Mary takes a walk on the wild side with a classmate she meets in detention; a former associate minister from Eric's church drops in unexpectedly; Simon and Ruthie ferret out a scheme to fund their college educations.

Ruthie wants the ""Booboom"" video game that her friend has and is walking around the house pretending she is dropping bombs which is annoying Annie a lot. Simon has a BIG problem at school when his girlfriend Deena tells him that her former boyfriend Johnny just got dumped by his girlfriend and might be coming after him so he could get back together with Deena. Johnny then threatens to shoot Simon the next day at school. Simon tells Eric this and tries his best to settle this matter leading to bad consequences on both sides as someone gets shot. Meanwhile, Matt introduces Mary to his friend Shana and her brother. He asks Mary out on a date, but has no idea that he has a BIG problem--- he is violent. Meanwhile, Lucy tries to be romantic with Jordan and wants to slap him after watching ""Gone with the Wind.""

Eric counsels a troubled couple on the brink of divorce, Ted and Emily. Matt decides to join the Army without consulting his parents about it. Also, Mary and Lucy are desperate to get out of the house and later get into a car accident with Ted who was driving drunk when going out to get some more beer for his new apartment. Matt can't join the Army because he's not fully measured for the job. Also, Simon tries to find his red-lightning ring to get out of his bad luck as being the new middle child of the family now. He will even try chain letters to get out of it. Lastly, Ruthie tries her best to get peoples attention when their focuses are on the new babies.

Annie decides to take a much-needed break from the family and heads to the beach on a solo trip to get some rest, leaving Eric (Mr. Mom) in charge of the large household. Meanwhile, Matt must relunctantly say goodbye to Shana as she leaves for NYU. Mary impatiently waits for Robbie to call her. Also, Lucy realizes that she may be interested in the wrong guy, and Simon learns some tips from his sisters on how to treat a girl.