The gang who were on their way to watch Helen perform but something goes wrong with the plane and they land in the water. They're on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. And they wonder if someone will find them. But they are found. And when Joe goes back to the island, he considers leaving because without the plane, that's the end of Sandpiper.

Angry at the nearly non-existent aid from his insurance company, Joe lets Brian convince him to fake an injury to get more money out of his insurers. Despite Helen's loud objections, they get a shady doctor's letter and wait for the insurers. But Joe gets cold feet at the last minute, forcing the two brothers to have to switch roles. The investigator is a beautiful woman who quickly fools Brian into giving away the whole scam, and the two brothers look like they're headed for court or worse. But their panic is unnecessary, as Helen reveals the investigator is a friend of hers; she just wanted to teach the brothers a lesson. But then Roy shows up with a check from Joe's insurers for non-existent injuries, and Helen beats a hasty retreat.

Sandpiper is finally back in business, but Joe's nose is broken by a man who mistakes him for Brian. At the surgeon's office, the doctor's observation of a bump on Brian's nose has him obsessing about getting a nose job.

Roy complains out loud about the singing of the national anthem at a Red Sox game; he believes he could do far better. So with Brian's connections in the Sox front office, Roy is given the chance to sing at Fenway. Roy responds by blacking out while doing the national anthem at the game.

Lowell convinces Helen to go on a date.

The arrival on Nantucket of beautiful new helicopter pilot, Alex Lambert, soon has the brothers chasing after her, despite her obvious non-interest. Meanwhile, Antonio gets invited to the Tuesday night rat shoot with Lowell and his buddies Tom and Tucker, where he upstages Lowell by shooting more rats.

Alex agrees to a date with Brian at the Parade of Tall Ships. Brian borrows Lowell's boat for the event. But Brian sinks Lowell's boat. Joe and Brian are then forced into inviting Lowell to stay with them for a while and are surprised at how well Lowell cooks and how eager he is to do the household chores. They enjoy his visit so much that when his insurance check arrives they decide to hang onto it for a little while. But soon the honeymoon comes to an end as Lowell's strict discipline rubs the Hackett's the wrong way. But when they've agreed to boot Lowell out they discover his check is missing. At supper that night, he confronts them with the check. While ironing out the misunderstanding about the check, the brothers and Lowell make peace and they invite him to stay on.

Joe and Helen watch with trepidation as one of Brian's old girlfriends, Shannon Moss, arrives for a visit. Their fears are soon realized when Brian falls under her spell yet again. The fact is that she is just using him to boost her own fragile ego. For her career is in trouble, and her boyfriend has just dumped her. But Brian thinks they're starting a real relationship this time. As always, Shannon pushes him aside once her life seems to fall back into place. Brian doesn't wake up to the truth until goaded by Joe and Helen into a final confrontation with Shannon in the airport.

Rumors abound at the airport when Antonio reveals he saw Joe's car parked outside of Alex's apartment late the night before. Soon the airport - especially Brian and Helen - is buzzing about the possibilities. Since Alex had been intoxicated that night, Joe is the only one who knows the real truth and he won't tell. Alex then makes a big scene and pretends to leave after he won't tell even her. But she soon returns, and he eventually tells her the whole story. They share a steamy kiss.

Joe is irritated about getting charged a rewind fee for a returned video tape which he believes was rewound. It ends up costing the nice old lady at the video store her job. His chagrin deepens when he finds out that the tape hadn't been rewound. More guilt is heaped upon his shoulders when he finds out the lady suffered a stroke following her firing. He visits the woman at the hospital, only to find her entire family present, and she seems to recover after hearing his apologetic words.

Helen dates a guy with an annoying laugh. Antonio has trouble with his jerk neighbor.

Antonio performs his civic duty when he helps bring to court a suspected robber and then testifies against him. But then the suspect gets released on a technicality and Antonio starts to fear for his life.

After a trip to see a friend in Boston at Logan Airport and finding out how much more he gets paid, Lowell decides to ask Roy and Joe for a raise. Following Antonio's advice, Lowell threatens to leave for a job in Boston if his demands aren't met. Joe can't afford the raise and Roy refuses to cough up any more money. Even though he doesn't want that job in Boston, Lowell continues to bluff, until he finds himself out of a job, replaced by Gil, and saying goodbye to his friends. But later that night Lowell returns much to everyone's surprise, and pays Antonio back for his advice.

Loose talk at Helen's house one night between Antonio,Helen and Alex reveals Alex once posed for Playboy. Helen and Antonio promise to keep it a secret,but at the airport the following Monday,Joe and Brian quickly find out about it. They then quickly raid Roy's office and his collection of Playboys, eventually finding the photo. Antonio becomes the focus of Alex's wrath, but it is soon revealed the secret was leaked by a subconsciously jealous Helen at the beauty parlor. Angry Words are exchanged between Alex and Helen when the truth comes to light. The situation is diffused by a very anxious Fay, who wants to use the bathroom and can't while they are arguing.

With an opening in a quartet, Helen wants to try out but her cello is on the bottom of the ocean. She gets a second job to purchase a new cello but things do not go as planned. Lowell, Faye, Roy and Antonio audition for a play.

Helen gets the quartet role but hates it. However, she doesn't know how to quit without letting Joe and Brian down. Faye, Roy, Antonio and Lowell practice for their awful play.

Hoping to impress Alex, Brian claims to know Clint Black. So they go to Boston where he has a show and they go to his hotel room and that's when things get complicated.

In their pursuit of Alex,Joe and Brian take some indirect tips from Helena as she describes her own reactions to another's man advances. But Alex sees through all their ploys, until Joe and Brian finally resort to honest conversation over dinner to settle their relationship with Alex.

To cheer up Carlton Blanchard on a lonely birthday, Helen invites him to her house for a party. But after Carlton falls down her stairs and threatens a lawsuit from his lawyer son,Helen's hospitality is stretched to the limit as he settles in her living room to recover from his injuries. Finally, Helen discovers two things that are no surprise at all. Carlton doesn't have a lawyer for a son and his injuries are imaginary. So she boots him out.

Weeb Gilroy's death has Lowell searching for the right words to write for a eulogy for his long time friend. Words fail him at the end; all he can think of is to finish working on.

The crew is invited to the wedding of the air traffic controller.

Alex finally agrees to a date with Brian, only to find out later it was all a setup.