and her son Clarence to try to convince the IRS that she shouldn't be responsible for her ex-boyfriend's enormous debts. Annie confronts the kids about their lack of good manners after an incident at a ""Free Sunday Blue-Collar Special Lunch"" at a restaurant. The kids do not take Annie seriously and fool around. Meanwhile, Matt accuses Mary and Lucy of placing a personal ad in his name in the school newspaper for a date. Also, Simon and Ruthie try to figure out how to pay off Happy's accidental credit card and purchase.

Convinced that she'll fail in her basketball comeback, Mary develops a horrible attitude making her quite unpleasant. Eric laments that Mary never talks to him anymore. Lucy is excited over the prospect of her best friend Suzanne coming to visit, until she learns the girl ran away from home. Afraid of his science teacher, Mrs. Hunter, Simon loses his confidence in his ability to complete a class project and feigns illness to avoid it. Also, Ruthie is fearful of her first field trip thinking that she'll get lost from the group.

When Eric helps his friend Reverend Morgan Hamilton secretly meet up with his wife's ex-husband Kevin, they are shocked at the outcome that he's paralyzed from the waist down. While covering for the Hamilton's daughter Keesha, Lucy unexpectedly goes on a double date with them. Soon Annie and Mrs. Hamilton bust the girls when taking Ruthie and Lynn to the movies. Back at school, Mary clandestinely dates one of Lucy's classmates.

Lucy gets an invitation to have pizza with two rebellious friends, then blames herself for the tragic car accident that claims her friend's life, and her sister in the hospital. After Lucy's friend is killed, the family rallies around her, noticing her unusually distant behavior. In addition, Mary does a favor for her ex-boyfriend Wilson and baby-sits his son Billy so he can go to his prom. Also, Simon gets his own room while Matt moves into the attic.

After Eric agrees to take in a French exchange student (Guy) as a temporary border, no one but Ruthie suspects the young man is actually a con artist. Suave and romantic, the border attracts both Mary and Lucy after he flirts with them. Simon and Ruthie get sick when they try to smoke Guy's cigarettes. Also, Guy steals Matt's date. Lastly, Eric and Annie discover e-mail and chat-rooms on Guy's laptop computer and begin a romance with each other over the internet.

Eric tries to unravel the mystery surrounding a young homeless girl, Sarah James, that Simon brings home who's lost. Eric tries to help her and her alcoholic father, Joe James. Matt delights the prospect of going away to college. Matt says he needs personal space when having a older woman sleep-over. Also, sharing a room begins to fuel differences between Mary and Lucy.

Eric asks Matt to take his friend's daughter to the senior prom, but he is unaware of her tainted style and her being a harlot. Eric gets ""Snappy the Stegosaurus"" tickets from his ex-girlfriend for Ruthie. Meanwhile, Simon is uncomfortable after viewing a school film on the 'facts of life' while Ruthie learns the truth about her costume character hero. Also, Mary and Lucy trick their way into a date with boys they don't know, but the joke's on them.

Matt tries to find the right time to tell his parents that he's accepted an internship in Washington. Meanwhile, his concern for his sisters leads to a confrontation with Mary and Wilson.

Simon becomes emotionally involved with his best friend's sister, Karen who's a gang member. Meanwhile, in a show of independence Lucy dons makeup and revealing wardrobe with her friend's to meet guys at the mall and gets caught by Annie and Ruthie. In addition, Ruthie questions the speed of light to everyone in the family.

Eric's no-nonsense father, John ""The Colonel"" (guest star Peter Graves) returns when he learns an array of problems in the Camden household. Mary is jealous of a new member of the basketball team who is getting a lot of the attention. Lucy's declining grades are due to her hanging around with a bad crowd, while Ruthie needs to copy Simon in his quest to be a magician. Meanwhile, Eric is oblivious to all of the family troubles around him as he's preoccupied with writing a sermon that is to be covered by a camera crew. Meanwhile, Annie is doing all the chores at home and at church alone while everyone else is doing their own thing.

Lucy must choose between her new boyfriend Rod and her former boyfriend Jimmy Moon after he is dumped by his old girlfriend Ashley, and wants Lucy back. While Lucy makes her decision, the rest of the Camden children are making bets to which guy Lucy will choose. Eric and Annie are at odds when they help newly married couples communicate with each other, but end up getting into a big fight themselves when discussing their burial plot arrangements within their own families. Also, a visit from Annie's father stirs up further problems in the Camden household when he arrives without Ginger after recently breaking up due to his hair piece (toupee).

Eric and Annie's parents arrive right in the middle of the crisis involving Mary and Matt; and Happy's original owner comes to take him back.