The War at Home Episode Rating Graph

When Kenny's dad cancels on taking the boys to a comic book convention, Larry asks Dave to take them instead. At first, Dave refuses, but after hearing Larry call him a hero, he quickly decides to be a good father and take the boys. But when his fatherly duties go beyond simply dropping them off, Dave is pushed to the limit when it means missing the Jets football game and pretending he's a comic book geek. Back at home, Vicky introduces Mike to coffee and Hillary wants to have a sleepover with a guy.

Because of failing gym class, Hillary risks not graduating high school. Feeling that their nest is emptying a little bit, Dave and Vicky feel the need to keep it that way, resulting in both of them agreeing to have no more children and taking steps to prevent that from happening. But in the end, Hillary graduates and a shock for Dave and Vicky unfolds.

Larry reveals to his parents that he suffers from Social Anxiety Disorder, so Dave and Vicky try to put him on medication, but Larry refuses and accuses them of wanting to change who he is. Meanwhile, Dave is convinced that Hillary intends to lose her virginity on prom night, so Vicky ends up giving her the "sex talk."

Fearing they're in a rut, Vicky tries to take Dave to a wine appreciation course, but he refuses, and later makes fun of her because she goes without him. Meanwhile, Dave assumes Larry is serving his new, older "ladyfriend" more than just the gourmet meals he prepares for her, and is offended that he isn't mentioned in Hillary's video blog.

Mike asks Dave for a bar mitzvah, but he believes Mike is only in it for the party and gifts. However, Mike expresses geniune interest in Judaism after studying Hebrew, so Dave and Vicky are willing to support him and throw him a "coming-of-age" ceremony. Hillary also decides she's interested in being Jewish after Mike's attractive Hebrew tutor. Also, Larry gets the confidence he needs to ask out an attractive girl at school.

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.

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 puts the kids on a strict allowance, since they're always asking him for money. Vicky supports him on this... that is, until she, too, is put on a budget and is unable to buy the Prada boots she's always wanted. Meanwhile, after spending all his allowance money on the first day at Medieval Times, Larry asks Mike to loan him some money. And, in order to earn some extra money, Hillary starts an escort service for the nerdy boys at school.

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.

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.

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.

Dave thinks he sees Hillary in a "Girls Gone Crazy" video, however, he's relieved when it turns out he's mistaken. But he is completely freaked at being turned on by girls Hillary's age, though. So he turns to Vicky for inspiration after he throws out all of his "visual aids," and it begins to tire her out. Meanwhile, an edited version of the movie "Goodfellas" inspires Larry to replace swear words with the word "love," and Hillary prevents Mike from taking drugs by passing PMS medication off as mood enhancers.

Dave accuses an incensed Hillary of cheating on her SATs after she gets a surprisingly high score. Meanwhile, Vicky and Dave meet a couple who may be interested in more than friendship, and Dave asks Larry to take a client's daughter out on a date, only to find out that she isn't an ideal match for him.

Vicky's mom Betty and her boyfriend Sid announce their engagement and upcoming wedding in St. Martin and invite the entire family to join them. But when Sid goes too far with a stripper, Dave wonders whether or not to tell Betty and risk losing the free trip. Meanwhile, Kenny goes on a date with an ex-boyfriend of Hillary's, so Dave has an awkward conversation with him about gay safe-sex, while Hillary worries she may have a knack for turning men gay.

When Vicky refuses to buy Larry Ice Capades tickets, he runs away from home hoping she'll give in so he can see Brian Boitano star as Bilbo Baggins in "The Lord of the Rings" on ice. A disbelieving Vicky holds her ground, but when she realizes Larry really did leave town, she questions her parenting skills. Meanwhile, Dave tries to support Hillary in a fight with one of her friends, but when it backfires on him, Dave and Vicky get tired of parenting and ditch the kids.

When Larry wears Dave's jacket to school by mistake, he ends up getting suspended for 30 days by Principal Fink for finding pot in it. This leads to Dave and Vicky trying to get him enrolled in a parochial school with the same priest who Mike thinks is hitting on him.

When Kenny moves into the Gold's house, Vicky sets out to re-decorate the basement for him, however, her ideas don't meet Kenny's standards, and Larry, Hillary, and Mike try to get him to stop showing them up by doing all the chores and laughing at Dave's bad jokes. Meanwhile, Dave uses Kenny's moving in to his advantage and tells everyone at work he's taken in an "orphaned gay kid" so that he'll look like a good guy and hopefully get the newly-vacant, larger office.

As school starts up again, Dave is excited that the kids will be out of the house until he and Vicki realize that all of them have their own agendas. Mike questions his current romantic relationship, which upsets Dave because the girl involved is the daughter of Dave's new best friend. But when Dave meddles in Mike's life for the sake of his "man-crush" on the girl's father, he does unexpected damage. Meanwhile, Hillary changes her study habits after catching a glimpse of her future, and Larry reinvents himself for the new school year.

Dave and Vicky decide to give Hillary the car she wants as long as she agrees to sign a contract so they can completely control her life. She reluctantly signs, but Dave and Vicky realize they may have gone too far with the restrictions. Meanwhile, Larry goes against the "bros before hos" code and dates Mike's ex-girlfriend, Heidi.

After a car accident, Dave and Vicky decide to look over their living wills again, and ask their friends Jeff and Mindy to become their children's legal guardians should anything happen to them. They can't accept due to already doing the same thing for their other friends, so disagreements between Dave and Vicky start up, causing a huge fight. Larry thinks they may be getting a divorce, so he, Mike, and Hillary come up with a plan to get them back together.

16-year-old Hillary's father, Dave, refuses to let her go out on a date with a guy older than her. So, to deceive him, she brings a new ""study buddy"" over to the house instead. At the same time, Dave and Vicky are having trouble trying to figure out how to understand their son, Larry.

Thinking that Hillary will be grateful, Dave takes the blame when she gets pulled over for reckless driving while she's taking driving lessons. However, Hillary isn't grateful at all when this leads Dave to be arrested for DUI and goes to court to try and settle things. Vicky, meanwhile, forgets to register Larry for Shakespeare camp, while Dave and Mike take up online poker.

Larry meets with a music executive who wants him to make a demo after hearing a song he composed for a website. After learning about this, Dave reveals that he considered himself to be the original white rapper in high school, known as The White Shadow, and offers to help Larry with the lyrics. He wants to show him the support his own father didn't show him. Meanwhile, tired of being mistaken for an Olsen twin, Mike decides to bulk up, and Hillary questions Taye's motives when he tells her he loves her.

Dave has to deal with mood swings and PMS when Vicky and Hillary's menstrual cycles start in full swing. So, when a reluctant Dave has to take Hillary to the gynecologist's office, he soon discovers that Dr. Vogel is his old best friend, who happened to be a ladies' man in high school. This leads to the doctor's professional relationship with the family getting personal since Dave doesn't believe he's changed his ways. Meanwhile, Larry tries to do whatever it takes to gain the respect of Mike when he calls him a nobody.

Dave starts to put pressure on Hillary for her to do well on her college admissions interview by setting up mock interviews, which only makes her even more nervous. Meanwhile, Vicky organizes a movie night for the family, and they end up watching Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Finding the film very profound, Dave forces the entire familiy to live in an eco-friendly existence, but takes things too far.

When it's revealed that Kenny and his date will be attending the school's Sadie Hawkins dance, he and his date are both banned from the event for not keeping with its traditions. This prompts an outraged Larry to lead protest against the discrimination, while Dave goes to the school to argue the case. Meanwhile, once Principal Fink discovers that Kenny's been living with the Golds, he tells Dave that he must inform Child Services so that Kenny can be put in foster care, unless Dave can convince Kenny's parents to let him come home.