Baggage (Everybody Loves Raymond)

"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. Marie recommends bringing the suitcase outside, but Debra advises the exact opposite to not let Ray win the battle. Marie, as a very attentive house cleaner having noticed the suitcase for all of its time on the landing, brings Debra over to her house to explain the same conflict with a big fork and spoon that hangs on the kitchen wall. Marie and Frank got them as a wedding gift and hated them, but never returned them for months, each expecting their partner to return it. A big argument, their first ever in the marriage, resulted. Frank, in retaliation, hung them on the wall; Marie reacted by placing the fork higher. The position of the fork and spoon has remained unchanged, reminding Marie of the dysfunctional relationship with her husband. She advises Debra to simply moving the suitcase so that she does not have her own fork and spoon with Ray.

As Debra comes home, Ray gets back early in his trip, guilty of his trick against Debra. The two briefly reconcile before another fight breaks out, a competition to be the one who carried the suitcase, with them trying to pull away each other from it. This is halted by Ray's brother Robert (Brad Garrett) entering the house to ask if he could use it.

At the home of Marie and Frank, Marie attempts to end her battle with Frank by taking down the fork and spoon; however, their shape remains on the wall as a result of discoloration of the wallpaper, making Frank the victor.

Production
"Baggage" was written by Tucker Cawley based on a real-life argument he had with his wife about an empty suitcase.

Reception
"Baggage" has been named by critics one of the best episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, the number-one best by The Oregonian; and was number six on a ranking by TV Guide of the 65 Best Episode of the 21st Century. It is the fifth highest-rated episode of Everybody Loves Raymond on IMDb as of October 2019, with a rating of 8.7; and in a March 2005 online viewers poll ran by CBS of top Raymond episodes, "Baggage" was number three. As Screen Rant summarized "Baggage," "as simple as [its] premise is, it created a lot of comedic moments. It proved that the show had strongly-written characters because even with not much to do, their solid personalities and quirks took over, causing fans to fall in love with the humor."

Awards
Cawley won two awards for writing "Baggage," including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and a similar award from the Online Film & Television Association's TV Awards. Heaton was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for acting in the episode.