Rev. Eric Camden counsels a sexually molested girl to help her express the rage and pain she's been hiding from her family. This dark secret that Mary knows about weighs in on her, which brings her to open up to Lucy. Meanwhile, Simon and Ruthie learn the power of communication with their friends and classmates. Also, Matt helps Hank reveal an important personal secret to Julie before his mother visits.

Simon decides to stand up for bullied student at school only to have the boy tell him that he is going to shoot his tormentors. Robbie decides to give Ruthie a playful new nickname, but at the same time Ruthie comes up with a less-pleasant one for Lucy after breaking off her engagement to Jeremy in New York. Eric gets a visit from an old friend Merle with some family issues of her own. Mary gets serious with pursuing the career as a firefighter, but things don't turn out the way she had planned.

After various personal items disappear from the house, the family finds Ruthie in the garage apartment entertaining a friend with the pilfered items. The would-be bandit explains that she is hiding her pal from a pair of older boys, who have been harassing the girl because of her Muslim background. Touched by her plight, Mary and Lucy try to get their neighbors to sign a petition in support of the girl's family. Matt and Simon decide on a less civic solution and go hunting for the perpetrators.