Carrie knows that his life as a fisherman is often frustrating to Mike, and, after much persuasion, convinces him to take his boat out on a whale-watching cruise. All Carrie's friends go along with Carrie, Mike and Steve on the trial run. Shannon takes Bethany, Scott's daughter, who she's still trying to make friends with. Denise goes with Ryan, who's just lost his job at Mulligan Marine while she's taking extra hours on her job because they need the money. Jesse is there, upset because he things everyone's forgotten his birthday, and Kurt, who's writing an article in hopes of getting a job at the local newspaper, is also aboard. The cruise comes to an abrupt halt when they run into a dead whale. Back on shore, Mike gets so much ribbing from the locals that he gets into a fight and ends up with a court date. Denise stops speaking to Ryan when she learns he's taken baby Conner along to a wrestling match as part of Jesse's birthday celebration. And Carrie can't believe her eyes when she

When Stacy, Shannon's 17-year-old sister, breaks up with her boyfriend and she moves out of her parents' house because they refuse to kick out her boyfriend who also lives there, Carrie tells Shannon that it's time for her to confront her hippie parents. Ryan and Denise get in a panic when they learn that Conner, who has been a part of a college research project on babies, has tested extremely high for aggression. And Kurt, who's working undercover on an article on the health hazards at the Pelican, enlists Jesse to help him sneak some photos for the article, but Kurt's investigative journalism can't compete with $1.99 Waffle-Mania.