The War at Home

Vicky decides to turn to an old, ex-boyfriend over the internet for advice about what to about her son, Larry, who insists on wearing women's clothes. While she's online, though, she discovers some of Dave's secret e-mails he's been sending to someone with the screenname ""Lonely Lady in Michigan."" Having discovered this, she decides to confront him. However, Hillary also has some problems of her own, but refuses to to tell Vicky about it.

When Dave notices how nice Hillary has been to him recently, he is certain it's because she's having sex with someone. However, Mike spies on her and confirms that Dave is actually wrong. Dave then comes to the conclusion that she's smoking his pot when he notices his stash has gone missing. As he's confronting her about it, though, he accidentally tells her that it's his, but quickly tells her that it's not really his - it belongs to Vicky's mother, Betty, that she uses for medicinal purposes.

Dave isn't happy when Taye's family is invited over for a barbecue by Vicky, and has a hard time getting along with Taye's father, Omar. At the barbecue, Omar mistakes some of Dave's comments as racist, because he's a wealthy, African-American. However, when Vicky insists that he go apologize to him, Dave finds himself having a great time at Omar's country club. When he gets home, though, he finds out that Hillary and Taye are on the verge of breaking up.

When Dave finds out that Hillary is asking Vicky about sex, he plans an unexpected family trip to prevent her from going out on a date on Saturday night. Meanwhile, Kenny can't accept the fact that Larry has a new girlfriend, so he tries to break them up.

One of Hillary's friends gets breast implants, so now, Hillary wants to get implants, too. However, both Dave and Vicky won't let her do it, as Dave tells Hillary that it's what's on the inside that matters, not appearance. His advice is then tested when he meets Larry's new, overweight, unattractive girlfriend, Marla. Now, he'll have to figure out how to tell Larry that he can do better without going against what he told Hillary earlier.

When Hillary and her friend Brenda are caught arriving drunk late at night, Dave and Vicky decide to ban alcohol in the house. However, this only lasts two days, as Vicky and Dave fall victims to some free alcohol with their friends and arrive home drunk themselves. As they arrive, they'll have to face Hillary and Brenda's strict parents, who are waiting for them. Meanwhile, after accidentally shooting a pigeon, Mike decides to become a vegetarian.

When Dave thinks the kids are getting away with too much, he implements a zero-tolerance, pro-spanking policy, since talking to them just isn't working. However, they all think he's bluffing and don't take him seriously. After Larry becomes the first to be spanked, he moves in with his friend, Kenny. Now, Child Protective Services is called and Dave will have to answer to them.

Dave becomes upset with Larry because of his lack of interest in masculine activities, and his lead role in the ""Annie Get Your Gun"" play at his high school. Things get worse for Larry when his parents see him kissing what they think is a guy, which convinces them that Larry is, in fact, gay. Meanwhile, Hillary has to deal with her new image at school after she hits another girl and gets dumped by Taye.

Grandma Betty comes over with her new boyfriend for dinner with the family. However, soon, Dave finds out that she is spending a lot of money on him. Fearing that he'll lose his future inheritance, Dave accuses Grandma Betty's boyfriend of being a gigolo in order to break them up. Meanwhile, Vicky and Dave devise a plan to break up Hillary and Keith by showing Hillary how hard it is to raise a baby. Then, when Larry shows interest in baseball cards, Dave encourages him... until he learns that Larry is using the information to sell his cards on eBay.

Vicky becomes inspired to be more ambitious by Mike when he scores high on a test, with the option of taking the honors class. So, she decides to return to her fashion-executive lifestyle, which will mean an increased salary. Dave supports her all the way until he soon learns she's too busy to do the household duties, leaving him to do all the chores. Larry, meanwhile, ends up taking too much credit after submitting Kenny's poem as his own.