While going to rescue the just-robbed Jake, Becker finds himself caught in the crossfire between two motorists who are arguing over a parking space. A struggle between the two ensues and one of them pulls out a gun. But it's Becker who takes a bullet to the shoulder. Despite his weakened state, he still manages to annoy everyone at the hospital and refuses to take the advice of his agitated doctor.

Jake's old friend, who was responsible for the car accident in which Jake lost his sight, pays him a surprise visit. Meanwhile, Margaret tries to get out of an annual road trip with some nursing school friends; and Becker experiences screen envy when Jake wins a huge television at his grandmother's church raffle.

When a long-distance call to Chico, California shows up on Becker's phone bill, he decides to dispute the charge. He even disputes the existence of the town, claiming that it's just a code word that the phone company uses for bogus charges. Margaret warns Becker not to fight the phone company, after all, "they're like God with computers," but Becker persists. Meanwhile, Reggie is upset when she isn't invited to a friend's wedding, and Bob listens to motivational tapes in order to land a job.

"The one who got away" comes back into Becker's life looking to rekindle the flame -- even though she's married. He entertains an invitation up to her hotel room, but after he hallucinates his friends mirroring his own guilt, he makes the hard decision to leave shortly after getting there. Meanwhile, Margaret struggles desperately to get Linda and Becker to sit still long enough to have a staff meeting.

John's former flame, Megan (Jaclyn Smith), appears unexpectedly at his door and announces that she has left her husband and wants to move in with John.

Reggie secretly conducts a psychology experiment on John to see if he treats attractive patients the same as unattractive ones. Also, Jake gets into a jam when he's accidentally sent a driver's license.

At the end of last season, John was thrown in jail for contempt of court during a malpractice case. Tonight, he's released after reluctantly apologizing to a judge, who orders him to see a therapist and work on his problem with authority. However, the therapist, Katherine Simmons, is dealing with her own authority issues, which John winds up "helping" her work out. Becker is shocked one night when she shows up at his apartment a changed woman. Elsewhere, Jake grows weary of his new girlfriend's annoying habit of describing for him every little thing she's doing; and Linda lobbies for a raise.

John reluctantly agrees to buy a poor child a Christmas gift and then discovers that he has to deliver it as well; Bob visits his mother, who still treats him like a kid.

To Jake's horror, Reggie is obsessed with assisting him reach a goal he made up in the sixth grade. Reggie's persistence only causes pain and embarrassment for Jake, and she refuses to listen to John's pleas to leave Jake alone. Meanwhile, Linda drives the office crazy when she saves a patient's life and now thinks she can skip medical school and go straight to telling John and Margaret what to do.