Grace Under Fire Episode Rating Graph

Jimmy's back in town to stay, and, on Grace's recommendation, he gets a job at the refinery, but his first day is a disaster, and Nadine and Wade say she shouldn't jeopardize her job for someone who used to treat her so badly; Grace, however, says that Jimmy's a different person than he was when they were married and he deserves to make a fresh start. Quentin goes to Jimmy for advice on dating, and he suggests that Quentin go on a practice date with a friend before asking out the girl he really likes. Grace goes to the motel where Jimmy's staying and finds Jean there with her son. Jimmy's depressed and thinks he'll lose his job (in reality, Grace's co-workers have been sabotaging him as revenge for the way he used to treat Grace) but he says he'll never leave his kids again. Jean reproaches Grace for all the ""lies"" she told about Jimmy abusing her, but Jimmy makes Jean face the fact that the things Grace said were true. And Grace is livid when she hears about Jimmy's advice to Quentin,

Grace brings Rob home to meet her kids just as Nadine announces that the baby's on it's way; Wade's off on an undercover assignment so Grace has to take her to the hospital, leaving Rob alone with Libby and Patrick. Grace and Nadine reminisce about how Nadine was always around when Grace delivered all her kids. Grace flashes back to how Jimmy stole hundreds of dollars worth of toys as presents for Quentin and is caught by the police and how she had to take baby Quentin to the county jail so his dad could see him for the first time. Grace and Nadine arrive at the hospital, and Wade is still nowhere to be found; Grace takes over as Nadine's Lamaze coach. Grace flashes back to when Libby was born and Nadine took her to the hospital because Jimmy wanted to go hunting. Grace tries to coach Nadine, who's in great pain, as Grace remembers when Patrick was born, and again it's Nadine who's with her, not Jimmy. On the way to the delivery room Nadine says she's changed her mind about having this

Holiday festivities are underway in the Kelly household with Jean making her famous punch loaf to Grace's dismay and Jimmy's delight. Floyd is so much in the holiday spirit that he's giving away the entire inventory at the pharmacy, and an exasperated Russell decides to get rid of him by sending him on a cruise. Grace gets suspicious of Quentin's mellow mood and at first thinks that he's been drinking beer with his friends. When it dawns on her that he's been smoking pot, she fears that she's about to see him repeating all her teenage mistakes and decides that ""tough love"" is the only way to handle the situation.

With Grace at work all day and taking college classes at night, the kids are a little resentful that she's away so much and let Grace know it, and when she learns that the refinery will no longer pay for her classes it's the last straw. She knows she has no way to pay for her education, so when she learns that she can take a proficiency test to get many of the credits she needs, she's faced with a dilemma. She's scheduled to work the day of the test, and no one can switch with her, so it's her education or her dead-end job. Her co-workers remind her that she really needs her job--her children are depending on her, but the kids say they'll support whatever decision she makes. Grace actually shows up for work the day of the test, but a conversation with her boss, John Shirley, convinces her that she has do what she knows is the right thing and quit her job.

Jimmy's back in town to stay, and, on Grace's recommendation, he gets a job at the refinery, but his first day is a disaster, and Nadine and Wade say she shouldn't jeopardize her job for someone who used to treat her so badly; Grace, however, says that Jimmy's a different person than he was when they were married and he deserves to make a fresh start. Quentin goes to Jimmy for advice on dating, and he suggests that Quentin go on a practice date with a friend before asking out the girl he really likes. Grace goes to the motel where Jimmy's staying and finds Jean there with her son. Jimmy's depressed and thinks he'll lose his job (in reality, Grace's co-workers have been sabotaging him as revenge for the way he used to treat Grace) but he says he'll never leave his kids again. Jean reproaches Grace for all the ""lies"" she told about Jimmy abusing her, but Jimmy makes Jean face the fact that the things Grace said were true. And Grace is livid when she hears about Jimmy's advice to Quentin,

When Matthew shows up at Grace's and announces he's about to marry Joan, a woman old enough to be his mother who also happens to be pregnant, Grace tries to keep her cool, especially when Matthew tells her his adoptive mother has no objections. But when Grace speaks to Emily, she learns that the only reason she didn't object was that Matthew seemed so adamant about marrying this woman. As the wedding day gets nearer, Joan confesses to Grace that although she definitely wants the baby, she doesn't want to marry Matthew in spite of how determined he seems to go through with the marriage. When Grace confronts Matthew about Joan's feelings, Matthew says he wants to marry Joan because he won't abandon this child. Grace understands that Matthew feels on some level that he himself was abandoned by her, and she tells him that he can still be very much a part of the baby's life without marrying the baby's mother.

At the construction site, Grace feels the resentment of her co-worker, Derrick, who wanted the job Grace has. Grace, who has asked D.C. for more responsibilities, is surprised when her old pal Vic from the oil refinery shows up and says he's desperate for a job. D.C. leaves the decision to Grace, who's on the spot because she knows that Vic is lazy. Feeling sorry for him, she tells him he can have the job, but warns him he can't let her down. Vic immediately begins to slack off and Derrick is smug that Grace has made a poor decision on hiring Vic. D.C. warns her that Vic better shape up or they'll both be out on the street, and points out that Vic is now up on a scaffold without a safety harness eating his lunch, even though lunch hour is long over. He tells Grace to go up and have Vic come down. Grace has vertigo but reluctantly goes after Vic. She orders him to put on a harness and come down and as he does, he falls to the ground and is rushed to the emergency room. Also, D.C. somewh

D.C. has a chance to bid on a hotel job for one of the biggest developers in the Midwest. Grace tells him he's going to have to make an extra effort to schmooze the guy and make him feel at ease, even though it isn't D.C.'s style. D.C. tells Grace she should join them for dinner. At dinner with Davis Walsh, the developer, things are a bit awkward, but Davis seems attracted to Grace. Davis is paged and excuses himself, and D.C. tells Grace she should play up to Davis for the sake of their getting the job. Grace immediately learns that it's actually D.C. that Davis is attracted to. When Davis again leave the table, Grace tells D.C. that he's the one who's going to have to do a little flirting. Russell has good feelings about his new relationship with Dot, who has agreed to a second date with him. At dinner with Russell, Dot tells him she likes being with him but wants things to move slowly. Russell agrees, but he's busted when a strolling hypnotist puts him under and he tells the whole r

Libby wants to go to Washington on a class trip, but Grace can't afford to send her. A tornado has hit Victory and there has been much destruction: the church steeple blew off, and an armored car from the casino took a direct hit and money flew all over town. After the storm, Quentin finds a cloth bag by the house with two-hundred-thousand-dollars in it. Everyone has an idea about how they could use the money, but Grace makes it clear that they'll be returning it. The casino management calls a press conference to thank the Kellys for returning the money, but when Grace hands over the bag, twenty-thousand -dollars is missing. Grace is interrogated for hours. She's afraid Jimmy took the money, and Wade makes her furious by hinting that maybe she took it herself. But when Grace finds the missing money in the cookie jar, Jean confesses she took the money to help the church rebuild. As Grace returns the rest of the money, she cleverly tells a TV reporter that the casino has offered to pay f

Jean is upset, complaining that the new bridge will cut off Emmet's (grave) view of the river, so Grace suggests that she move the grave site. Jimmy and Quentin attempt to do that and Russell takes Dot to the gambling boat, but won't gamble.

Grace gets a new job at an advertising company and shockingly, her misery brings something new and improved.

Grace tells Quentin that he can't get a driver's license until he improves his grades just as Jimmy arrives driving a 1969 red GTO and announces that he bought the car for Quentin using Quentin's college fund to pay for it. Grace insists that Jimmy has to return the car and get the money back, but Jimmy suggests that maybe Quentin isn't really cut out for college. Quentin says he'll keep a straight A average if Grace will let him keep the car, but Grace won't hear of it. At the car lot Grace encounters Rob, a guy she's dated sporadically, and learns that he's the one that sold Jimmy the car; Rob agrees to resell the car, and Grace agrees to go out with him again. Rob tells Grace he hopes their relationship can move to another level, beyond a mere physical relationship to a committed one. Grace doesn't know how to respond; she tells Nadine she's not sure she wants anything more than what they already have--after all she doesn't have a great track record, but Rob is a smart, multi-facete

Russell thinks all his friends are being disloyal because they're shopping at the new chain store pharmacy that's opened in the neighborhood. Libby is so involved in planning her birthday party that it's become an obsession, while Quentin is so eager to get a driver's license that he's letting Wade, Russell and even Jean give him driving lessons. Grace's back problems have gotten so bad that even Stevie Ray at the bar notices that she's in pain. She's taking more and more pills and is falling asleep so much that at one point Libby has trouble getting her to wake up. Nadine, Wade, Russell and Jean do a sort of intervention, and Grace reacts angrily and defensively. But when she realizes that Jake, the guy at the bar who's supported her in her pill consumption, is not a shoe salesman as she thought but really a drug dealer, she's so disgusted that she calls Jimmy and tells him she has a problem. Jimmy is completely supportive and promises to be there for her as she works through her prob

Nadine has some big news for Grace.

The new Afro-American neighbors are coming for dinner.

Downsizing becomes a problem for Grace as she discovers that her job was not eliminated but usurped by her boss.

When Grace isn't invited to Rick's weekend getaway because he has made plans with someone else, Grace decides to go Vegas for the weekend with Jean, Jean wins it big on the slots and Grace finds out she is only lucky for other people and not herself

Grace and Russell are so bored with their lives that they decide to go out on a pretend date. Grace and the guys at the refinery learn that they've been fired and rehired as independent contractors which means they'll get no benefits. The guys decide to stage a group protest on the decision; they don't get their benefits back, but they do get free coffee. On her pretend date, Grace meets Rob, a very attractive man who she thinks would be great for cheap, meaningless sex, and agrees to go out with him, but when he comes to pick her up she discovers he's far too intelligent to use as a sex object, so they just go for coffee. And Wade and Nadine go back to the lakeside cottage where they spent their honeymoon, but all they do is go fishing.

When the nasty janitor is about to be fired for being HIV+, Grace is reluctant to help him. Rick instructs Quentin on how to behave on his first date.

A neighbor's son starts hanging out at Grace's house and she finds he is escaping from a 'perfect' mother. Meanwhile, Wade discovers his name has been engraved on a veterans' memorial.

The title refers to Rick's daughter, Amy, who is rather ill-mannered and not Grace's cup of tea, but controls Rick.

While working for a crisis hot-line, Grace encounters the nasty janitor, Mullens, again and he hasn't improved.

A disgruntled ex-employee takes the gang hostage at the refinery.

Grace, Libby and Nadine are still in New York, and Grace is obsessing that she's somehow failed to make this the perfect trip for Libby. Back in Victory, Russell is taken over babysitting chores, and, though he's wary of Quentin, it's Patrick who inflicts the torture. When Grace accidentally locks herself along with Libby and Nadine out on their hotel room balcony, Terry, a handsome fireman, comes to their rescue, but Grace is irritated by his condescending attitude toward out-of-towners. Later, at a jazz club Terry recommended, Grace is surprised to see him on-stage performing. Grace and Terry spend the evening together at his place where Grace meets Terry's son Robby who's just been dropped off by Terry's ex-wife. Grace marvels at how much she and Terry have in common but thinks that starting a long-distance relationship after just having her heart broken by Rick would be insane.

Grace is going crazy trying to finish her paper on ""The Grapes of Wrath,"" and she keeps reminding Quentin that he also has a book report that's due. When Martha, one of Grace's classmates, says she's apartment hunting, Grace jumps at the chance to have her as a tenant. Martha moves in with her parrot, Ignatius, and Libby and Quentin are both charmed by her. Even Jean thinks she's great, but Wade says he thinks he's met her before but just can't place her until he sees the parrot and realizes that Martha is a stripper that he knows from patrolling the strip club where she works. Grace has no problem with Martha's profession and admires her efforts to continue her education. Grace encounters Mrs. Sheffield who tells her she's given Quentin a C+ on his ""Grapes of Wrath"" book report, and Grace confronts Quentin about stealing her work. And when Martha drops out of school and moves back to St. Louis without even saying goodbye to the kids, Grace feels Martha has let both them and her down a

While her relationship with Ben is waning, Rick asks her out on a date.

Wade shows up with Dan Gabriel, his old commanding officer in Vietnam, who's now a covert operations/demolition expert. Dan and Grace begin a verbal sparring match almost immediately. He's a warrior and a hard-core conservative, and Grace hates everything he stands for. Later, Dan has no trouble winning over Jean, and he talks to Libby about how to use psychological intimidation to defend herself against a bully who put gum in her hair. An angry Grace tells Dan to keep himself and his violent approach to life away from her kids, but their conversation ends in a passionate kiss. Grace is horrified that she's madly attracted to a guy she hates, and it's obvious that Dan's equally attracted. But Dan dives into the river to do some demolition work for D.C. and doesn't come back out. Everyone assumes he's dead, but later, Dan, very much alive, appears at Grace's and tells her he faked his death because he needs to disappear for awhile, but he'll be back to see her.

Grace is in search of a job and Libby is worried that they're going to be poor again. Russell knows D.C. is looking for an assistant and suggests that he hire Grace, but D.C. says Grace talks too much and would give him attitude. He relents and offers Grace the job. She arrives at work and immediately begins making suggestions. D.C. says he'd like her to do what she was hired for and do it quietly. He's afraid she'll never be able to keep her mouth shut and thinks he'll probably have to fire her before the end of the day. But when D. C. realizes that Grace has saved the company several hundred dollars by effectively dealing with a stubborn delivery man, he says she can hang around for a while. Wade tells Grace that he and Nadine have been fighting over the phone since she's been at her mother's. Grace suggests that he put his feelings in writing, but he misunderstands and sends an angry letter to Nadine. And Grace introduces Wade to Dot, who tells him he needs a haircut.

Quentin creates the impression at school that he is seriously ill and Grandma Jean has a new beau with an amazing past.

Grace is annoyed by the friendliness of Rick and Jean, whose husband has gone fishing, at the Thanksgiving feast.

Louise, Grace's mom, arrives for the holidays, surprising everyone. Louise has definite ideas about how little girls are to be brought up and she disapproves of Libby's tomboy behavior. Her mission is to turn Libby into a demure young lady, and she starts with a present to Libby of ballet slippers. Grace has no use for Louise's attempts to mold Libby into the lady that Grace never was. She likes the strong, independent Libby and doesn't want her to change. And Libby is feeling quite uncomfortable from all the pressure she's getting from her grandmother. Meanwhile, Russell is selling ""Photos With Santa"" at the pharmacy with Quentin doing the photography, but Russell's disappointed when Dot refuses to pose in a silly elf costume

Russell asks Grace to be his date at the dance at the Victory Country Club where he's applying for membership; though Grace can't imagine why he'd want to associate with such a bunch of snobs, she agrees to attend the dance. Jimmy brings Quentin home after spending the summer with him in Ohio, and Quentin couldn't be angrier with Jimmy. When Grace learns that the reason for Quentin's anger is that he wanted to keep living with Jimmy, she talks to Jimmy who says he wants to be more of a father to the kids, so he's moving back to Victory. Wade goes to take the test to become a garbage collector and comes home with a job as a police officer. At the dance, Russell proves he's willing to go to any lengths to be come a country club member.

Faith and Grace drive to Memphis for their sister's wedding, with Russell who wants to see Graceland and a stranger who somewhat resembles Elvis keeps in touch with Grace.

Nadine and Wade have a marital battle with Grace in the middle. Nadine catches Libby shoplifting.

Grace and Russell attend a real estate seminar with different objectives: Russell wants a profit, Grace needs material for a school assignment.

Grace thinks Matthew's father should meet him, but the feeling is not mutual.

Faith asks Grace to talk to Evie, their wild younger sister, but when the three get together, Grace refuses.

It is a lonesome Thanksgiving when her ex takes the kids to the grandparents for the feast, but Libby escapes and the Kelly clan swoops down on Grace.

When D.C. and Grace have a meeting in a motel with an equipment supplier, gossip that they're having an affair flies around Victory. Jean gets the news at the fabric store, Libby hears it while going door to door for the school candy sale, and Wade hears the rumor that D.C. was at a motel with a prostitute. D.C. is upset that the rumors will cause Grace's co-workers to suspect favoritism, but Grace refuses to let the situation bother her. She flippantly starts a couple of stories of her own – that Russell's adopted, that a certain teacher in town has posed for a nudie magazine, and that the Kellys' neighbor Earl has been burying bodies in the backyard. Things backfire on Grace when it's revealed that Russell is adopted but Floyd has never gotten around to telling him. Mrs. Sheffield sheepishly reveals to Grace that she may be the teacher in question; she did pose, but it was as an underwear model in the Sears catalogue. The police arrive at Earl's and dig up his backyard where he's bee

The 'nice' guy Grace meets, at the behest of Nadine to attend a 'second time around' meeting, turns out to be Nadine's first husband (of three, she married the second twice. Wade is #4).

A romantic weekend in the Windy City is blown away when Ryan fails to show up at the airport on time.

Grace and Ryan have time for themselves when Faith takes the kids to visit their grandparents and the refinery is closed.

Grace's status at the refinery becomes permanent and she gets a raise, but has to take the night shift and will miss the school play Libby is in playing a pork chop.

Wade gets fed up with his job at the phone company and takes a new job as the 'in the air, on the air' reporter.

An employee is killed and the plant damaged by an explosion which puts Grace in the secretarial pool until the accident is investigated. Nadine and Wade date.

Grace has divorced her abusive husband and is faced with supporting their three children. In the premiere episode, she takes a job at an oil refinery and dates the local druggist. Quentin gets into fights at school.

Grace wants to get Nadine back on track, so they take a trip to visit Grace's Aunt Vivian.

Libby is entered in a beauty pageant with a friend. The two mothers don't hit it off very well. Libby sings ""Tomorrow"".

Grace has to contend with her 'down-in-the-dumps' ex-mother-in-law and an invitation to a Christmas dance with Dougie.

Quentin goes to stay with his father and Grace has a short story published in the local paper.

Grace lets Quentin and Libby care for themselves while she goes to work. Her new boss makes it clear that he is only concerned with himself and his retirement.

From a dateless state to a flood. All her boyfriends ask her out at the same time.

When Grace brings her depressed sister, Faith, home for the holidays, she learns that Faith has been having an affair with a married man.

Quentin shows his displeasure when Grace invites Ryan to dinner.

Grace arrives home very late from her job in St. Louis and finds the kids still up, the house in disarray, Jean asleep on the sofa and Libby cleaning the kitchen. The next day Grace gets an unexpected work assignment and Libby must cancel her plans to go to the bookstore with Grace. Later they all go to a construction site where a bridge is being built, to see the large tractors. At the site, they're approached by an African American man who Jean thinks is about to mug them, but he's D.C., the owner of the company that's building the bridge. They talk briefly, and when Patrick gets his arm caught in a piece of equipment, D.C. rescues him and gives Grace some grief about working out of town and not being around for her kids. On Sunday night, as Grace is preparing to leave for St. Louis, she realizes it's getting more and more difficult for her to leave her family. When everyone gets up in the morning, Grace is there cooking breakfast. She's quit her job.

Grace is angry when her paycheck is attached to pay the back taxes of her ex-husband; Russell's ex-wife upsets a date with Grace when she decides to return to him.

Grace's promotion does not bring her happiness. Quentin runs away to find his dad and the men at work are disgruntled.

Grace slips on the icy walk at Wade and Nadine's house, then visits a therapist who helps her decide how she feels about their marital dispute.

Quentin has a fight at school and Grace is angry when she discovers that Quentin used a racial slur that started it.

Grace and Nadine take a night out and flirt with some frat boys, while Russell and Wade try to steal Russell's dog which his ex-wife got as part of the property settlement.

Grace and Russell make plans for a double blind date; Libby is harassing baby Patrick.

Needing her own space, Grace turns to the basement to create a room for herself and get some privacy.

Grace and the kids are set to wait out the big storm and rising flood when her ex arrives.

Acting somewhat like Abby, Grace tries to reconcile her boss with his estranged pregnant daughter. Meanwhile, Quentin seems embarrassed to go out in public with his mother.