Begins with Bailey waking up in the middle of the night, after hearing the dog barking and strange noises outside the house. He slowly goes downstairs and in the kitchen, he picks up a knife when he sees someone sneaking around the house. But when the back door opens, he sees the stranger was actually Charlie, using a cap. Bailey questions him about where he was, if he was with friends after work or with some new girl, But Charlie refuses to answer and sends him to bed. In the morning, Claudia is finally seen spending time with a friend, Dana, in the house, and they talk by the phone with a boy named Artie. Bailey and Julia are not happy with them playing and laughing around so they take the phone from Claudia. Bill, the new nanny is finally seen and tells he might be called to serve as in jury. The day passes and the social worker visits the Salinger house in the worst possible moment. Bailey was alone singing and dancing rock (if you hadn't done this alone, you were not a teenager), and was surprised by the unannounced visit. In that moment, Charlie was actually in the library because he started an Architecture class in Berkeley and Claudia was at a Dana's house (Dana Shephard) in a sleepover. So it's up to Bailey the welcome to Mrs Gideon, and Julia who arrived soon wearing likely the worst clothes for this case. Mrs Gideon says they Social Services usually visits without making an appointment and that she expected to see everyone in the evening. But the visit ends in disaster because Bailey and Julia have no idea about where are Charlie and Claudia. After Mrs Gideon leaves, Charlie arrives and also says he didn't know where Claudia was. They call the police and report her as missing. Julia reads Claudia's diary but nothing helpful was there, just stuff about school (mentioned some Jamie, and this boy will appear in season 4), Bill, Owen. Bailey questions Julia about confronting Charlie about his strange behavior, but she wants to respect his privacy. Bailey says that they went too far with respecting privacy, given her new clothes and Claudia's disappearance. To their surprise, they suddenly find Claudia having breakfast quietly, and she says she told them where she went. The problem was that Bailey was in the bathroom, Julia had headphones and Charlie was sleeping in the living room (and Claudia thought he nodded). She is angry at them for not knowing her friends and not caring about them, and leaves, saying they're missing her. In the meantime, Mrs Gideon calls, so a new visit is scheduled, and the siblings have to make a good impression. Charlie is finally forced to reveal that he returned to Berkeley and that he bought some books for the classes. Julia and Bailey are glad, he thought he could be on drugs. They also ask Claudia everything about school and her friends, including Artie (Bailey even asks, favourite scotch?). Also, the new nanny Bill can't be present because he was picked to serve for jury in a murder case, so a desperate Bailey looks for Kirsten in Berkeley, and she agrees to help saying she doesn't regret meeting the family. Meanwhile, Charlie still goes to class and though the teacher praises his observations, he realizes he won't have time for field trips and deadlines. Then, He's glad to hear that Kirsten agreed to help them and asks Bailey if she's still pissed. His brother says it's hard to tell, but that she seemed interested when he said he was back in college. Charlie gets mad because he told her, because he wants to drop out for his responsibilities. He says that if nobody knew, he could just quit and no one would add this to the list of things he never finished. Then, Bailey and Julia, trying to be responsible, ruin Claudia's date with Artie in the cinema. Later, Charlie and Owen are happy to welcome Kirsten, but initially she's just happy to see Owen. He says she looks great and that he missed her, and she says it's just a favor.
The second visit of the social worker goes fine until Mrs Gideon tells each one their problems: the four nannies (Mrs Kelleher, Kirsten, Mona and Bill) Charlie's fault, Claudia's disappearance, Julia's job at the night club and Bailey failing in Math and Chemistry in school. She says that four nannies in 9 months is not enough stability for a baby and that the police report for Claudia means they didn't know where she was. They try to explain but she thinks their case has to be studied. Despite the sad situation, the piece of theater they tried to sell was a very funny scene. Then, the five (not Owen, he's likely sleeping) are in the living room and Charlie lectures his siblings about their failures realizing he's not the only one who made mistakes. When Claudia asks if Mrs Gideon can split them up, Bailey and Julia denies it, Kirsten saddened looks at Charlie, who isn't sure about it. After that, Charlie and Bailey agree in fixing their school issues, wondering where they got the idea to fail in private. Julia finally quits the nightclub job (although she starts dating the owner of the place, Morgan, a man twice her age),and decides to work in a library. In the morning, Claudia convinces the social worker that she simply visited them at the wrong time, saying that she didn't see all the things they did well, like all what Bailey does for her and Owen (he gets up in the middle of the night when he cries), Julia as her sister, and Charlie's rules for dinner and lunch, for example. Besides, Claudia says the truth, another families aren't much better and the last 9 months were the hardest so far. She says that they are taken care of, and that the only person who can stop them from being a family is her. Finally, all turns out well, and Claudia tells the siblings that Mrs Gideon agreed in return in 6 months, hoping they can straighten up the house for then. Ends when they all see Owen walking for the first time in a very happy scene.
This episode is entertaining, with comedy and drama. The last scenes with Claudia were the nicest of the episode. Probably wasn't one of the greatest episodes of the season, but had many family moments. Still shows how each one worries about each other, and that Bailey still is being a responsible guy. Charlie is trying, he's not being immature anymore, so he and Bailey are on top of things. At the end, was Claudia the one who unites them all, she has the spark that lighten up the show. Also, was good to see Kirsten back, as in Much Ado, you can see she still cares about the family, despite the trouble with Charlie.
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