When Joel's mother comes up with the idea of tying string around the top of a trash bag, which he labels "Synch-sacks", Joel figures it's high time his father actually took her inventions seriously. Joel chooses his time carefully, opting for scaring the man half to death during his first driving lesson, given that he now has 20 years of driving experience behind him. Bill finally relents, but the disaster that unfolds is "Chilghetti", a mix of chili and spaghetti. It's not available in the 21st century, so compared to the other inspirations she's had, this one surely can't be a winner? Meanwhile, Isabelle is set for a disaster of her own as she plans to audition for Scarlett O'Hara in a school production of "Gone With The Wind". Joel has knowledge about the audition which, unless it's stopped, will make for a moment that will haunt her until the end of her school days. At the end as the family go ahead and begin to put Chilghetti on the market, they make a toast to an uncertain future. If only this show had had a future.

Joel is thrust back 20 years into the past, where his first order of business is to survive algebra class and keep from being humiliated in the student council election.

Joel picks a fight with a high school bully. This time around, he decides to stand up for himself.

Joel is faced with re-living one of the most embarrassing moments of his life: when he made his baseball team lose the game after missing 3 balls. He tries his best to avoid playing at the game, but his efforts are useless. He will have to see his dad yell at him, his mother run away with shame, his sister call him a dork, Holly Kent laugh at him and worse: this time his grandpa, Isabelle (who's having a bad hair week thanks to a bad perm) and TV are there. Joel misses the balls, but instead of running home like before he stays and faces everybody. Turns out his dad was yelling at someone else, his mother just went to pick up sodas from the car, Holly Kent was laughing at some dogs and his sister was really calling him a dork. Facing his failure isn't so bad after all, especially when you discover you were the one who gave Greg Maddux confidence to carry on with his future brilliant baseball career. Pat, on the other hand, isn't so lucky and has gets his wrist broken like before.

Pat makes Joel steal his dad's precious Cadillac and go to the Def Leopard concert so they wouldn't be stuck home "with only three networks". At the concert, Joel uses his smooth talk to buy tickets from a scalper for him, Pat, Isabelle and Holly Kent, who he met at the parking lot waiting outside for her date to come out of the concert. Just as they are about to get in, Joel changes his mind and rescues his sister from the most humiliating night of her life. Unfortunately, he is caught red handed and his parents decide to act tougher on him – thanks to melancholic, depressive poem he wrote in English class entitled "Smells Like Teen Spirit" – and Cheryl doesn't remember a thing the morning after.

When Joel enters a Star Search-like competition using a hit song from the future, he reevaluates whether he should become an accomplished musician the honest way or by stealing someone else's material..