Right off the bat I’m not too psyched about this episode, because it starts off with Ben making a video about the Seaver family for some school project. So far, Ben-centric episodes have not been the best. Although on the plus side, we quickly see that this episode features a guest star: none other than Kirk’s sister Candace Cameron (now Candace Cameron Bure),  just prior to her big splash in Full House, so there’s something. Still, I’m only cautiously optimistic about this one.

It’s Seaver family chore day and everyone’s in a tizzy trying to get shit done, except for Jason, who left a major article deadline to align with Seaver family chore day, conveniently extricating him from any chore responsibilities. This seems inconsistent with Jason’s character, but also–and yes, I realize this is a huge gender stereotype–men do tend to be less invested in household chores, so maybe it all makes perfect sense.

Anyway, it’s not just family chore day.  Jimmy the handyman is also on his way over to repair the furnace. Jimmy appears to be beloved by the entire family…or, at least, by everyone other than Maggie. Ben’s stealth camera work catches Maggie and Jason in the midst of a conversation about Jimmy, during which it’s clear that Jason is fiercely defending Jimmy whereas Maggie is certain he’s past his prime. Is this entire episode going to be about the aging handyman? Ugh. I fear it is.

Nothing Jason can say about Jimmy seems to deter Maggie from her rampant ageism. She’s convinced that he’s incapable of fixing a furnace, simply by virtue of his age, which appears to maybe be his late 60s. Also, has Maggie forgotten that she entrusted her garbage disposal repair to an even older repair man just one season ago?  How quickly we can forget!

Let me get back on track, here. Ben and Jenny (Candace Cameron) are still making their video, but they decide that the Seavers are too boring to be the stars of their project (as far as this episode goes, I tend to agree), so they opt to film Jimmy instead. Ben finds common ground with Jimmy, because it turns out people think Ben’s too young to do stuff and people think that Jimmy’s too old to do stuff, and that’s really the same thing and both are injustices. And this is the most interesting thematic moment we’ll get in the entire episode.

What transpires next is a string of events that reinforces Maggie’s ageism. First, thick, black dust comes spewing out of every duct in the house and Jimmy merely yells out “Sorry about that! Won’t happen again!”. I mean, I get why Maggie is peeved here because it made a hell of a mess, but you also have to wonder how dirty were the Seaver’s ducts?!?!?  Then the washing machine that Jimmy supposedly adjusted starts jumping around on the basement floor. Then the power gets cut and Jason loses 28 pages of the article he’s written because this is before auto-save (which really deserves a shout-out here as a miracle modern invention). Anyway, Maggie is a stone’s throw from tossing Jimmy out on the street, and after he loses his article, even Jason is starting to doubt Jimmy’s abilities.

Of course, none of these household snafus are Jimmy’s fault. We quickly learn that Carol is to blame for the washing machine, because she put every, single rug in the house in at once, which is clearly way too much for a load of laundry. And then Ben’s video finally serves a purpose because as he’s replaying it, the family sees that it was Ben who was responsible for the great, black-dust-spewing duct explosion. You see, Ben wanted to help but attached a hose to the outtake vs. intake.  Jimmy has been fully vindicated!

Anyway, once Maggie and Jason see the error of their ways, they are over-the-top apologetic towards Jimmy, but I guess all that matters is that everyone’s Jimmy’s biggest fan all over again. And we learn that old people still have value and, good God, this was a terrible episode.

At the end of this episode, I’m left wondering:

• Do families actually have big, seasonal chore days? Growing up, in my house every weekend involved chores, not just a few days a year. Every. Weekend.
• If my ducts were blown out, would they be filled with the same kind of intense black soot that was in the Seavers’ ducts? Do I need to be worried about that?
• Was ageism a particularly hot issue at the time this episode was released? And, even if it was, didn’t Golden Girls already exist at that time to more eloquently prove that old people are freaking awesome?