Most of the time, Red treats Eric's friend Hyde (Danny Masterson), who moved in with the Formans' at the end of the first season, better than he treats his own son; perhaps this is because Red thinks Hyde needs a father figure as his own left him. Red also shows appreciation to Hyde for his mechanical skills, evident from when he opened his own muffler store. Hyde quickly assembles muffler displays, while Eric is putting up decorations. Also, Red often more readily has heart-to-hearts with Hyde than with Eric. When Hyde is arrested for possession of marijuana (which had actually belonged to Jackie), he wanted to throw Hyde out, but soon had a change of heart and let him stay after learning the truth. However, this doesn't stop Red from giving Hyde an extremely long telling off. Hyde assumed the Formans would want him to move out on his eighteenth birthday because all of Hyde's relatives had to move out of their places when they were eighteen. Red told Hyde that he needed to stay at the Formans' house so he would not end up like his relatives (who were either dead, in jail, or "pumping gas"). Much of this comes from Hyde's troubled background and Red's view that Hyde just needs some direction in life.