Alex (Michael J. Fox) gets in all manner of trouble in Margin of Error. Written by Michael Russnow it was first broadcast on 9 February, 1983.

Alex is playing the stocks on paper every day for a school project, and he’s been making a theoretical killing. When he asks Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse (Meredith Baxter) to give him access to some finances and they refuse, he’s so confident in his business acumen that he goes around their back, impersonates Steven and starts playing the market. Jennifer (Tina Yothers) is a witness and Alex has to buy her silence.

It starts out well enough, but when things go badly, they go really badly and Alex has to face up to what he’s just done.

Alex initially goes to the trading house and attempts to smooth things over there, but in the end, you know he’s going to have to face the music and tell his parents what he’s done. And no matter how hard they come down on him, you know he’s getting off pretty easy, and the episode ends with a fun little laugh.

In the b-story Elyse is working on designing a new chapel for a local university but is trying to make sure it is acceptable for all faiths that may use it.

A fairly simple message this time around, honesty is the best policy, but damn if this one isn’t a lot of fun. Fox gets to do some great physical comedy, running across desks at the trading house, and he and Gross share a hilarious honk of a panicked laugh.

French Lessons was written by Ruth Bennett and first debuted on 16 February, 1983. Mallory (Justine Bateman) is getting tutored in French by Jeff (John Dukakis) and she’s developed a bit of a crush on him. The reverse is also true, but Jeff is incredibly shy, so he turns to Mallory’s brother, Alex, on how best to pursue Mallory romantically when the pair finally agree to go on a date together.

Alex’s advice doesn’t do anything for improving Jeff’s chances with Mallory as Alex’s advice makes Jeff similar to Alex, not a turn-on for Mallory. In fact, the whole date goes incredibly wrong, and the evening implodes on them. But maybe if Mallory and Jeff don’t have Alex interfering they may be able to have a bit of a thing.

The b-story this time revolves around an ongoing chess game between Alex and Steven. Alex has no problem making his moves, but Steven takes his time with his moves (his opening took a day and a half to come up with). This makes for a lot of fun moments, and a lot of great laughs as the game goes on and on and on, especially in the final scene when it’s very possible Steven wins his second-ever game against Alex.

This one is just a simple gentle story with a reminder to be yourself, and that Republicans don’t understand women.

I Gotta Be Ming sees Alex being a Big Brother to a young Vietnamese refugee, Ming (Gene Akutagawa), but when Alex’s schedule becomes too much he sacrifices time with Ming to do his work. Added to that is that perhaps Ming is becoming a little too much like Alex.

Written by Douglas Wyman, this episode debuted on 23 February, 1983.

As Alex continues to mold Ming into a little Alex, the pair seem to be having a great time, but Ming constantly reminds Alex that he’s a little kid and needs to have fun. When Alex mistakenly makes plans on the night the pair are supposed to do a Big Brother/Little Brother circus event and completely forgets about Ming the pair call it quits (it’s quite the breakup).

Afterwards, in conversation with Steven, Alex realizes he misses having Ming around, that he’s grown to care for the young boy, and that he could have been a better big brother to the young boy. Will Ming take him back? Will Alex realize he has to make changes and be more involved and supportive of Ming and his interests?

Be in the moment, and be there for the ones who love and need you. A basic message, but nicely delivered, and Fox is on fire already this season. You can’t help but watch everything he does, and he completely captivates the audience. In fact, the entire cast has been top-notch and is imbued with a great measure of likability. It’s no wonder I would sometimes wish they were my family.

Written by Douglas Wyman this episode was first broadcast on 23 February, 1983.