Mike plays Cupid for Mandy by setting her up on a blind-date with Kyle, one of his employees who he thinks would be the perfect guy for her. But Mike's set-up gets off track when Kyle accidentally meets Kristin. Meanwhile at work, Mike's long-time boss and friend, Ed, announces that he's grounding Mike from their catalogue's international photo shoots and putting him in charge of the company's webpage. In this new role, Mike discovers that the Internet might actually provide him just the outlet he needs, a platform that gives him a voice to appeal to those who agree that manliness is under assault, and a pulpit for his opinions about feeling like the last real man in a woman's world.
Mike is outnumbered by his wife and daughters when they all agree that baby proofing the house is a good idea. But soon Vanessa has second thoughts when she finds herself home by herself babysitting Boyd and can't release the toilet seat's complicated childproof latch. Meanwhile, Mike thinks it's time for Mandy to earn her own money and gets her a job delivering pizzas -- without first consulting Vanessa.
When Vanessa forces a reluctant Mike to attend Grandparents Day at their grandson Boyd's preschool, Mike manages to insult the daycare teacher and Boyd gets kicked out of school. Boyd's mom, Kristin, tells Mike that he now has to look after him, so Mike takes the two-year-old to work with him. Meanwhile, after an elderly looking grandmother at the Grandparents Day event thinks she and Vanessa are the same age, Vanessa goes out of her way to look more youthful -- hoping no one sees her buying clothes from a boutique her 17-year-old daughter.
Mike feels let down when his daughters aren't into celebrating Halloween with him the way they used to. He decides that his two-year-old grandson, Boyd, can be his perfect trick or treat partner. But Kristin, Boyd's mother, adamantly tells him that she doesn't want her son to go out on Halloween. Mike sneaks him out -- with a plan to get the child home before Kristin gets back from work. When Mike, dressed as John Wayne from "The Green Berets," gets to Ed's house with Boyd, they are greeted at the door by Ed's lady friend, Elvira.
Mike, amazed that Mandy might finally have found a passion for something, takes her under his wing at work when she offers to start an Internet campaign to keep Ed's favorite barber shop hangout from closing. Also, an exhausted Vanessa insists that she can still take care of the household despite her hectic work schedule, until she falls asleep during her own business presentation.
Mike is taken aback when he finds out that Ed, who has been an absentee dad, has hired his daughter, Gabriella, to replace him as the new marketing consultant of Outdoor Man. When Ed agrees with Mike that her youth-oriented proposals to re-brand the retail stores aren't the way to go, she plays the Daddy card for all its worth. Also, Mike and Eve bring home a stray dog that Mandy thinks she's allergic to.
When Mike realizes he unintentionally upstaged Vanessa's announcement about being nominated as the top volunteer school parent, his efforts to make it up to her might cause more harm than good. Meanwhile, Eve is afraid she won't fit in at high school; and Ed wants to release an Outdoor Man action figure inspired by Mike.
When Vanessa's sweet but flighty sister, April, comes to visit, Mike knows she's only coming to ask for yet another loan. Mike would rather use any extra money they have to buy a tank so that he and Ed can take it to a junkyard to run over old cars and boats. Meanwhile, when Kristen and Kyle decide to break up, Kyle is more concerned with what Mike will think.
Now that Vanessa is following her passion to become an inner-city high school teacher, Mike is inspired to rekindle his dream of opening up a fish and game restaurant in the Outdoor Man store - and asks Kristin to be his business partner. Meanwhile, Eve takes Mandy pheasant hunting to get feathers for her hats.
Tim Allen reunites with Patricia Richardson, who played his wife on the acclaimed series "Home Improvement." Mike butts heads with his new but noisy neighbor, Helen Potts (Patricia Richardson), for waking up the neighbors with her power tools and fix-it projects. But when Vanessa and Helen become fast friends, Mike decides to interfere. Meanwhile, Eve learns that Ed isn't the type of Vietnam War hero she thought he was
When an Outdoor Man billboard is vandalized, Mike wants to hire his neighbor Chuck's security company to protect it. But Vanessa doesn't want to mix business with friendship since she's counting on a teaching recommendation from Chuck's wife, Carol. Meanwhile, Eve benefits from Mandy's philosophical decision to not take credit for doing household chores.
Although Eve insists she's OK after her first high school break-up, everyone has an opinion as to how she should deal with her feelings. To take her mind off it, Mike has her tag along to watch sports on Ed's new 120-inch TV. Also, while shopping for Kristin's wedding dress, she and Mandy fight over how Kristin broke up with Kyle.
Mike has returned from being on a fantastic two-month road trip traveling to far-flung places for Outdoor Man. It's great to be back with his wife, Vanessa, and their three daughters, but finds a lot has been going on at home as well as on the job since he's been away. To top it all off, a tornado is headed toward the Outdoor Man store and the Baxter home.
When Mike blames the public school system for suspending his grandson Boyd from public school, he tells Ryan they should start looking at private schools. Meanwhile, Kristin and Kyle try to capture a raccoon loose in the Outdoor Man restaurant, and Mandy doesn't want Eve to take photos of her for a class assignment.
When Vanessa and the girls surprise Mike with a 1967 Impala for his birthday, he's excited to have alone time in the garage with the car. But when the car's original owner, Joe, keeps showing up with spare parts and unwanted advice, Mike drops some not-so-subtle hints that he can do without Joe's help. Meanwhile, Mandy is mad when Vanessa allows Eve to go to a music festival - when she was never allowed to when she was growing up.
On Halloween, Mike and Chuck decide to spend the evening watching football instead of passing out candy with their wives. But when Vanessa and Carol start pranking them, the competition is on to see who can out-prank who. Kyle dresses up like his hero, Ed, but Ed has a surprising response to Kyle's imitation of him.
When Eve tells the family her annoying best friend Cammy needs to move in with them, Mike springs into action to find a way to hand Cammy off on someone else, namely the Larabees. Meanwhile, Kristin asks Mandy to design the new uniforms for the Outdoor Man Grill, but they clash over Mandy's creative process.
Although Vanessa is disappointed it will only be her, Mike and Eve at the Baxter Thanksgiving table, she's more let down when Eve bypasses one of their holiday traditions and calls it "goofy." Meanwhile, Kristin finds out Mandy is lying to their parents about where she and Kyle will be spending Thanksgiving dinner.
To snap Eve out of her funk of not getting into West Point Academy, Mike hopes that taking her to Outdoor Man will show her different career options. But both Mike and Vanessa are taken aback by the unexpected influence that car mechanic Joe has on her. Meanwhile, Mandy makes Kristin feel like they no longer have anything in common.
Mike has convinced Kristin and Ryan to buy a home instead of renting an apartment. But when he finds the ideal place for them, Ryan surprises everyone with a change of heart and backs out of the idea. Meanwhile, Mandy doesn't want Eve in the basement, which doubles as her work space, but Kyle defends her right to be there.
Mike is anxious to buy the miniature tank collection once belonging to the late husband of his neighbor, Helen Potts. But when he discovers Helen already sold the collection, he goes to extremes to make the collection his own. Meanwhile, Kristin and Ed are concerned when a mysterious "Bubba X" posts a scathing review about their dining experience at the Outdoor Man Restaurant.
Mike meets with famous rock climber, and former girlfriend, Billie Cassidy, to persuade the Outdoor Man to sell her line of climbing gear. Billie agrees to the deal but Mike is wary of her one condition: that he has to go on the promotional campaign trip with her. Meanwhile, Mandy helps Kristen and Ryan sell their old possessions.
When Mike finds out future son-in-law Kyle fears meeting with the church's new minister, Mike tells Kyle to use him and Vanessa as a strong marriage example. But a recent argument ends up sending them to the minister instead. Meanwhile, Ryan helps Eve with her assignment to debate from the opposite side of her politically conservative beliefs.
When Mike and Vanessa ask newlyweds Mandy and Kyle to tone down their constant displays of affection, Mandy agrees but only if her parents become more discreet in the way they express their feelings to each other. Meanwhile, Kristen gets Eve a gig playing at the Grill, but Ed wants to fire her after a lackluster performance.
When Eve's boyfriend, Rob, doesn't invite her to his parents' anniversary party, Vanessa feels that Eve should tell him how this makes her feel. But Mike disagrees and thinks it's better for Eve to not say anything. Meanwhile, Kristin and Ryan think it's beyond the airy Mandy and Kyle to find the hidden clues in an escape room.
When Rev. Paul recruits Kyle and Mandy to the church bowling team, Mike is left with two unappealing options for Team Baxter - Ryan and Jen. Meanwhile, Vanessa anxiously awaits an endorsement from the Teacher's Association for her Assembly campaign and Kristin and Chuck worry they have offended Ed with their old age jokes.
A series of time jumps finds Mike & Vanessa with two new grandchildren, as well as Mandy and Kyle living with them. Mike accidentally-on-purpose gets involved when Vanessa and Mandy clash over Vanessa's "helpfulness." Meanwhile at Outdoor Man, Chuck desperately hopes it's last call on Ed's mixology happy hour.