Bridget finds her popularity waning because of her exclusive, long distance relationship with Donny, while Kerry's social status skyrockets because of her relationship with Kyle. But Bridget's eyes begin to stray when she meets Damien (Paul Wesley) — a sexy new boy at school. Meanwhile, as she waits for the results of her pregnancy test, Cate is stunned and angry when Paul, Bridget, Kerry and Rory seem more concerned about how the baby could disrupt their lives than the blessed event itself. In fact, the only support Cate seems to be getting is from her nosy neighbors, the Doyles, who share a well-kept secret about their own family — namely, all their children are adopted.

Cate teaches sex education at Bridget's school and gets suspicious when she reads a submission where a girl's older boyfriend was coming from Maryland and she felt pressured to have sex. Bridget tries to cover it up by saying that this was a girl from Maryland, Lara O'Neal (which turned out to be made-up; Bridget herself was the one who wrote the question). Meanwhile, Paul is worried about Kerry after they saw a French movie with a sex scene in it.

The Doyles are sending a video postcard to Donny, which they let Bridget have a part in. However, Bridget breaks up with Donny on the video, which leads to a feud between the Hennessys and the Doyles. Upset, Donny hitchhikes all the way to the Hennessys in the back of a pig truck to win Bridget back; however, Bridget has still not broken up with her other boyfriend, Damien. Meanwhile, there are reports of eggings and toilet-paperings all over the neighborhood. Paul tries to come up with names for this menace, unaware that the criminal is Rory.

Note: This was John Ritter's final episode. In his memory, clips of his past two years on the show are shown, ending with the message: "John Ritter 1948–2003 We will never forget you".

On what begins as just another morning in the Hennessy household, Cate receives a phone call. Seconds later, she hangs up and runs out of the house in tears, leaving the kids to wonder what is going on. It's soon revealed that Paul had collapsed and died in the grocery store. Everyone is heartbroken. Later that evening, Cate's separated parents Jim and Laura arrive to help them through their grief. Bridget is wracked with guilt over the last words she ever said to her dad (which were "I hate you") and Kerry tries to talk to her to ease her guilt. Cate is afraid of sleeping alone in her bed and sleeps on the couch.

After Paul's funeral, friends and neighbors gather at the Hennessys' for the wake. Nick Sharpe asks Cate to find the last article Paul wrote so the newspaper can publish it in his memory. When Kerry asks Rory why his hand is bandaged, he says he burned it on a casserole dish while taking it out of the oven; it's later revealed he had punched a hole in his wall out of anger towards his dad for dying. The next day, Jim finds Paul's last article and gives it to Cate. That night, Cate is finally ready to sleep in her own bed again; she is joined by the kids who want her to read Paul's article, which she does. It's an article about how no matter how much his kids may resent him from time to time, Paul knows that deep down, they love him, even when they say "I hate you;" this helps Bridget to finally overcome her guilt. Cate and the kids rely on the message Paul is sending them: no matter what happens, family bonds are never broken.

It's been two weeks since Paul died, and the kids are going back to school for the first time. Bridget jumps right back into her social circle and begins planning the upcoming dance while Kerry refuses to allow herself to feel anything but sad, and feels worse when Kyle declares his love for her believing he's only saying it to try and make her feel better. Cate's attempts to help her daughters only backfire. Bridget buys a revealing dress for the dance, but just before she can leave the house wearing it, she breaks down in tears, knowing that Paul would never have allowed her to, and accepts she still needs to grieve. Kyle reassures Kerry that he meant his declaration of love, and she starts to allow herself to feel happy again. Meanwhile, Rory worries that he is taking advantage of a girl he has a crush on who is offering to help him catch up with his school, but Jim advises him that she's the one taking advantage and to let her.

Cate sees that Rory is now hesitant to try out for the basketball team because Paul had been helping him practice. Cate tells him that his father wouldn't have wanted him to quit. The newspaper Paul worked at is sponsoring a scholarship dinner in his name for students majoring in journalism, and Bridget gets distracted while watching television, and accidentally wrecks a collage that Kerry had made of Paul for the dinner. When it's announced at the party that Rory made the team, Rory angrily storms out. Cate later finds out that Rory didn't make the team and when Rory comes home, he says he only said it because he was embarrassed that he let down his dad. But he's happy when Cate tells him because the coach was impressed at his request to work out with the team, he's now officially on it.

It's the first Thanksgiving without Paul. Cate's mother visits, and manages to get along well with Jim. Bridget and Kerry plan to sneak out to a party instead of staying with the family. Rory feels that, now he's the man of the house, it's his job to assume Paul's role of being against every guy his sisters date, not to mention the carver of the turkey — which he does with clumsiness, inexperience and a lot of humor, which in the end helps the family to make it through the first of many milestones without Paul.

Bridget plays the role of Anne Frank in the school play, which makes Kerry jealous, since all she does is background work. At first, Bridget is the same non-serious girl, which frustrates Kerry even more since she feels Bridget doesn't deserve the role. Cate sees this too, so she gives Bridget The Diary of a Young Girl, because she thinks it might help her, which it does – Bridget suddenly becomes a serious, focused girl and gets a better understanding of the role she is going to play. Rory gets a ventriloquist dummy he names Skeevy and uses it to constantly make fun of other people. Cate, Jim, and Rory attend the play and Bridget's performance is excellent. When they get home, Kerry tells Bridget she's proud of her. Cate is too and wonders how Bridget did it and tells her she tapped into some very serious emotion. The episode ends with Bridget staying behind downstairs after everyone goes to bed. She puts a red rose on Paul's desk in front of a picture of him and whispers, "Good night" before going upstairs.

Bridget gets a job as a lifeguard at the local YMCA, which prompts Cate to enroll the whole family (to Bridget's chagrin). However, Kerry is unimpressed with a group of young blonde girls who idolize Bridget, while Jim punches another man for making comments about Bridget. Elsewhere Rory has an unexpected pubescent experience in a yoga class.

Note: This is the first appearance of David Spade as C.J.

Cate's nephew C.J. stops by the Hennessy household to pay his final respects to Paul. C.J., however, can't resist getting into trouble when he gives Rory advice about kissing a girl, which lands him in detention, and then takes the blame when Kerry, while driving with just a learner's permit, dents Cate's car while driving Bridget on an errand.

Rory steals a police dog when he hears about C.J.'s glory days of stealing his old school mascot, but Cate is shocked when the dog finds marijuana in Kerry's backpack. Cate thinks Kerry's using drugs because of her father's death, but it's really just teenage rebellion. Meanwhile, Bridget gets brought home by the police for not wearing a helmet on her boyfriend's motorcycle after Cate telling her she has to.

In a Valentine's Day special, Bridget is forced to partner with geeky Jeremy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) in Science class, and ends up falling for him. Meanwhile Kyle decides to take Kerry's stance against a commercialized Valentine's Day, only for him to surprise her with a romantic gift she wasn't expecting.

Bridget decides to make a move on her brainy tutor, Jeremy, but discovers that he may have his sights set on her debate team opponent. Meanwhile, after accidentally setting fire to C.J.'s van, Jim is not-so-thrilled when Cate forces him to share his basement room with his now homeless nephew .

After being told that she's fickle when it comes to relationships, Bridget is afraid that she may end up hurting Jeremy's feelings when her ex-bad boy boyfriend, Damian, returns to town. Meanwhile, Kerry is outraged and plans revenge when "provocative" dancing has been banned from the high school formal, which is being chaperoned by Cate and Jim; C.J. partners with Rory to broadcast school scandals over the internet, and Jim falls for Ms. McKenna (Tatum O'Neal), , a member of the high school's PTA committee

On the advice of the family therapist, Cate is encouraged to pursue a once-thought-unobtainable dream of becoming a singer. Meanwhile, C.J. and Jim find themselves trying to bond in a bar when Cate encourages C.J. to take his grandfather out after he is dumped by his wife – in a letter -- and Kerry angers Bridget by dying her hair blonde after she complains that the romance is fading from her relationship with Kyle.

Katey Sagal (Cate) performs the song "Daddy's Girl" from her 2004 album "Room".

After Kerry is promoted to assistant manager at a fast food restaurant in the mall, Jim is hired to handle the register. But when she witnesses his disdain for the customers, Kerry is faced with the dilemma of having to fire her grandfather. Meanwhile C.J. – who has been employed as a mall cop -- busts Bridget for sneaking into a movie without paying, and Cate catches Rory selling worthless family items on the internet under false pretenses

Cate sends Bridget and Kerry to their grandmother's house for a visit after the Hennessys decide against vacationing at the family cabin. But while on their road trip to grandma's, the girls are shocked to find Cate at their father's favorite saloon with a mysterious stranger. Meanwhile, Kerry makes Rory's life miserable when she discovers that he has a crush on her friend, Rachel.

Upon discovering Cate in the arms of Artie - Paul's successor at the newspaper - Bridget and Kerry decide to blow off their planned trip to their grandmother's and take to the open road to sort out their feelings. But after meeting up with C.J., the girls find themselves at a familiar location that was beloved by Paul. Meanwhile, Rory continues to pine for Rachel Sharpe, who confesses her true feelings for him.

Cate banishes C.J. and grounds Bridget for going to C.J.'s college keg party; Jim has to take a written drivers exam after being pulled over with an expired license.

After witnessing some strange behavior from Bridget and Kerry, Cate tries to find out what they are up to -- not suspecting that they might be trying to set up a special Mother's Day getaway for her. Meanwhile, C.J. and Rory doubt Jim's ability to put an engine back together after he falls in love with a classic car -- which is in for a wax job at Rory's new detailing service -- and decides to fix a noise in the motor.

When Bridget is busted over a school dress code violation, Cate is called upon to meet with her new principal, Ed Gibb. But Cate is in for a shock when she discovers that she went to high school with Ed -- who remembers it vividly -- though she doesn't remember him at all. Meanwhile, when C.J. becomes his massage therapist, Jim hurts his feelings when he refuses to admit that his wayward grandson has become good at something.

Part 1 of 2. Cate finds herself once again in the awkward position of having to deal with Principal Gibb when she forgets to turn in a health form for Kerry's trip to Europe. Meanwhile, Cate is resentful of Jim's relationship with Tina (Connie Stevens) because she still hopes that her father will reconcile with her mother, and Rory plays a nefarious joke on C.J. when he sets him up with girlfriend Missy's already engaged sister, Sissy.

Part 2 of 2. When Cate discovers that Bridget took the fall for Kerry for organizing the school sit-in, she agrees to have coffee with Principal Gibb in order to set the record straight. But the girls are convinced that their mother's innocent coffee meeting with their principal is really a date. Meanwhile, Kerry is furious when Bridget is elected student body president and wins a trip to Washington, D.C. -- because everyone thinks she organized the school sit-in -- C.J. keeps deluding himself that he's been chosen to be a roadie for Aerosmith over the summer, and Jim agrees to let Rory travel with him to Florida -- where he plans to try and win back his wife's affections. But C.J., after Rory expresses his excitement about C.J.'s joining them, passes it up and joins Rory and Jim on their trip instead.