Reeva asks Elliott to intervene with the university president about Shel's tenure; horrified when her first big assignment entails taking pictures of a small child shot and killed during a robbery, Dori questions the ethical responsibility of publishing the photos, and contemplates resigning; an upset Arthur, suspecting that Ellen is having an affair when she spends long hours working with Andy Carlson, goes on a midnight jog in the rain and suffers a fatal heart attack.

Elliott awakens to the ear-splitting sounds of drumming and smoothies being blended in the kitchen by Claude Waverley, Dori's boyfriend; when Elliott's stranded later by a dead car battery, Claude saves the day by giving him a lift and some much-needed words of wisdom while they wait for a tow truck; when Reeva suspects that her husband is having an affair, she enlists Dori's help in spying on Shel; Ellen becomes uneasy when her partners suggest that Elliott join their law firm.

Reeva leaves Shel and moves into Elliott's house with Sam and Ruthie; Elliott's attempt to heal the rift backfires when Shel tells him more than he wants to know about the problems in his daughter's relationship; Ellen's growing attraction to Andy Carlson prompts her to withdraw from his case; after telling Dori about overhearing Claude speaking intimately on the phone to another woman, Elliott is dismayed to learn about the open relationship his daughter has with the musician; Shel attempts to patch things up with Reeva at Sam's birthday party; Reeva drops a bomb on the entire family when she announces she's pregnant and not sure she's keeping the baby; Ellen and Arthur discuss her wanting to run for Congress.

Elliott exhibits signs of depression after Ellen announces her decision to run for Congress; Elliott runs into his next door neighbor when he takes out the trash, and is cajoled into taking an old lamp to the ""Antiques Caravan"" television show; a confrontation with a shady client helps Ellen realize that she could become an influential force for change in Congress; Reeva interviews for a job in the university anthropology department, but decides to take a job selling cosmetics; Dori tags along with a famous photographer covering a big murder trial, and winds up taking the photograph that makes the front page.