Alex (Micheal J. Fox) learns the difference between countries fighting for honour, and two people playing chess for the love of the game in Checkmate.

Written by Micheal J. Weithorn, it first aired on 30 January, 1986. Alex is gearing up for a showdown with a Russian chess champ, Ivan Rozmirovich (Albert Macklin) and despite his initial keenness to take on his opposite number, things change quickly.

Steven (Micheal Gross) serves as a commentator on the match joined by a grandmaster, Eric Nordstrom (George Pentecost) who doesn’t say a word throughout the broadcast.

When Alex realizes that Ivan is attempting to throw the match, as he’s tired of competing for nations, and that is making him lose his love for the game, Alex calls him on it, and the pair engage in an equally terrible series of plays that ends up with them both being disqualified from the match.

It’s nice to see that Alex cares about Ivan, even if he doesn’t care for the politics of his country. He even points out that it’s easier to hate a country than a person, and the two form a bit of a friendship as the episode closes.

It’s a fairly basic East vs. West tale but with that Family Ties twist.

Engine Trouble first aired on 6 February, 1986 and was written by Ruth Bennett.

While Mallory (Justine Bateman) and Jennifer (Tina Yothers) look after Steven, who refuses to admit that he’s sick, no matter what he looks and sounds like, Elyse (Meredith Baxter) and Alex sign up for an automotive repair class when the car breaks down.

Alex, of course, causes problems right from the start, insisting that men are naturally better than women when it comes to some things, like car repair, and his sexist views are going to land him into a bunch of trouble.

When Elyse begins to shine in the class, becoming the star pupil under Sam’s (Robert Costanzo) guidance, Alex becomes increasingly upset, and ends up unable to complete his starter engine assembly, and ruins Elyse’s in the process.

There’s a discussion about pride, equality and knowing when to ask for help and Alex definitely gets put in his place because of his views. It’s done well, and pairing Baxter and Fox together is always a fun choice because they have great chemistry together.

It’s a fun little episode, and one that reminds us of the importance of equality, respect, and not letting pride hold you back from asking for help.

A Word to the Wise was written by Susan Borowitz and Marc Lawrence and first debuted on 13 February, 1986.

Ellen (Tracy Pollan) and Alex have been seeing each other for six months, and as they join the rest of the Keatons, they decide to fill Ellen in on some of the things Alex did before she came along.

Yup, that’s right, it’s a clip show. But wait it gets better, it’s only part one of a two-part clip show.

We get flashbacks to stories from the early seasons of the show, illustrating goofy moments with Alex, all to the delight of Ellen, and the embarrassment of Alex.

I get that this is a filler episode(s) and perhaps it was done as a way to save on money, but if they were going to do a bottle show, I think they could have come up with something better.

When I was a kid, I used to enjoy clip shows because they were guaranteed to have fun moments from previous shows and would rouse memories. Now, I don’t care for them so much. I do like the fact that the series is working to weave its continuity but to give us a two-part clip show as a way to celebrate Alex and Ellen’s six-month anniversary.

They could have come up with something better. Let’s see how they wrap up the second part next week.