Three months later, as they prepare to accept a prestigious award from their alma mater, Sean grows increasingly tired of covering up Christian's numerous indiscretions, a pattern going back to their first initial meeting in college. Kimber, now married to Christian and working as an interior decorator, heads up the remodeling of the McNamara/Troy practice, but continues to worry about Christian's fidelity. Also, a new patient named Dan Daly, suffering from the self-mutilating disorder Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, comes to McNamara/Troy for reconstructive surgery.

Kimber reaches an emotional crossroads in regards to both her crumbling marriage to Christian and her secret affair with Sean. Meanwhile, Christian comes to a point of clarity over his marriage while experimenting with the dangerous sex act of auto-erotic asphyxiation. Sean reunites with his humanitarian college friend, Dr. Curtis Ryerson, and becomes interested in performing more pro-bono surgery. Also, Sean and Christian fix the face of a man who survived a suicide attempt jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Kimber's suicide devastates Christian, who seeks emotional comfort with her estranged mother, Brandy, who arrives in Los Angeles for the funeral. Sean postpones his trip to Africa with Curtis out of respect for Christian's pain despite knowing that the narcissistic Christian will get over it quickly. When Curtis goes to Africa alone, Sean has an intimate encounter with Curtis' doctor wife Sarah. Sean and Christian operate on a woman, Sheila Carlton, whose face was horrifically scarred by the pet chimpanzee owned by her best friend Jane, who herself is emotionally crippled with guilt over killing the animal to save her friend's life.

Sean and Christian face a troubling future for their practice when they discover a growing market in "injectable" procedures, which many believe will signal the death of plastic surgery. While under anesthetic during face lift surgery, Christian enters a dream world where he encounters past patients, experiences Sean's disappointments, comes to terms with Kimber's death, and he meets his late biological father. Meanwhile, Liz dates a pharmaceutical rep who is separated from her husband.