It has been three months since Chief Kanisky died, when a present he bought for Joey's birthday turns up. Meanwhile, Julie and Jonathan want to move into his bedroom, but Nell objects to this.
There's a major house payment that's due so everyone tries to pull all the cash they have. But it still comes up short. Later Nell's ex-husband, who says his band plays on cruise ships, asks Nell to fill in for the band's singer. Nell initially refuses but upon learning about the payment and that what she'll be payed will enough for the payment reluctantly goes and brings Addy and Joey with her.
Upon learning that her ex-husband is remarried to a younger woman, Nell's voice goes out, jeopardizing her earning the money needed for the house payment. The ship's doctor tells her to relax but when she tries another stressful moment befalls her.
While looking for dropped change at a bus stop, Joey accidentally goes out into the path of the arriving bus but is saved by a stranger. Nell and Joey invite the stranger to the house and find out that he claims to be from the planet Zoron.
Nell gives Addy the silent treatment after she discovers that Addy had a party with her colleagues and did not invite her. Nell refuses to budge even after Addy announces that she is moving to NY to accept a new position.
Julie and Jonathan's marriage faces its first true test when Jonathan is chosen for an internship in Mexico and he is adamant about Julie not going with him.
Nell pushes Joey to achieve his potential when she receives news from a school counselor that he is a gifted child. But Joey prefers being an average fourth grader and doesn't want to take a placement test for special classes.
When Jonathan returns from his trip in Mexico, he is uncharacteristically moody and will not talk about it. Julie and Nell soon find out that he has lied about going to work and fear that he may be having an affair with a fellow classmates.
Nell is accidentally shot in the foot after she startles Joey who is playing with the Chief's old gun. Following the incident, Nell is puzzled when Joey seems to be avoiding her and the repercussions of his actions.
Nell goes to apply for a job. But the man she meets tells her that she's not what he's looking for. She assumes he's a bigot so she gets a lawyer who specializes in racial discrimination to confront him. But they find a lot of blacks working there. They find out why he doesn't want to hire Nell and the lawyer tells Nell that it's not in his purview. .
