Eric counsels a teen drug addict; Matt's fired from another job; Lucy blows it when she tries to impress the most popular girl in school; Simon and Lucy get lost playing detective.

Annie and Matt are robbed at gunpoint; Mary wants a tattoo; Eric is told to fire the church organist; Simon and Ruthie have the chicken pox; Lucy runs for student-body president (as does Jimmy Moon).

Everyone's plans for a romantic Valentine's Day are interrupted when Happy, Simon's dog, gets out of the house and is hit by a car.

Annie volunteers as the church's treasurer pro tem but gets caught in the middle when Eric wants to hire an ex-con against the advice of the church vestry. Meanwhile, Mary agrees to tutor Jimmy Moon in science.

Eric and Annie are taking the day off to spend time together since it's the first day of school for the 5 Camden children. Although, things go array on their first day back in school. Ruthie is caught wearing a hat backwards which violates school policy. Ruthie insists on wearing her cap backwards and ends up getting a 'time out' by her teacher. During Simon's first day at Junior High School, he is caught with a knife that his mother had given him to cut his chicken. Simon is suspended for a day. Mary offers to help Lucy with her locker that doesn't open because of Eric's old lock that he had given her.

Meanwhile, when Lucy takes an aspirin that Mary had given her, the principal notices them with the medicine and takes them to the office. Matt later joins his sisters after Mr. Koper catches him with a beeper- the one Eric left in Matt's jacket after borrowing it. All three of them are suspended for a day. Also, Mary learns that Mr. Koper is her new basketball coach and he's going to he

Lucy gets an invitation to have pizza with two rebellious friends, then blames herself for the tragic car accident that claims her friend's life, and her sister in the hospital. After Lucy's friend is killed, the family rallies around her, noticing her unusually distant behavior. In addition, Mary does a favor for her ex-boyfriend Wilson and baby-sits his son Billy so he can go to his prom. Also, Simon gets his own room while Matt moves into the attic.

Eric tries to unravel the mystery surrounding a young homeless girl, Sarah James, that Simon brings home who's lost. Eric tries to help her and her alcoholic father, Joe James. Matt delights the prospect of going away to college. Matt says he needs personal space when having a older woman sleep-over. Also, sharing a room begins to fuel differences between Mary and Lucy.

Eric is trying to cheer up a woman whose son died three years ago. She wants to meet the people who received her son's organs after he died. Mary got her driver's permit, but not everyone is enthusiastic to ride with her. Meanwhile, Lucy and Simon decide to take the bus. A freshman has a crush on Lucy and sits beside her, which makes his girlfriend jealous and angry with Lucy. Simon gets into some trouble with this tough guy who wants help with his homework. Also, a pregnant girl steals Matt's car and leaves Matt with her broken car, which happens to be stolen. She is running away from home because her parent's don't forgive her for getting pregnant.

Ruthie wants the ""Booboom"" video game that her friend has and is walking around the house pretending she is dropping bombs which is annoying Annie a lot. Simon has a BIG problem at school when his girlfriend Deena tells him that her former boyfriend Johnny just got dumped by his girlfriend and might be coming after him so he could get back together with Deena. Johnny then threatens to shoot Simon the next day at school. Simon tells Eric this and tries his best to settle this matter leading to bad consequences on both sides as someone gets shot. Meanwhile, Matt introduces Mary to his friend Shana and her brother. He asks Mary out on a date, but has no idea that he has a BIG problem--- he is violent. Meanwhile, Lucy tries to be romantic with Jordan and wants to slap him after watching ""Gone with the Wind.""

Lucy is spending the weekend at camp 'All By Myself'. It turns out everyone at the camp has to spend the weekend all by themselves without talking to anyone. Ruthie is angry with classmate Bobby Tripp because he keeps making fun of her since he accidently saw her underwear. Now, Ruthie decides to make him realize what he did was wrong by starting a war: Camdens vs. Tripps. The church's women group throws a baby shower for Annie. Eric and Matt have lunch with Morgan and John Hamilton. The manager of the restaurant doesn't serve Morgan and John their meal because he doesn't serve black people.

Two parishioners entreat Eric to take their suffering dog to the vet to be put down. Matt catches Mary in a lip-lock with Michael Towner in a most unlikely place. When caught, Mary gets into a big fight with Matt because he's always intruding in her life. After a night of cooling off and a talk with Sgt. Michael's and each other (Matt and Mary), things go back to normal. Simon and Lucy double date together with birthday girl Deena and her older brother who is visiting. The dates are a success.

Mary and her friend Corey Conway learn that they have been named recipients of their senior classes ""All Sports Award"" and they are both thrilled. Although, the local businessmen revoke the honor from Corey when they learn Corey is a mother. Angered and hurt by their actions, Mary gives her reward to Corey in front of the entire assembly. On the home front, tensions build after Eric and Annie find a bag of marijuana in Simon's new friend's backpack. They confront his family (who at first deny there is an issue), but after a successful intervention with the police, the boy's father agrees to seek counseling and to find a job. Meanwhile, Matt faces a disciplinary action after he breaks the honor code during a school exam. Also, Lucy questions herself whether she should help a boy she likes to access the school's computer system when she's working in the attendance office.

The Camden family rallies together after Mary's arrest. Mary truly learns the consequences of her actions after she learns that she is losing her scholarship to college, faces possible school expulsion and jail time. Eric and Annie enlist the help of a lawyer who manages to get Mary enrolled in a community service program. Simon and Ruthie feel overwhelming pangs of guilt for having some knowlege of Mary's intentions and not telling their parients about it. Simon and Ruthie decide to visit many different houses of worship to attain atonement. Also, Matt moves back home to help with the family, but soon realizes he needs to live on his own.

Reverend Camden encourages his congregation and his family to trust in prayer. Lucy gets upset when people in the public thought of her as a disgusting teen mother when she takes the twins for a walk. Mary is praying that she will be able to get back together with Robbie even after what he did. Simon prays that he can see Deena soon and be on her parent's good side again even after giving her a hickey. Eric tries to locate a child who wrote an inspiring letter to him, but was left unanimous.

Rev. Eric Camden counsels a sexually molested girl to help her express the rage and pain she's been hiding from her family. This dark secret that Mary knows about weighs in on her, which brings her to open up to Lucy. Meanwhile, Simon and Ruthie learn the power of communication with their friends and classmates. Also, Matt helps Hank reveal an important personal secret to Julie before his mother visits.

In the fifth season-opener, big changes are afoot in the Camden household this fall as Eric is distressed by the fact that his daughter Mary has opted to postpone college in favor of a little soul searching and the glory of minimum wage. Mary decides to buy a car. Also, Annie leaves Eric with a handful at home so she can complete her teaching degree. Meanwhile, Simon attempts to fit in with the treacherous terrain of high school, and Lucy looks forward to ruling the school as a senior. Lucy can't wait to start a relationship with Andrew Nayloss, except he hasn't come back from summer vacation yet. Meanwhile, Heather and Matt's on-again-off-again relationship threatens to be off-again--- permanently. Matt considers the pre-med track at college and Ruthie learns that she will have to spend another year with her despised third grade teacher, Ms. Riddle.

Still unemployed and bills mounting, Mary continues her downward spiral to rock bottom as Eric and Annie fight about how to effectively deal with her numerous lies and immature behavior. Meanwhile, the fear of what may happen to Mary starts to take toll on the rest of the whole family. By this, it is prompting the children to break open the twins piggy banks to help Mary pay her bills. To get the credit card company to stop calling, however, they are forced to make a risky decision. During all this, Mary CONTINUES to ignore her responsibilities.

Mary's future may be resolved, but the rumor mill surrounding her situation runs rampant. While ugly rumors spread about Mary's sudden departure, Simon is persuaded to use his sister's bad reputation to boost his 'cool' quotient at school and gets into some trouble of his own with identical twin bad girls, Carol and Sue Murphy (Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Full House). Congregational gossip irks Eric. Lucy wrestles with high school hearsay. Ruthie spreads phony tales to draw attention away from Mary, and Matt's infatuated with a beautiful stranger. Also, Annie goes out with an old boyfriend.

As Annie plans a mysterious day of cleaning as Eric discovers the shocking news that Mary ran away from ""The Colonel""'s to come back home because of a devious scheme she had with Robbie and freaks out. Eric is convinced that more trouble is brewing and goes to insane lengths to find answers. In reality, Mary is heading home for a huge surprise birthday party for Eric, attended by all the people whose lives he's changed for the better in the past few years. Chores at home are interrupted, however, when Ruthie discovers Frankie and Johnny's baby, Mercy at the Camden front doorstep. Meanwhile, Lucy stays with her friend Mike's (guest-star Jeremy Lelliot) near catatonic mother for the day, and drops a proverbial bomb on Lucy. Also, Matt and Simon try to figure out why they delivered Mrs. Bink (guest-star Eileen Brennan) to the hospital.

Simon decides to stand up for bullied student at school only to have the boy tell him that he is going to shoot his tormentors. Robbie decides to give Ruthie a playful new nickname, but at the same time Ruthie comes up with a less-pleasant one for Lucy after breaking off her engagement to Jeremy in New York. Eric gets a visit from an old friend Merle with some family issues of her own. Mary gets serious with pursuing the career as a firefighter, but things don't turn out the way she had planned.

Mary and Lucy seek their parents for expertise in matchmaking and ask their parents to find new boyfriends for the both of them. Robbie argues with Joy about spending so much time together when she insists on seeing him right away. Simon and Matt are looking for girls using the Sam and David as adorable bait to attract women, but it doesn't go as planned. Robbie unknowingly becomes the key to finding Joy's missing younger brother Joseph when he finds a stray dog in the street that belonged to him.

Annie's father Charles shows up at the Camden household for a weekend visit as Ginger supposedly needs to get away for a bit. But Eric forgot to tell his wife about it and nearly everyone in the Camden household is too busy to spend time with the elderly man. So Grandpa Charles takes Simon to get his learner's permit for driving and they end up being the center of a televised police-pursuit. Eric lies to Annie about his plans for the day, which include a trip to Glenoak Hospital.

After various personal items disappear from the house, the family finds Ruthie in the garage apartment entertaining a friend with the pilfered items. The would-be bandit explains that she is hiding her pal from a pair of older boys, who have been harassing the girl because of her Muslim background. Touched by her plight, Mary and Lucy try to get their neighbors to sign a petition in support of the girl's family. Matt and Simon decide on a less civic solution and go hunting for the perpetrators.

Ken Smith pays a visit to Eric and Annie to accuse Mary of seducing his son. He threatens to sell the land next to the church if Mary doesn't break up with Jack. Simon finds out from Cecilla that a girl from his dating service is pregnant. Simon turns to her to try to help her. He convinces her to drop her baby off at a hospital where the baby can go for safe keeping. Lucy wonders if Kevin has ever been with another women after she catches Ben reading her journal. When Ben picks Ruthie up from school, he see's a girl making fun of her and then she makes fun of him, which leads to the vice principal calling the police.

The extended Camden clan wrestles with their emotions as they await the outcome of Eric's double bypass surgery. While under anesthesia, Eric hallucinates that he's Elvis. Lucy finally realizes that Kevin is the one and that she's ready to marry him, but he refuses to propose until Eric gives them his blessing. Simon complains to Annie about the absence of Matt and Mary during their father's health crisis. Sarah also comes to Glen Oak to wish Eric well.

In the midst of a career crisis and much to Annie's dismay, Eric takes a job as a talk DJ at a college radio station, but things become serious fast when Eric and his producer find themselves counseling a male student who calls in threatening suicide during his first shift. Lucy refuses to spend time with Roxanne which puts Kevin in an impossible situation. Later on, Roxanne asks her boss to assign her a new partner as tensions simmer between her and Lucy. Ben is almost arrested when he accompanies Simon and Cecilia to an underage club. Ruthie tries to figure out a way to breakup with her boyfriend without making him cry.

When Eric and Annie learn that Morgan and Patricia Hamilton are facing a marital crisis, they draw on their own recent problems to stop their friends from making the same mistakes. Meanwhile, juggling her studies and planning her wedding leaves Lucy stressed, but when she confides to Kevin that she might quit school, he threatens to call off the wedding.

Also, Simon and Cecilia go to a G-rated film to try to avoid thinking about sex and get kicked out for making out. Ruthie tries to find Ben a new girlfriend because Mary wants to get back together with Ben and Ruthie doesn't want Ben to get hurt. Lastly, Roxanne decides to resign from the police department when she feels that her father was kicked out of the police department unfairly.

Unable to convince Chandler's father to see his son before he dies, Eric is forced into tricking him. Meanwhile, Eric, Annie and Sarah's mother Rosina get together to surprise Matt and congratulate him on the wonderful baby news. Mary confides a big secret to Lucy. Simon gets turned down by a potential prom date. Ruthie gets her period and tries to hide the news from everyone. Kevin recognizes Lucy's house guest Christine as a girl who was previously arrested for prostitution. Lucy takes a home pregnancy test without telling anyone. Lastly, bad news arrives on the Camdens' doorstep.

In the eighth season premiere, the Camden's spend the last week of summer at a beach house. At the beginning of the summer, Simon killed Paul Smith in an automobile accident. Simon is having a hard time dealing with the fact that he killed him and everyone tries to help him. Eric and Annie try to push Simon to go back to school which begins in a week. Eric would like Paul's parents (guest-stars Katie Mitchell and Mark Moses) to accept the insurance companies offer to the money. Paul's brother vandalizes the church by adding graffti to the sign saying "Thou Shalt Not Kill." Simon runs away to New York to get away from the troubles he is having in Glenoak.

Also, Lucy and Kevin discuss possibly having a child. Peter is spending a lot of time around Ruthie and the Camden family. Ruthie finds out about Mary and Carlos being married.

With Annie out of town, Eric is left alone to accompany Simon on his visit to the Board of Education to discuss early graduation. During the meeting, Simon bonds with his advisor when they realize that they're both preachers' kids. Meanwhile, Lucy catches Chandler kissing a beautiful blonde woman at church and she agonizes over whether or not to tell Roxanne; Detective Michaels tricks Kevin into babysitting his six-year-old granddaughter; Peter makes a deal with the school bully in an attempt to protect Ruthie and Cecilia agrees to watch the twins which leads to a confrontation with Simon.

During his Sunday sermon, Eric proposes that instead of a financial contribution, everyone should make a commitment to reach out and help someone in need. Kevin suggests that he and Lucy work together to set up a neighborhood watch program, but she feels passionate about working with Habitat for Humanity. Eric calls his new son-in-law Carlos (guest-star Carlos Ponce) and asks him to fly in without Mary for dinner with the family, which makes Carlos very nervous. Also, Ruthie picks a shy new girl at school as her project and soon finds out that she has a secret. Meanwhile, Peter picks Ruthie as his project, which prompts her to tell him that they should spend less time together. Chandler and Roxanne keep running into each other stirring up old feelings. Lastly, Annie becomes jealous of all of the time the twins are spending with Cecilia.

Eric and Annie throw a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" party for Ruthie's Muslim friend Jill Dupree and her parents, but the Duprees are hesitant to attend. Eric is shocked and disappointed when he learns that his neighborhood is not a friendly place for Muslims. Meanwhile, Cecilia's house is robbed while she and her dad attend Kevin's first Neighborhood Watch meeting; Roxanne mentors a troubled sixteen-year-old and suspects that he might be involved in the robbery, and Chandler finds himself attracted to Peter's mom Paris.

Eric is brought in by the school board to help investigate the local high school Principal, when more than one concerned parent questions her behavior. When a female student disappears, all fingers point at Ms. Jones, but Eric believes strongly that the student's father may be the real culprit. Elsewhere, rumors about Martin upset Cecilia, who then regrets talking to Ruthie about her feelings.

Matt returns home to tell Eric and Annie that Sarah has left him and he's dropping out of medical school. Rabbi Glass offers Matt marital advice. Meanwhile, Kevin must decide whether or not to tell a very jealous Lucy that his ex-wife is in town and they got invited to dinner with her. Martin's aunt asks Eric to step in and talk Martin into moving to New York with her and Chandler asks Peter how he would feel about Chandler marrying his mother someday. Peter thinks something is amiss when his mother goes out of town for a business trip. Ruthie keeps something from her mother.

Annie's half-sister Lily shows up on her doorstep to discuss an important family matter after Annie refused to contact her. Eric tries to figure out why Annie won't contact Lily. Meanwhile, Cecilia sets Martin's friend Mac up with a girl from school, but he doesn't want to go out with her because of something embarrassing that happened ten years ago; Ruthie and Peter put a bad spin on a school project that lands them in trouble when they create a newspaper featuring false and derogatory stories about two former US presidents. Lastly, Roxanne turns to Chandler when she finds herself faced with a moral dilemma as she is keeping a secret from Kevin regarding Detective Michaels.

It's Camden chaos all around when Matt, who is having problems in his marriage to Sarah, returns to Glenoak for a visit and runs into his ex-girlfriend Heather on his flight to Glenoak. Simon unexpectedly announces he's coming home for the summer.

Also, Lucy sets out to discover why Roxanne is suddenly too busy to hang out with her as she's convinced that Roxanne is secretly trying to become a detective behind Kevin's back. Ruthie keeps a secret about a fellow student from her parents. Lastly, Martin learns that his baseball teammates think he's having sex with Cecilia.

When Kevin leads Venus (guest-star Martha Plimpton), a young woman, to believe that Martin is a rookie cop, she quickly expresses interest in him. Martin's friend Mac (guest-star Kyle Searles) encourages him to pursue Venus. Martin has a hard time revealing the truth after he learns that Venus' father is serving in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Eric and Annie are worried that Martin is getting in over his head with Venus and enlist Kevin to fix things, which only leads to rumors around the police station that Kevin is cheating on Lucy.

Mac also jumps in by spreading rumors about Martin at school. Lastly, Ben (guest-star Geoff Stults) continues to hide his relationship with Lucy's new baby doctor, even though they spend a weekend together.

Simon's ex-girlfriend, Georgia (guest-star Rheagan Wallace) tells Simon she's supposedly pregnant and Simon doesn't know how to tell his parents---but Georgia is not being completely honest. Eric, Annie and the twins are on a road trip from Ginger's house back to Glen Oak and reminisce on old times. Meanwhile, Matt rushes Lucy to the hospital when she collapses at the grocery store. They can't track down Kevin as he is working on a drug bust. Lastly, a lonely Ruthie is having a miserable time in Puerto Rico with Mary, Carlos and baby Charles and calls home for comfort.

When a pregnant Lucy is put on bed rest following her recent hospital scare, an exhausted Camden family, especially her husband, Kevin suffers the consequences of Lucy's foul mood towards everyone. Lucy is also not able to go to her graduation ceremony and is having a hard time getting her paper done. Meanwhile, Ruthie's discovery of a disheartening e-mail on Martin's computer may explain his uncharacteristically bad behavior at home and school.

Martin is having a rough time on the baseball team lately with his foul mood toward his coach and teammates, including Mac (guest-star Kyle Searles). Lastly, guest-starring singing legend Wayne Newton shows up on the Camden's doorstep with a message for Martin from his father, who is serving in Iraq.

The streets of Glenoak are alive with the sound of music as the Camden family breaks into song for a very special Valentine's Day musical episode. Classic songs (""Love Is Sweeping the Country,"" ""You Were Meant For Me,"" ""Nice Work If You Can Get It,"" among others) are performed by the Camdens.

Simon is enjoying having his new girlfriend, Anna, who he just met the day before over at his apartment for Valentine's Day. They both agree to go to Glen Oak, but he decides to keep her away from his family for the time being. Annie displays her unhappiness to Simon in song (along with the rest of passerbys) over his constant dating habits at the promenade as the chorus is going on. Anna overhears this and begins to question Simon and his dating habits as well. Vincent confronts an unhappy Ruthie on the high school bleachers as she's not in the Valentine's Day mood and is upset over watching Martin practice with his team and Zoe blowing kisses at him.

Also, Lucy and Kevin dance to ""You Were Meant

The Camdens find themselves in a series of difficult predicaments: Eric tries to avoid telling his parents, Ruth (guest-star Barbara Rush) and the Colonel (guest star Peter Graves), about Mary's divorce, and hoping that no one else in the family tells---e

After learning that he may be the birth father to Sandy’s (guest-star Haylie Duff) unborn child, Martin is left feeling very confused about what to do in his situation, while Simon can’t help but feel responsible for Martin’s dilemma because he introduced

The Camdens are in the Christmas spirit in this episode. In a montage with the song ""Rocking Around the Christmas Tree"", Eric is spending time at a retirement home and dancing with the elderly patrons. Ruthie is volunteering at the hospital and gives gifts to kid patients, even her old friend Katelyn (guest star Katelyn Salmont). Lucy is working for Habitat for Humanity again. Annie, Sam, and David are talking and spending time to Sudanese students at a Catholic church. Kevin dresses up as Santa and hands out gifts at the pool hall with Savannah by his side. Kevin takes a lost dog to the kennel, but changes his mind afterwards and gives it to a deserving family.

Racism comes to light at the high school when Alex, a new African-American student, wants to give a report on Dr. Martin Luther King, but his teacher argues that they have already covered that topic in class. When Martin inadvertently supports Alex's case, he falls victim to a hate crime. His car is defaced with racial slurs, and he refuses to wash it off until the culprit is caught. Meanwhile, for her own report, Ruthie attempts to recycle an essay that she wrote three years ago.

Ruthie gets a text message from what she thinks is T-Bone breaking up with her. But the truth behind the matter is a bit different. Meanwhile, Lucy and Kevin try to decide whether or not they will relocate to Crossroads.