Struggling to figure out where he fits in, Dean decides to pursue his calling as "The Great Uniter" and attempts to organize the first integrated baseball game between his team and his friend Brad's team.
While Dean reckons with his first taste of heartbreak and betrayal, the adults in his life are overly empathetic and assume his grief is from mourning current events.
Dean heads to band practice with Bill, but the grown folks' business at the music studio prompts Lillian to pick Dean up; Dean learns what his mum does while he's at school all day.
Dean is reluctant to attend the annual church lock-in until Kim tells him it's where she got her first kiss; then he enlists his friends to help him pair up with Keisa.
When Coach Long and Bill take the boys on a camping trip as part of their newly formed scout troop, their starkly different approaches to the outdoors show Dean that his father isn't good at everything.
Bill comes up with a solution for Kim's car desires, but the solution is only pleasing to him; Dean is worried about seeming uncool when Clisby ends up chaperoning him and his friends.
Dean can't wait to spend Christmas with his older brother, Bruce, when he returns home from Vietnam; Bruce struggles to adjust to life back in Montgomery; the rest of the family rely on their favorite holiday traditions to bring cheer.
Bill and Lillian join high society club Lads & Ladies as a way to introduce Kim and Dean to positive influences in the community; Bill, Kim and Dean fit right in, but things take a turn when Lillian is treated differently for being a working mom.
Brad works through his nerves preparing for his bar mitzvah speech; Dean ends his friendship with Keisa when Charlene tells him he can't be friends with other girls.
Dean's plans to ask Keisa to the Valentine's Day Dance are foiled when another boy asks her out first; Bill and Lillian make Kim sign up for a Big Sister program to have extracurricular activities for her college applications.
When their teacher goes on leave, Dean, Cory and Keisa are excited to be taught by Mr. Brady, the school's first Black teacher; Mr. Brady encourages the students to try out for the Knowledge Bowl team, where Dean faces some challenges.
Kim is excited to start her new job as a waitress at the local diner, which Dean adopts as his local hangout; when Kim experiences drama with her friends, she finds unlikely allies in a tough co-worker and her younger brother.
When Dean comes down with chickenpox on his way to a hunting trip with Bill and Grandaddy Clisby, Lillian forces the three of them to quarantine together; Clisby pushes homemade remedies on them out of his mistrust of doctors.
When Bruce returns home from Vietnam, the family is shocked to find out he is dating, and eager to share his life with, an older woman with a son; when they learn more about Bruce's last deployment, they come together to support him.
Bill is excited to have made tenure at the university, only to find that his focus on career and family has cost him a spot in his band; Bruce adjusts to living at home.
Dean tries to impress Keisa's cool new boyfriend by inviting him and his friends to a party Kim is throwing while Bill and Lillian are away for the night; things get out of hand just as Bill and Lillian arrive home.
It's the end of the school year, and summer excitement is all around; Bill and Lillian each receive major career opportunities; Dean and Keisa take shelter together as a tornado tears through.
