Headscratchers / F is for Family

• How does Kevin take a shower or a bath? With these panic attacks he has from water ever since the Motel Pool incident.
  • Kevin hardly even remembered that incident (at least until Frank mentioned it to the people making fun of Kevin after he fell). And he only panicked when he thought he was falling into water under thin ice.

• How come we never actually see Frank or Sue's parents? Through the first and second season we never get to see their parents visit the Murphys. Most sitcoms would always show the characters parents/grandparents. Did their relationship between their parents get so bad over the years that they don't even visit each other anymore? Are they dead? Although Frank did mention his father to Bob Pogo in a flashback back when he was in war and how he hated his father, may also give a hint to this.
  • In Season 3 we see Sue's parents.
  • Frank states openly in Season Two that he hated his father and in Season Three we further learn the depth of his resentment towards his own father during his talk with Kevin. He also states to Sue that he has the decency to keep his family away and Frank seems to openly despise Sue's father, who shows up near the middle of the Season. By the end of Season Three, Frank's father shows up to stay with the Murphys, lending likelihood to his appearance in Season Four.
  • Frank's father stays with the Murphy family during season 4, with the central conflict being between him and Frank. Frank's mother is living in California with his younger sister, estranged from both her husband and her son for years. Frank's mother and sister do come to visit Frank at Christmas in the final season, and their behavior, especially his mother's behavior, give the audience an idea of why Frank doesn't go out of his way to associate with them.
• How was there an ambulance at Chet's house after Nguyen-Nguyen poisoned him? She obviously didn't call because she wanted him to die and her attitude towards getting busted rules out her having changed her mind. Chet couldn't have called, given his condition when they wheel him out. He couldn't have done it after he realized why his food tasted funny because by the point that he would have realized he needed immediate medical attention, he wouldn't've been physical able to even pick up the phone... so who called 911?

• In seasons one and two, why/how does Vic - a major drug addict/alcoholic - remember to lock his front door when he leaves for work, leaving Cutie Pie outside in her tiny bathrobe? Or does his front door lock by itself? Older houses would do that sometimes and this show is set in the 70s. If he ever had a rare moment of sobriety outside of the context of leaving for work, why didn't he just give her a key to keep (though she is rarely seen in anything besides the bathrobe) or let her lock the door after he leaves, since she seems to stay at his house after he goes to work? Also, if he did have a rare moment of sobriety, why didn't Cutie Pie think to ask for a key to keep then? Or does she do drugs/drink too? Or is that supposed to be a sign of her (at least until season 4) ditziness?

---