The Ties That Bind

On a rushed Sunday morning, the Parker family scrambles to get out the door for church. Eva has been called in to cover a sick nurse's shift at the clinic at one o'clock, and David has to meet an out-of-town client at the exact same hour, so the two of them trade frustrations while rounding up the kids. Olivia is committed to an Earth Science project at her friend Kate's house, Matthew has promised to go to the Comic-Connellsville convention with Emily, and no one is left to stay with Camilla. As tempers flare in the car, Olivia wonders aloud why Sunday isn't any different from the rest of their hectic week, joking, "We wouldn't be the Parker family if we weren't scrambling around all the time." David asks everyone to use their time at church to pray for calm, and later calls a quick family meeting where he challenges each person to think about how they can reconnect as a family. Camilla, meanwhile, is delighted to learn she gets to tag along to Comic-Connellsville with Matthew.

Across town, Connie hosts her half-sister Jules, who is visiting for a week. When Jules balks at attending church, Connie gently insists, and Jules gives in with a grudging, "All right, I'll go, but I won't like it." While Jules logs on to the family computer, Connie stumbles across a receipt from Hagler's Junkyard among her late mother's papers and realizes her mom gave away an antique trunk, which must be the trunk that matches the mysterious key she recently found. She resolves to tell Jason right away. Later, over Sunday brunch at Hal's Diner with Connie and Penny, Jules muses that church reminds her of the fake theme restaurants back home, all decorated to make something artificial seem authentic, though she admits the people there seemed genuine enough. Penny frets that a mysterious internet writer called the Perilous Pen, who has a knack for leaking comic book secrets, might spoil Wooton's big announcement before he can make it. Jules also receives a text she brushes off as being from "just a friend" and announces she would rather take her afternoon walk alone.

At Wooton's house, his cousin Hadley is proving to be an eventful houseguest, having broken a Superman mobile in half and loosened the shower head, all while marveling that Wooton's home is like a giant toy box. Wooton persuades Hadley to join him at church, and Hadley reveals a surprise of his own: he has arranged to host Wooton's question-and-answer session at Comic-Connellsville. On stage that afternoon, Hadley fumbles with the microphone while Wooton fields fan questions, explaining why Captain Absolutely got a new cape, why he shipped Melanie the librarian off to Germany, and why his comics always carry a strong moral point, which he credits to lessons learned from John Avery Whittaker about using entertainment to inform and inspire. Then comes the big reveal: a new mystery series called Sleuth Family Robinson, about a family of detectives whose different gifts fit together to make one complete detective, just like a real family. Wooton refuses to share more, wanting to save some surprises, and boldly declares, "Do you hear that, Perilous Pen? No snooping around." Hadley points out that Wooton has just dared the Perilous Pen to dig up more, and Wooton can only wince and say, "Oops."

That evening, the Parkers reconvene. Matthew and Camilla are still giggling over the convention, but David and Eva steer the family toward a plan: eating dinner together every night and restoring Sunday as a true day of rest, with no work and no homework, just worship, restful activities, and time together. When Camilla worries that a whole day together might just mean more tension, her parents explain that tension creeps in when family members drift apart and start living like roommates, forgetting how and why they love each other. As David puts it, "Love is a choice we make every day of our lives." With everyone more or less on board, and Camilla lobbying for chocolate ice cream to be part of the plan, David adjourns the meeting, resolving that the Parker family will pull together again.