A double date finds Jen and Cliff joined by Dawson and a savvy sidekick, named Mary Beth, at Capeside's annual carnival which is revealed to be a plot to make Jen jealous while Mary Beth asks Dawson to help her out by trying to make Cliff jealous as well. Meanwhile, Pacey and Joey grow more close to each other when they work on a school biology project which a comedy of errors leave them stranded on a marsh bog. When Dawson later finds out of their misadventure, it's his turn to become jealous. Also, Mitch and Gail's marriage continues to become strained over him becoming more distrustful of her.

In a cross-over continuation of the previous episode, set in real time during a cold winter night of a sudden snowstorm, Joey is robbed at gunpoint and forced to clean out her ATM account by a street mugger at a deserted area of Boston's Downtown Crossing district. But the robber ends up getting run over by a car in a hit-and-run accident, minutes after mugging Joey. Instead of calling the police, she stands by her aggressor, checking up on him and trying to get an ambulance to get him to the hospital after seeing the similarities between him and her own father, especially when Joey meets the guy's estranged wife Grace, and her young, tomboy daughter Sammy in the hospital waiting area.