Seth is thrown when Alex's ex arrives in town for a visit, and is even more thrown when he finds out who it is. Julie has a plan to try and save The Newport Group, which to everyone's surprise, might actually work. Lindsay sticks out when she joins Summer and Marissa for a girls night out; meanwhile, Ryan, Seth and Zach contemplate playing it safe on a guys' night in. But nothing ever goes as planned.

Seth works at a comic book store in Newport. Kirsten drops by the store to ask Seth if he has something to send Ryan in a "care package" she is preparing. Later, Seth tries to talk Ryan into coming to dinner at the Cohens' but the latter isn't easily persuaded, saying he works nights, etc. At her dorm, Summer and a friend named Che try to rally students for a protest. Summer gets a phone call from Taylor who seems to be in Paris.