Karen pushes herself far beyond her comfort zone when her involvement with Leo becomes more serious. Eli plays his parents against each other in order to get into a bar to see his friends' band play. He gets in trouble when he sees his mother, and she sees him, there. Rick finds out that Karen said no and Eli didn't tell him that, getting Eli in trouble with Rick as well.

Parental pressure bears down on Eli to get his act together for college. However, Eli wants to form a music group.

As the two families merge into one house, disagreements over Jesse and Zoe's room decorations dominate the breakfast discussion. Lily's employer, Pages Alive, shuts down, so she's out of a job. Eli's busted for marijuana possession following a car accident. The officer finds Coop's marijuana in the car. This renews Karen's demands that Eli get a job and give up music. Lily, however, has a different opinion. Karen also talks with Rick about Eli living with her for a while. Predictably, Rick gets caught in the middle. Rick finally stands up to Karen and says that Eli will be okay. In the end, Eli ignores his mother's wishes and gets a job in a recording studio and continues to live with Rick and Lily.