A series of minor setbacks disrupt Denise and Ryan's plans for their wedding ceremony, culminating in Denise finding her engaged brother half-dressed in Shannon's apartment.

Shannon, convinced she's dated every available man in town (the bay's fished out and so is she), resorts to dating college boys. Kathy gets Carrie an interview for a good job, but when Carrie is hesitant to take the job, the two women clash, Carrie accuses her mother of treating her like a child, and she says it's time to move out of her parents' house. Shannon says Carrie can stay at her place, but Carrie is put off by the lovelorn college guys hanging around Shannon's apartment. And after checking in with all her friends and even stopping by the Pelican, Carrie returns home because she has nowhere else to go. Feeling guilty, she confesses to Kathy that she's afraid that if she takes the job, she'll be stuck there for the rest of her life

Carrie, Shannon and Denise go to have their navels pierced, but Denise is the only one who goes through with it; when she finally shows Ryan, he hits the roof. When Carrie can't keep her movie ""date"" with Kurt, she persuades him to take Shannon instead. Shannon and Kurt go out for drinks after the movie; they dance and have a great time, and when he drops her off, Shannon gives Kurt a kiss goodnight. Denise's piercing gets infected and she's afraid Ryan will gloat, but instead he's very concerned and takes her to the emergency room. When Carrie finds out about the kiss, she confronts Shannon who wishes Kurt would just forget it ever happened, but Shannon tells Carrie she should get clearer about what her feelings for Kurt really are. Kurt is angry with Carrie for getting involved in his business; Carrie tries to explain that her feelings for Kurt are very complex, but Kurt says it feels as if he's wasting his life pursuing someone who will never be his.

Kurt gets depressed after his dog dies, so his friends try to help by giving Bo a burial at sea, complete with tributes, even though they hated the ""furry Anti-christ.""

When Shannon gets a car loan and Denise is turned down on her loan application, she angrily accuses Shannon of sleeping with the loan officer. Father Boyle asks Carrie to approach Mrs. Gunders, an elderly parishioner, for a donation to repair the church's Our Lady of Grace statue, but Carrie is reluctant to ask someone she hasn't seen in years for a donation for a church she no longer attends. Jesse goes with Shannon to shop for a car, but later Mrs. Hammrick at the bank tells Shannon she's reviewed her loan application and has turned it down. When Carrie starts having experiences that she interprets as omens, she changes her mind and goes to see Mrs. Gunders, but when the obviously senile woman happily gives Carrie a huge sum of money, Carrie gives it back and tells Father Boyle she didn't have the heart to take the old woman's money.