Baggage

"Baggage" is the 22nd episode of the seventh season of the American sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005). The series follows the life of Newsday sportswriter Ray Barone as he tries to cope with being with his neurotic family, consisting of wife Debra (Patricia Heaton), parents Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), brother Robert (Brad Garrett), daughter Ally (Madylin Sweeten), and twin sons Michael (Sullivan Sweeten) and Geoffrey (Sawyer Sweeten). In this episode, a battle arises between Ray and Debra's refusal to bring upstairs and unpack a suitcase they took on a Connecticut vacation, which has remained on the landing for three weeks. The episode aired on May 5, 2003 on CBS. The episode was written by Tucker Cawley and directed by Gary Halvorson. Plot For three weeks, a suitcase Raymond (Ray Romano) and Debra Barone (Patricia Heaton) took with them to Connecticut for a vacation has stayed on the landing of the stairs, unpacked; when they got home from the vacation, they left it there too tired to bring it upstairs and unpack. Ray expected Debra to do it sometime later on, but she never even noticed it. He then found Debra wearing a red sweater she wore on the trip, and assumed she took it out of the suitcase. When Ray did likewise and wore his vacation clothes in front in Debra, it did nothing to get her attention to the suitcase. The day before the second week, Ray stubbed his toe in the suitcase and said to no one in the living room about its continued presence. Debra, lying on the couch, casually responded, "Yeah, I guess it is." This makes Ray suspect Debra is "waiting [him] out". Present day, Ray, a sports journalist for Newsday, is close to going on a road trip for coverage of the New York Mets. Ray is not looking forward to unpacking the suitcase and repacking it for the upcoming trip. However, just as Ray is about to carry it, his father Frank (Peter Boyle) reminds Ray that he lugged it throughout the Connecticut trip, and that it was only Debra's idea to bring one. Frank then brings attention to the situation to Debra, who reacts in anger. Ray places his clothes and a ginger ale in a small plastic bag, to the offense of Debra. To further spite her, he sneaks a week-old moldy block of cheese into the suitcase before leaving. The next day, Debra and Ray's mother Marie (Doris Roberts), the only ones home, notice the scent of the cheese before finding it in the suitcase.