Everybody Loves Raymond

Ray is invited to give his views on live TV and he is asked about his article on Steroids, which does not go very well. His family is excited and they all watch it together. They all initially appreciate him. When he is called on the show again, the family gives him an honest feedback, which makes Ray very conscious on TV.

Ally is having trouble listening and is becoming very stubborn. So Ray and Debra take a parenting class. Debra finds it difficult to use the active listening technique on Ally, but Ray is able. He succeeds when he tries it on Marie and Frank and also on Ally.

Robert is feeling lonely on the anniversary of his divorce. Frank and Marie suggest to Ray that he take Robert out to get his mind off it. It turns out to be a good night, until Robert finds out why it happened. Later Ray tells him that he actually loved spending time with him and they make up.

Ally decides to quit her piano lessons and to encourage her not to, Ray asks Marie to give him some piano lessons so he can play something for Ally. Marie and Ray bond over the lessons and Robert decides to take up drumming again.

Ray tricks Debra into letting him play golf, and it gives him an anxiety attack. He is not completely honest with the doctor and he recommends more golf to relax him. Even though Debra is not pleased, she lets him rest and play golf. Later when Ray confesses, Debra gets very mad.

Frank and Marie have a fight on their anniversary and accidentally let Ray know that they separated for a year while he was young. Then they got back together again when Ray broke his arm in an accident caused by Robert, which bothers Ray, who thinks that he ruined his parents’ life by keeping them together.

Debra becomes upset with Ray because he is always late coming home from work. When Debra catches him having pizza and playing at work, he reluctantly decides to work from home. At home, he starts to mess the house and Frank and Robert comes over a lot more, Debra asks him to go back to the office.

Ray and Debra decide to write a children’s book together, but due to creative differences, they do so separately. Ally chooses Ray’s story over Debra’s, which leads Debra to learn to never ask Ray for help if she ever wants to get something done.

Ray forgets to buy Frank a birthday present, so he decides to get him an aquarium (which tops Robert’s present of a television remote holder). Frank is thrilled initially with the gift, but soon changes his mind after one of the fish dies. Debra thinks that that its because it reminds Frank of his own death, but Ray later realizes that it was because of the cost of the fish and the aquarium.

Debra goes with Ray to his high school reunion. She has a great time with the popular kids, but Ray just sulks. Back at home; Ray reveals that he was never popular in school, unlike Robert.

After Marie ruins her Tupperware party, Debra decides to write Marie a letter telling her how she makes her feel. Frank reads the letter aloud in front of everyone. Later Marie and Debra bring everything in open and reconcile.

Ray wants to be romantic with Debra around Christmas time. For a change Debra feels the same way. The family then walks-in and ruins the moment. Later Ray suggests to Frank that they take the kids over to their place and everybody starts teasing them.

Ray gets involved in a re-enactment of the Civil War because he feels that Frank asked Robert and not him. He then finds out that Robert volunteered and because of late enrolment, he is on a different team than Frank and Robert. On the other hand, Debra wants him to come to a baby shower.

Ally and Ray write a letter to one of Ray’s distant relatives in Italy. Soon, this relative shows up at the Barones’ front door. She brings warmth and togetherness to the family until a problem arises – she isn’t really their relative.

Debra wants to learn how to make meatballs the way Marie does. Marie teaches Debra, but secretly sabotages her ingredients setting Debra up for failure. When confronted by Ray, Marie admits to doing it in order to make sure everything "stays right". However, Marie apologizes and passes her recipes on to Debra.

When Ray is unappreciative of Debra’s efforts to maintain a proper checkbook and plan a budget, she asks him to take care of it. He ends up bouncing some important cheques and the power is cut-off. He tries to borrow money from Robert and lies to him that Debra has spending issues. When he tries to rectify his mistakes with a fake checkbook and trying to put money in bank before Debra realizes the situation, he is caught. Debra then takes over the house finance again.

Ray gets more than he bargained for when he accompanies Robert on a "Citizen’s Ride-Along" to get a glimpse of what a typical police shift entails – he witnesses Robert halt a robbery at Nemo’s. Determined to give Robert recognition, he has his newspaper write a story about it, but things don’t go as planned.

Ally is having trouble sleeping in her own room, much to Ray’s dismay. Eventually, he turns to his mother for help, with disastrous (and comedic) results. Finally the entire family ends up in the same bed.

Marie reveals why she likes Amy so much – she’s still a "good girl". During a family dinner party, it is revealed that Marie and Frank engaged in pre-marital relations and were married early due to her pregnancy with Robert, showing Marie to have been not to be so good after all.

Ally is involved in T-Ball and Debra tangles with the chairperson of the event about approved snacks, and expects Ray to support her. Ray, however, complies with the demands of the snacks and attempts to keep it from Debra, failing miserably.

Robert teaches traffic school to earn some extra cash, but the students disliked his lessons, so he practices his teaching routine on his family. The initial lesson doesn’t go over very well, so Robert attempts to lighten the mood with ventriloquism. Using the dummy, Robert brings out some of his earlier unsaid feelings about Frank, Marie and Ray.

Ray believes that he is shrinking, and immediately believes he’s going through a mid-life crisis. He panics and vastly over-analyses the situation, and starts planning his death. Debra then points out that she has already gone though it and planning death is not a solution.

Frank holds a garage sale to clear out his basement. Ray and Debra help out, but it appears that Ray isn’t quite ready to give away the baby clothes and crib, as he isn’t sure that he wants to be done having children.

Flashback to Ray and Debra’s wedding. Ray indirectly proposes to Debra, who happily accepts. Ray, however, begins to wonder if Debra really loves him and if she’s marrying him only to have a fancy wedding.

When Ray and Debra meet the church father for pre-marital counselling, Ray appears to be getting cold feet. Debra yells at him and leaves. At the wedding, Frank attempts to take some of the pressure off of Ray by encouraging him to drink whiskey before the ceremony. Ray is too jubilant throughout the wedding. When Debra thinks he is drunk, he reveals that he never had any whiskey and that he is really very happy.