Parent-Teacher conferences cause Frankie to worry about the kids. In them she's told Axl is gifted but not applying himself, that her teachers still do not know who Sue is, and Brick may have to repeat the second-grade due to failure to return over 30 lib

Frankie does more for Mike and the kids and less for herself on Mother's Day; Sue feels guilty when she steals a motivational magnet from a store.

Frankie worries that Axl will be heartbroken when his on-again and off-again girlfriend re-enters his life; Brick must watch over a baby chick for a school project.

After failing to pay the electric bill on time, the electric company shuts off the Heck's power. This leads Frankie and Mike to cut down on their unnecessary expenses, including their cable TV. The kids take up other activities to fill the void, but Frank

Mike receives tickets to a basketball game that falls on the day of the funeral of Frankie's uncle; Brick tries to avoid a birthday party.

Frankie worries about her job when a motivational consultant (Amy Sedaris) is asked to speak to the sales staff; Mike gives advice to Sue's ex-boyfriend and helps Brick with a school project.

Axl is heartbroken when his girlfriend (Alexa Vega) breaks up with him; Sue and Brick watch a scary movie.

Brick shows considerable talent in his school's spelling bee and Mike decides to train him for the regional bee. The family gets set to go on a road trip to Chicago for the regional bee when they realize that they forgot one things - Sue's birthday!

With Brick at his first sleep-over, Axl on a date and Sue at her first boy-girl party, Frankie and Mike believe that they will have the house all to themselves for a quiet and romantic Valentine's Day. However, all of their plans unravel.

Frankie makes a deal with her kids, that if they do their homework and keep chores she won't nag them. Meanwhile, Mike takes a job as a night driver with Bob.

Mike begins searching for a new job when the quarry is shut down for scientific research because of the discovery of a dinosaur bone. He soon feels like a dinosaur himself when he realizes the drastic changes in technology that he can't seem to keep up with. Meanwhile, Frankie helps Brick in his quest to be elected school historian.

Frankie feels that a fight with her trashy neighbor Rita is imminent when Sue has a confrontation with her sons. Meanwhile, Axl is asked to teach Brick how to kick a ball for gym class, and brides him in order to do so. But later, Brick turns the tables on him and brides him for a favor of his own.

Sue demands that Frankie and Mike buy her a expensive pair of jeans so that she can fit in with the cool kids at school, while Axl wants a car so he can impress a girl. Meanwhile, Frankie makes Brick take care of Aunt Edie and Aunt Ginny's dog Doris for a few days in order to teach him responsibility.

Mike takes over the responsibility of organizing the Heck family Christmas while Frankie practices for a solo that she is singing at midnight mass. However, she gets jealous when Mike seems to be doing a better job than she ever did. Meanwhile, Frankie and Mike help Brick get over a problem so he can get into the Christmas spirit.

Frankie encounters two perfect siblings and vows to make her children stop fighting and become a loving family. Meanwhile, Aunt Edie makes a costly mistake at the quarry and Mike considers firing her.

Frankie's plan to have an idyllic family Thanksgiving backfires when Mr. Ehlert demands his staff work over the holiday. Brick goes missing in a corn maze.

Frankie accidentally hits Brick in the head with a beer bottle when trying to get the trash out before the garbage truck leaves. But when Brick innocently tells his school that the scratch was caused by his mother throwing a beer bottle at him, a social worker comes to evaluate the Heck family. Meanwhile, Bob helps Mr. Ehlert shoot a commercial for the car lot.

When Axl accidentally breaks down the front door, Mike insists that, he fix it in order to teach him a lesson, which leaves the Heck house wide open for days. At work, Frankie needs to sell a car within a week or she will have to wear a dog suit outside the lot for promotion. Meanwhile, it's picture day at school and Sue is concerned because she has never had a flattering picture taken of herself.

Brick's teachers tell Frankie and Mike that he is "socially challenged". Mike believes that enrolling Brick on a basketball team is a good way to get him to interact with others, but the idea falls through. However, when Mike enters the neighborhood bloc

Sue sells sausage and cheese samples for the school. All her efforts go in vain as the school fails to see this. Frankie demands her daughter fights for her rights. Meanwhile, Brick discovers love with his current girlfriend a little stressful as she bosses him about.

Lois and Hal are spending the weekend at a family wedding, leaving Francis -- home for a visit -- in charge. When Malcolm overhears them discussing whether Francis has spent long enough at the military academy, he enlists his brothers in a scheme to get Francis home by preventing any of the usual disasters. But three of Francis's dude buddies turn up to party and trash the house, and while frantically cleaning up Malcolm gets a serious head injury that necessitates the usual trip to the emergency ward. How to prevent Mom and Dad from finding out? Enter Caroline, who has begged Malcolm to look on her not just as his teacher but also as his "friend" -- a declaration that costs her $400 in medical bills. Meanwhile, Hal and Lois discover that his family has a new nickname for her: "Lois Common Denominator." Her humiliation provokes Hal to declare his devotion to her -- and the snooty bride and groom discover that their honeymoon car is already being put to use.... Home again, Mom and Dad are impressed with Francis's new maturity: obviously sending him to military school is the best decision they ever made.

A battle of wits and wills ensues between the boys and their angry mom, who wants to find out who ruined her expensive new red dress -- found partially burned and soaking in the toilet. It's Hal and Lois's wedding anniversary (hence the dress); and while the boys fend off their mother, with the long-distance assistance of Francis, a lonely and increasingly sozzled Hal bonds with the staff of the restaurant where he booked a table for the big night. Lois finally achieves an epiphany on the phone with Francis, who convinces her to for once "let something go". After she leaves for the restaurant, with the boys in tow, Hal arrives home to an empty house -- and we learn the truth about what happened to the red dress.

A young boy named, Malcolm is found to have a genius IQ. He is placed into a gifted class though he would much rather remain with the normal kids. Now he must deal with the fact that he is now shunned and bullied because of his intelligence.