Fresh Off the Boat

Still homeless, the Huangs move in with Honey and Marvin. Jessica’s dreams come true when she gets a chance to compete on “Wheel of Fortune” during Best Friends Week with Honey. Eddie starts high school and is still on the outs with his pals but finds unexpected sympathy from Nicole. Michael Bolton offers to step in at the restaurant to give Louis more time with his family, but does he have an ulterior motive?

It’s the first day of high school and Eddie wants to join the football team to impress girlfriend Alison, despite Jessica forbidding him to try out. Emery finds out that Evan has been moved up a grade and is in middle school with him. Louis battles with Kenny Roger’s right-hand man (guest star Matt Oberg) over changes at the steakhouse.

With the realization that Eddie is finally mature enough to be left on his own, Louis and Jessica see the light at the end of their parenting tunnel and make plans to spend more time with friends Honey and Marvin. Until their neighbors announce a plan of their own: Marvin is getting his vasectomy reversed so the couple can conceive a baby. The Huangs do their best to dissuade them.

On Halloween, Louis is disappointed that Evan doesn’t take his childish delight in the holiday; Eddie and the gang plot to crash a cool older girl’s party; Jessica and Emery are spooked when they hear a strange man’s voice emanating from Grandma’s room, and things get even creepier when a mysterious group of costumed strangers whisk Grandma away, making them suspect the supernatural worst.

When Jessica’s aunt passes away, the Huang family packs their bags for Houston where the boys see Jessica’s father for the first time. While observing the distant relationship, Louis makes it his mission to push Jessica and her father closer together. Meanwhile, Evan decides to make Eddie the executor of his will, prompting Emery and Eddie to fight over who is the better older brother.

After coming out of the closet to Honey and Jessica, Nicole struggles with telling Marvin, fearful that her father will be disappointed in her. Meanwhile, Louis wants to manage the Cattleman’s Ranch softball team on his own, so Jessica decides to coach the rival team from The Denim Turtle to prove that she is the superior manager. Chaos is sure to ensue when everyone gathers for the big game at the Greater Orlando Bar and Restaurant tournament.

The Huangs’ idea to skip Thanksgiving this year doesn’t last long when Louis plays matchmaker and invites Grandma’s ESL teacher, Bernard, to dinner after he notices their flirtation in class. To Jessica’s amazement, Grandma Huang offers to cook the entire meal to show her appreciation. Meanwhile, to prove his maturity, Evan lets Eddie and Emery sneak him into his first R-rated movie.

Louis gets himself into a sticky situation when he lies to Jessica and tells her that he loves her newly finished horror novel. When news that Kenny Rogers is paying a visit to Cattleman’s Ranch, Jessica insists that Louis give him a copy of her book for his agent, making him extremely uncomfortable. Eddie and his friends purchase a 300-disc CD carousel to play all of their music, but Eddie thinks he is the only one in charge and becomes a tyrant.

When the gang signs up for different hobbies that Eddie deems as lame, he begins to think he needs to find cooler friends in order to make his mark in high school. Jessica receives money to have her photograph professionally taken for her book, but in true Jessica fashion, she decides to pocket the money and have Honey take the photo for free. It doesn’t take long to realize that no one can meet her picture-perfect standards.

As head of the HOA Christmas committee, Jessica threatens to cut the neighborhood caroling this year due to last year’s rocky performance. However, Deirdre says that her friend Holly (Paula Abdul), who teaches “Performance and Movement,” will help get everyone into tip-top, melodic shape. Meanwhile, Marvin becomes suspicious of Honey when she goes to see “Titanic” at the movies without him; Nicole develops her first girl crush and struggles with how to get her attention.

Honey is excited to attend a parenting class that encourages moms to listen to their babies taught by self-proclaimed child sage, Wilhelmina Page (Niecy Nash), but when her mother, Anne (Cheryl Hines), ridicules the idea, it exposes communication issues of their own. When Honey turns to Jessica for support, she is disappointed to find that even her best friend doesn’t have her back. Meanwhile, Louis and Marvin are thrilled when they get to go on the free cruise their wives won on “Wheel of Fortune,” but their boys’ trip quickly turns into a gambling getaway gone south. Back in Orlando, Eddie’s friends are wary of his new crush at school.

Eddie gets annoyed when he catches Nicole changing her opinions in order to impress her new crush, Jackie. Louis is eager to expand his social circle with Matthew Chestnut’s friends, but Jessica fears her sometimes-too-generous husband is overextending himself. When Emery and Evan take Honey shopping to find her a new, easy style to help her when the baby comes, their idea of a “mom” wardrobe is met with some resistance.

With Jessica’s career as an author taking off, Louis worries that she is losing interest in him and attempts to rekindle the flame under Marvin’s guidance. Evan skips his way into Emery’s seventh grade English class with a particularly hard-to-please teacher, Ms. Doris (Tig Notaro). When neither can win her over, they seek advice from an unusual source.

Jessica pushes Evan to win Student of the Month so that she can rub it in her new frenemy’s face, Amy Chestnut (Angela Kinsey). When Evan becomes overwhelmed, he starts seeing the school counselor, much to Jessica’s chagrin. Louis feels like he is in Kenny Rogers’ shadow and needs a way to put his name back on the Cattleman’s Ranch map. Eddie and Emery decide it’s time they learn how to unhook a bra.

When Michelle Kwan comes in second place at the Olympics, Jessica tries to keep it from Emery and Evan, only to get caught up in an elaborate conspiracy theory that leads them seeking answers from Nancy Kerrigan. Meanwhile, Louis changes Eddie’s bedtime to spend more quality time together watching Letterman, but feels slighted when Eddie spends his newfound free time elsewhere.

For Chinese New Year, the Huangs play a game where they can only speak in Mandarin, which quickly turns into a tense competition between Jessica and Evan, putting Jessica’s first televised interview for her novel in jeopardy. Emery is excited to end his year of bad luck and finally ask his crush to the spring fling, but when he is still having trouble, Louis decides to take matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, Eddie doesn’t receive a red envelope from Big Auntie and enlists Grandma Huang’s help to figure out why she’s angry with him.

The Huangs are pleasantly surprised to find that Eddie has been awarded a spot in the Honor Society, but Evan is particularly bothered by the news. Meanwhile, Jessica receives a note from her book editor to improve her cop dialogue and signs up for a ride-along to better her writing. Then, on St. Patrick’s Day, Matthew Chestnut doesn’t have the luck of the Irish on his side when Louis receives orders from Kenny Rogers to fire him.

After Louis buys Kenny Rogers’ stake in Cattleman’s Ranch back, he starts to doubt his instincts as sole owner. Frustrated by his cautiousness, Jessica flies in Madam Xing to ease Louis’ anxiety, but that only stresses him out more – to the point of breaking a tooth. Marvin’s laughing gas finally helps Louis relax, but side effects of strange visions accompany his relief. Meanwhile, Evan gives up watching Regis and Kathie Lee for Lent, leading his older brothers to mess with his head.

Honey plans a relaxing vacation before the baby comes, but Jessica turns the trip into a crazy quest to get Stephen King’s endorsement for her novel. When Grandma Huang decides to move out, Louis panics and does everything he can to make sure she knows how welcome she is. Meanwhile, Eddie, Nicole and their friends plan to wear matching suits to the school dance until a dress code demands that the girls must wear dresses, leading Eddie and Nicole to rebel.