Janet has given birth to a baby boy---whom she fears prefers Tommy to her. But Tommy has a bigger problem: He's suspected of starting the beach-house fire. Meanwhile, Jerry's son asks him to be his best man at his commitment ceremony; Richie wants Franco to marry Natalie; Lou and Theresa get distracted in church; and the volunteer firefighter (Jennifer Esposito) who rescued Tommy from the beach house takes an interest in him---and isn't shy about letting him know.

Sheila lies to Tommy when he confronts her about the beach-house fire. But they present a united front to the insurance investigators, as embarrassing as it is for Tommy. Meanwhile, Lou is determined to get a basketball ringer (Larenz Tate) to be 62 Truck's new probie; Uncle Teddy is released from jail; Colleen runs away with her rock-musician boyfriend; and Mike's mother has a deathbed request.

Tommy encounters Colleen's boyfriend and sparks fly; Jerry learns he flunked his physical and is given a desk job; Uncle Teddy, hiding from Ellie, breaks into prison guard Lenny's apartment; Sheila goes out with the man who pulled her from the beach house, while Tommy keeps avoiding Nona (Jennifer Esposito), the volunteer firefighter who rescued him from the blaze; and Mike seeks Tommy's advice on how to deal with his dying mother's request that he kill her.

Emotions flare up when the crew learns about Jerry's death; Tommy's manhood is called into question after some embarrassing romantic encounters; and Lou resorts to blackmail to recruit Bart (Larenz Tate) as the new probie for the house basketball team.

The firehouse gets a new chief (Jerry Adler), who is rumored to possess a very special gift; Tommy suffers embarrassment during a hockey game against the NYPD; Franco works up the nerve to propose to Natalie while Sean tries to talk Maggie out of a divorce; and Sheila makes a surprising proposition as Janet's depression deepens.

Tommy and Janet deal with revelations about the baby; Sean learns a secret that Mike has been trying to hide; the new probie holds the guys to thier agreement about doing no 'probie' work; and lou's cousin Mike visits.

A devastating fire has a profound effect on the crew; Tommy wrestles with his feelings about the baby; Alicia (Susan Sarandon) returns with a proposition for Franco; Troy breaks up with Sheila while Lou makes a tough decision about Theresa; and Sean apologizes to Mike about the fire he set that burned down Mike's mother's house.