The Wonder Years Season 1, Episode 7: Independence Day

Pilot

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.

21 min

Green Eyed Monster

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.

21 min

The Club

Dean stumbles upon some “racy literature” and shares it with friends at school. When he is caught by the school principal, Bill and Lillian navigate uncharted territory as parents and Dean learns that manhood isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

21 min

The Workplace

It’s “Take Your Son to Work Day” and Dean heads to band practice with Bill. But the “grown folks’ business” at the music studio prompts Lillian to have to pick up Dean. While at her office, Dean finally learns what his mom does while he’s at school all day, gaining a newfound respect for her career and ambition.

21 min

The Lock In

Dean is reluctant to attend the annual church lock-in until Kim tells him it’s where she got her first kiss. He enlists his friends to help him pair up with Keisa, but his plans are thwarted when he instead gets paired up with the pastor’s daughter, Charlene.

21 min

Be Prepared

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. As a thunderstorm threatens an eerie quest through the woods, Bill leans into his expertise to save the day.

21 min

Science Fair

After seeing Dean bullied by Michael after school Lillian goes to confront his parents and learns he needs more compassion than discipline. Much to Dean’s dismay, she takes Michael under her wing and helps him with his project for the science fair – an event where Dean typically excels

21 min

Home For Christmas

Dean can’t wait to spend Christmas with his older brother, Bruce, when he returns home from Vietnam. But adjusting to life back in Montgomery comes with unexpected challenges for Bruce, and the rest of the Williams family rely on their favorite holiday traditions to bring cheer

21 min

Lads and Ladies and Us

Bill and Lillian decide to 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.

21 min

Brad Mitzvah

Brad works through his nerves preparing for his bar mitzvah speech while Dean ends his friendship with Keisa when Charlene tells him he can’t be friends with other girls. Things come to a head when the whole group comes together to celebrate Brad’s bar mitzvah.

21 min

I'm With The Band

When Dean loses his position as first chair saxophone in the school band, Bill lays the pressure on him to earn it back.

21 min

The Valentine’s Day Dance

Dean’s plans to ask Keisa to the Valentine’s Day Dance are foiled when another boy asks her out first after a new makeover makes her the talk of the school. Meanwhile, Bill and Lillian make Kim sign up for a Big Sister program to have extracurricular activities for her college applications.

21 min

Country Dean

The family spends spring break with Lillian's parents in the countryside, and Dean lies to his cousins about city life in Montgomery to impress them. Meanwhile, Lillian helps to settle a land dispute between her parents and their neighbors to impress her difficult-to-please mother.

21 min

Black Teacher

When their teacher goes on maternity 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 unexpected challenges

21 min

The Sleepover

When Dean learns that Corey’s dad, Coach Long, is in the doghouse, he struggles to keep this secret from his friend.

21 min

Jobs and Hangouts

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 coworker and her younger brother.

21 min

Goose Grease

When Dean comes down with the chicken pox 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, but he’s forced to reckon with this when Dean’s condition worsens.

22 min

Love & War

Bruce returns home from Vietnam, and the family is shocked to find out he is dating an older woman with an 8-year-old son with whom he is eager to start his life. When they learn more about Bruce’s latest deployment, they begin to understand his survivors’ guilt and come together to support him.

22 min

Bill's New Gig

Bill is excited to have made tenure at the university, only to find that his focus on career and family has cost him his spot in his band; Bruce adjusts to living at home.

21 min

Where No Dean Has Been Before

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.

Love, Dean

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.