When Shannon gets a car loan and Denise is turned down on her loan application, she angrily accuses Shannon of sleeping with the loan officer. Father Boyle asks Carrie to approach Mrs. Gunders, an elderly parishioner, for a donation to repair the church's Our Lady of Grace statue, but Carrie is reluctant to ask someone she hasn't seen in years for a donation for a church she no longer attends. Jesse goes with Shannon to shop for a car, but later Mrs. Hammrick at the bank tells Shannon she's reviewed her loan application and has turned it down. When Carrie starts having experiences that she interprets as omens, she changes her mind and goes to see Mrs. Gunders, but when the obviously senile woman happily gives Carrie a huge sum of money, Carrie gives it back and tells Father Boyle she didn't have the heart to take the old woman's money.

Carrie knows that his life as a fisherman is often frustrating to Mike, and, after much persuasion, convinces him to take his boat out on a whale-watching cruise. All Carrie's friends go along with Carrie, Mike and Steve on the trial run. Shannon takes Bethany, Scott's daughter, who she's still trying to make friends with. Denise goes with Ryan, who's just lost his job at Mulligan Marine while she's taking extra hours on her job because they need the money. Jesse is there, upset because he things everyone's forgotten his birthday, and Kurt, who's writing an article in hopes of getting a job at the local newspaper, is also aboard. The cruise comes to an abrupt halt when they run into a dead whale. Back on shore, Mike gets so much ribbing from the locals that he gets into a fight and ends up with a court date. Denise stops speaking to Ryan when she learns he's taken baby Conner along to a wrestling match as part of Jesse's birthday celebration. And Carrie can't believe her eyes when she

As Gloucester braces itself for a huge winter storm, Kathy prepares to take charge of emergency procedures in the mayor's absence, while Marge and Jesse do everything in their power to make sure The Pelican is destroyed so they can collect the insurance and leave town. Carrie, Shannon and Denise worry about where they'd work if The Pelican were gone. When Kurt does a front-page feature on Ryan, his unemployment and the family's financial straits, Denise is humiliated. As weather conditions get even worse, everyone seeks shelter at the high school, and the three women observe that everyone is hanging out in their old cliques and behaving just as they did in school. The three get into a heated argument about who's the smartest that they settle by breaking into the guidance counselor's office and going through the files.

Carrie, Shannon and Denise make their annual trek to view the nativity scene outside the church, but when Denise breaks the head off the baby Jesus while they're taking a picture of Conner in the crib, the women are horrified and swear each other to secrecy, while the town of Gloucester is convinced that a hate crime has taken place; later Denise realizes she has the head in her purse. When Mike and Kathy are called to Florida to be with Mike's seriously ill brother, for the first time in her life Carrie has to deal with being without her family at Christmas. To Marge's dismay, Jesse, who's just gotten his driver's license after eleven tries, tells her he's driving to Baton Rouge to see his dad for Christmas. True to family tradition, Kurt spends hours constructing an enormous Christmas display in his apartment. And after insisting that Shannon plan a big Christmas celebration for himself and Bethany, Scott announces that he has reconciled with his estranged wife. Kurt takes Carrie to

Carrie, Shannon and Denise go to have their navels pierced, but Denise is the only one who goes through with it; when she finally shows Ryan, he hits the roof. When Carrie can't keep her movie ""date"" with Kurt, she persuades him to take Shannon instead. Shannon and Kurt go out for drinks after the movie; they dance and have a great time, and when he drops her off, Shannon gives Kurt a kiss goodnight. Denise's piercing gets infected and she's afraid Ryan will gloat, but instead he's very concerned and takes her to the emergency room. When Carrie finds out about the kiss, she confronts Shannon who wishes Kurt would just forget it ever happened, but Shannon tells Carrie she should get clearer about what her feelings for Kurt really are. Kurt is angry with Carrie for getting involved in his business; Carrie tries to explain that her feelings for Kurt are very complex, but Kurt says it feels as if he's wasting his life pursuing someone who will never be his.

When Carrie starts dating Bill, an investment counselor from Boston whom she met at an art gallery, she tries to include him in her circle of friends, but things become strained as her old friends realize that they can never be part of Bill's world. Kurt revives an old habit pattern by running out an getting a new girlfriend when he learns that Carrie is dating someone new. Shannon is besieged by the men of Gloucester calling her for dates now that she's ended her relationship with Scott. And when Carrie cancels her weekend camping trip with her friends to go to St. Bart's with Bill, Denise is openly envious, but Bill can't put aside his workaholic habits long enough to have any fun, and Carrie wishes she were back home hanging out with her friends instead.