Elaine and Max encourage Polly to put her needs first, as they did when Polly was growing up, and offer to babysit Natalie so Polly can spend time out with Scott. But they get a quick lesson in parenting the middle ground between letting kids run the show and ending up on a milk carton.

The family celebrate their favorite holiday - the Oscars. Polly invites an old classmate over for the event and tries to impress him. Meanwhile, Max thinks that Elaine has too close a relationship with her brother, and tensions explode at the party.

With Max stressing out over the opening of his second comedy club, and a lawsuit that comes with it, Max and Polly are butting heads - with Max eating anything in sight to calm his nerves. Meanwhile, Polly helps Julian figure out his feelings for his new girlfriend.

When Polly is apprehensive about putting herself up for a promotion (wine and cheese manager) and Natalie announces that she's playing a "hillside" in the school play, Elaine and Max decide to get involved in order to make sure that Natalie and Polly are living up to their full potential.

Polly leaves her irresponsible husband, Julian, and taking her young daughter, Natalie, moves back in with her unpredictable parents, Elaine and stepfather Max. Apprehensive but determined to get her life back on track, Polly jumps into the dating scene and reluctantly leaves Natalie home for a night with her parents.

When Polly and Julian tell Natalie they won't be going camping as a family this year, Natalie invents an imaginary bully in an effort to deal with her parents' divorce. Meanwhile, Elaine forces Max into planning to see an old Aunt who is at death's door.

With Polly now happily dating, Natalie wants her dad to also have someone, and guilts Polly into helping Julian find a girl. Meanwhile, Elaine and Max, who have always been unapologetic about who they are, realize they have to make some changes for the sake of Natalie.

When Polly is a hit at Elaine's birthday lunch, Elaine is left feeling uninteresting, so Polly gets her an audition for a movie to boost her ego. But Polly soon realizes she's fallen into an old pattern of putting her mother's dream before her own.

Having always felt ordinary, Polly gets her family to go the extra mile to get Natalie into the gifted Magnet program, only to discover she's gifted in her own way. Also, when Elaine takes on a part in Max's play reading, their sex life is affected.

Polly is determined to start paying her own way, so when her attempt at a second job fails, she decides to go back to school and make something of herself. Meanwhile, Elaine inspires Julian to follow his dream of opening a zombie survivor fantasy camp.

Max and Polly bond when he helps her learn to follow through on doing things -- like Groupons that she amassed while coping with her separation from Julian.

When Polly hurts her back training for a 5K and becomes confined to the couch, her parents step in to take care of Natalie. Elaine finds herself in an awkward situation with Natalie's classmates when they ask her to explain heaven and religion. Meanwhile, Max and Elaine encourage Julian to give Polly some space.

Polly's desire for Natalie to fit in with the kids and moms at her new school causes tension when she arranges a playdate and Elaine tries to steal the show.