At Arthur's wedding reception, Doug and Carrie's marital tension continues, and they ponder whether they have a future together.

At a wedding, Doug takes a naughty picture with a disposable camera supplied by the bride and groom. After letting Danny take the blame, and after confessing to a priest, he has the dreaded task of coming forward with the truth.

After a great Thanksgiving, Doug and Carrie tries to recall their first Thanksgiving together who said, "I Love You" first. They consult Arthur who quickly recalls some other Thanksgivings and finally recalls 1993 when he was having a fight with his new wife Lily. When Doug arrives to the house to meet Carrie's family, Carrie, ashamed of her family, runs off and leaves Doug to have a dinner with each parent one at a time. Even though he physically engraves and rebuffs the bowling balls, Arthur criticizes Doug's job at IPS to be replaced by a robot in the near future. When Carrie comes back, they both express their love for each other as Arthur proclaims that her relationship with Doug will not last.

Doug lies to Carrie about having to work late so he can play mud football and get out of going to her seminar. Now sick from his night of football in the rain, Doug starts watching TV and begins to drift off to sleep... Doug, finally full of guilt, goes to tell Carrie the truth of what happened and she doesn't react exactly the way he thought she would.

Doug's Uncle Stu asks him to get his son, Danny, a job at IPS. Doug doesn't want him working there but he doesn't want to look bad to the family so he instructs his boss to interview him but not hire him. Eventually, Doug feels guilty and goes back to O'Boyle to ask him to reconsider Danny for the job. Meanwhile, Arthur fills out audience comment cards on a new movie.

Feeling hurt over not being invited to a block party, Doug adopts a dog just to prove to the neighbors that he's an okay guy-a decision he soon regrets. Meanwhile, Arthur falls prey to the gambling bug when trying to help Danny beat it.

Carrie is convinced that Deacon and Kelly were only able to afford a vacation home by being cheap. Meanwhile, Arthur tries to help Spence get a new job.

Doug lies and tells Carrie that he's made big plans for her 30th birthday--and he then scrambles to make the arrangements at the last minute.

As Doug and Carrie's plane makes an unexpectedly rough landing, Doug takes the only available oxygen mask for himself and doesn't think twice about Carrie. She is hurt that he would think of himself first, while he doesn't think that he's done anything wrong. It's not until Carrie says that she will forever see him differently that Doug feels guilty for what he did and tries to prove to her that if her life were in danger, he would save her. Meanwhile, Spence needs to find a new place to live and ends up moving in with Danny Heffernan after things with the hot Brazilian exchange student don't go as he'd hoped.

Carrie thinks Doug needs professional help to control his excessive eating habits, so she persuades him to see a therapist. When Carrie sees Doug's great inprovements, she asks the therapist to work on Doug's other issues. Meanwhile, Arthur believes he's addicted to nasal spray and fights to stay off of it.

Doug becomes obsessed with his own Super Bowl party after learning that many of his friends will be attending a party thrown by a new co-worker. While Doug is focused on winning back as many guests as possible, Carrie complains that Doug doesn't think about her enough during the day. Problems arise when Doug tries to throw the ultimate Super Bowl party and prove to Carrie he's an attentive husband.

Carrie's ecstatic when an affordable apartment opens in Manhattan, but Doug's reluctant to leave Queens. Arthur meets singer Ava St. Clair.

As Arthur prepares to undergo heart surgery, he asks Carrie and Doug to bring him his sleep mask. While digging through Arthur's closet for the mask, Carrie finds a box which contains an extensive scrapbook of her old finger-paintings, report cards, and school photos that Arthur has been keeping. As she is flipping through it, she finds an acceptance letter from Florida State University – which she has never seen before. Meanwhile, Doug makes friends with a quirky stranger in the hospital and soon regrets it.

Doug stops by Carrie's office, and is introduced to her work-husband Curt. Although Carrie assures him that he has nothing to worry about since Curt is gay, Doug is threatened by just how close the two are. They go to lunch together, share work secrets, and are very tight. He raises his concerns to Carrie, but she tells him that he has the same relationship with Deacon. Doug is not happy with her comparison, and the two than try to make each other jealous by spending more time with their "work spouses" than with each other. Meanwhile, Arthur is jealous of a new dog that Holly has added to her route.

Carrie soon grows tired of Doug's forcing his new vegetarian lifestyle down her throat. Meanwhile, Carrie's boss wants to start discussing novels with her and Spence takes on some humiliating new jobs.

Carrie and Doug begin preparing for tax time and realize that their charitable giving leaves a little to be desired. In an effort to get out of feeling guilty and to make amends for what they see as "selfish living" in the past year, they decide to make a donation to the local kid's library at Deacon's son's school. However, Carrie's charitable spirit starts to be about recognition rather than the actual joy of giving. When the administration mistakenly thinks the Heffernans gave $500 rather than $50, Doug and Carrie scramble to keep the recognition without having to pay the price.

In the first half-hour, Doug believes that his new dentist --who once had a crush on Carrie--is hurting him on purpose. The second story, which marks the show's 100th episode, focuses on Carrie's dad, Arthur. When Arthur's volatile behavior gets out of control, Doug and Carrie insist he visit a psychiatrist. During the session, Arthur recalls via flashback a disturbing encounter with his own disgruntled dad that may be at the root of his abrasive personality.

Doug and Carrie watch Deacon and Kelly's kids while they are out of town. When one of the kids sees them making love, they must keep him from telling his parents...

Doug is surprised to find his married best friend, Deacon, out with another woman. Meanwhile, Carrie questions her relationship with Doug because of their different views on cheating.

Doug, feeling underappreciated at work, hears that drivers at FedEx are making twice what he makes. When he runs into a former co-worker now working for the big overnight service, he takes his friend's casual banter to mean that FedEx wants to hire him. Doug uses this information to play hardball with his supervisor and instead of getting a raise and a better delivery route, he gets fired. Meanwhile, after Lou Ferrigno asks Carrie to smear his body with tanning cream while his wife is on vacation, she gets addicted to the stuff and overuses the it on her face, dramatically darkening her skin.

Doug rear-ends Kelly and Deacon's car and he and Carrie insist that they personally pay for the damage so they can leave the insurance company out of it. But, when the Palmers give them an estimate of almost twelve hundred dollars, Doug and Carrie are taken aback, and what started off as a nice evening out with friends turns into two couples complaining about each other's cheapness. Meanwhile, Spence is babysitting Kirby and goes from being the "Spencinator" to the "Scaredinator" once Kirby finds out that he is allergic to peanuts.

Carrie's boss, Pruzan, has his first big case as partner, and Carrie is overwhelmed with work. To complicate matters more, the case involves testimony from a delivery driver and Pruzan wants Doug to be the expert witness because he drives for IPS. Although Doug is really excited about working with Carrie, she isn't as thrilled with the idea. After Doug shows up to get prepped for the trial, Carrie is panicked that he is going to embarrass himself and her, so she tries to get Deacon to testify instead, which of course, hurts Doug's feelings. Pruzan is insistent that Doug be the witness, and after a lot of begging from Carrie, he agrees to come back and help her out. Over in Danny and Spence's apartment, a feud has ensued over Holly, the dog walker. Their strategy on getting the girl by spending the entire day with her backfires when she ends up giving her number to the gas man that comes over to fix their heater.

As his high school reunion approaches, Doug worries that Carrie's new hairdo will make her look like a librarian, rather than his usually sexy wife. Hoping to show Carrie off in front of his former classmates, Doug tries to find a way to tell her that he hates her bun without hurting her feelings. Meanwhile, Spence informs the guys that he's nervous about seeing one of his old teachers because he never called her back after the two shared an intimate encounter.

Doug and Carrie run into Father McAndrew at the fish market. They exchange pleasantries and as they are parting ways, Father McAndrew tells them that he would love to see them in church sometime. Unsure of how to decline politely, the Heffernans instead agree to attend Sunday's services. During the service, Carrie reflects on the one thing that she really needs help with – a raise. Miraculously, the following day, Carrie receives word that her prayers have been answered and that she is getting her raise. Much to Doug's dismay, Carrie's prayers turn to more frivolous things – like shoe sales. He does his best to convince her that God would never approve of her prayers, but soon enough Carrie catches Doug praying for the Jets to win their latest football game. Meanwhile, Arthur hosts an open house in order to sell the house. Unfortunately, he hasn't mentioned a word of his efforts to Doug or Carrie, the homeowners.

Deacon asks Doug to help him coach his 8-year-old son's football team and the boy challenges Doug to try out for a semi-pro team, but Carrie isn't thrilled with the idea until she sees an interesting photo of him.