Even though Susan leaves her fiancé, Kip, at the altar, her ties to his family aren't severed---her boss is Kip's brother.
To cover a story, Susan spends time with an assertiveness-training guru---who sends her chutzpah level soaring off the charts.
When Susan's dull love life becomes the topic of discussion at ""The Gate,"" she sets out to explore her options---including office romance.
When her utilities are cut off, Susan jumps through hoops to get them restored. But trouble ensues when she writes an exposé on the incident.
Vicki begs Susan to sub for a pneumonia-stricken player when her basketball team makes the playoffs---not realizing Susan might steal the show.
To get out of dinner with her parents, Susan tells her mom a little white lie---and gets caught in it.
At Susan's prodding, Jack hires a sweet senior citizen---who proceeds to wreak havoc around the office.
Susan falls for a nihilistic rocker, and the attraction is mutual - despite a severe conflict of life styles and values.
Susan tries to put together a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for her co-workers, but everything goes wrong, culminating in an oven that's colder than the frozen turkey. Her luck seems to change when she locates a repairman willing to work on Thanksgiving - but then he drops dead while still inside the oven.
Susan reluctantly does a favor for Jack by attending a charity function with Jack, his wife Margo, and her incredibly obnoxious brother. When Susan finally tells the creep off, Margo and her brother storm out, leaving Susan alone to deal with an inebriated Jack, who winds up spending the night on her sofa. But the next day Margo is not quite willing to believe that's all that happened.
When Jack's too strapped to award Christmas bonuses, the staff (led by Susan) goes on strike.
To prove that personality is more important than good looks, Susan is fitted with a large fake nose. But complications arise with the arrival of a hunky accountant.
Susan and Vicki appear on ""The Rosie O'Donnell Show"" after writing a parody of self-help dating books.
Susan accompanies Jack to his grandfather's funeral, hoping her tacky sympathy card to the family will go unnoticed.
Susan gets involved in a new romance with a guy who has two kids---one of whom takes an immediate dislike to her. Meanwhile, Jack takes a stand with Margo.
While filling in as baby sitter for Adam's kids, Susan unexpectedly meets his ex. Meanwhile, Jack sets up his bachelor pad.
Susan makes a decision about moving in with Adam; Jack rebounds into a new relationship; Todd receives threats after writing a scathing review of Menudo.
Susan tries to shake a leechy acquaintance, whose divorce was inspired by Susan's wedding-day breakup with Kip. Meanwhile, Todd grows apart from his pal Jerry.
Jack takes the gang on a weekend retreat at his cabin---and all of them wind up having interesting encounters in the wilderness.
Luis is reunited with his younger brother, who arrives from Cuba all grown up---and with news of his lifestyle that troubles Luis. Meanwhile, Susan learns of Kip's engagement.
Susan's plans for a picture-perfect anniversary party for her parents come screeching to a halt when she spies her dad having lunch with another woman, and kissing her in an extremely friendly fashion. Trying to duck her mother's questions about her father's unusual behavior, Susan is horrified when Liz inadvertently reveals that she is having an affair. Meanwhile, Jack's intimidating German squeeze, Kate, wants to hang out with Vicki - much to Vicki's dismay, since she's convinced Kate's appetite for danger will ultimately kill Jack, and perhaps some innocent bystanders as well.
A poker game turns into a high-stakes bottlecap-tossing competition, and Jack's old roommate, Cooper; hits the jackpot at Jack's expense: Jack loses the magazine to him. And that's not all - he may lose Susan to the new boss as well.
While Susan prepares to fly to Venice with Cooper, Jack tries to find the courage to utter three, make that five, little words about his feelings for her. He fails -- but Susan, having figured it out, has a miserable time with Cooper in Europe. After rejecting Cooper's extremely premature marriage proposal and returning home, she confronts Jack, accusing him of using her to compete with Cooper. Jack finally convinces her that his feelings are genuine -- but Susan tells him that she doesn't love him.
Deciding to go after the new investigative reporter position Jack has created, Susan reluctantly seeks professional advice from her old high school rival Maddy Piper, now an established and aggressive journalist - who quickly infiltrates Susan's professional and personal lives by double-crossing her, getting the story and the job, and displaying considerable interest in Jack. Meanwhile, Vicky is being driven crazy by the fact that the bagel delivery guy shows no sign of remembering the night they spent together; and Todd is disturbed by the fact that his web-surfing inevitably lands him in lesbian chat rooms.
Margo's drunk with power during her divorce proceedings with Jack, thanks to Susan's inadvertent slip about Jack's intoxicating past: she interprets the fact that Jack fell asleep on Susan's couch as evidence that he had an affair with her, thus violating their pre-nuptial agreement. Now Susan must testify in court about her true feelings for Jack. Meanwhile, Vicky becomes obsessed with the idea that someone is tampering with her lunch; and Todd begs Luis to teach him how to dance.
Family conflict rises to the top of the agenda at the funeral of Susan's grandfather, since Liz wants a traditional funeral while Nana wants a party to celebrate her spouse's wonderful life, and Susan is too busy organizing a tribute to her grandfather to deal with her own grief. Meanwhile Vicky, Todd and Luis go to the wrong funeral home and find themselves comforting the wrong widow; and Jack becomes the reluctant owner of a very, very ugly dog.
A background check is in order when Susan agrees to meet a gentleman who sent her a rare book as a token of his readership appreciation - and who turns out to be still in high school. Meanwhile, Jack plays pimp for his ugly pooch; and stress takes its toll on Todd when he is put in charge of the magazine's new web site.
Susan's conflict with Maddy begins to invade her dreams, so she turns to a therapy group for help; Pete's partner thinks Pete and Jack are an item.
Vicki goes to dinner with Nana---and they become fast friends; Todd's hippie parents show up with some unexpected news.
Susan's attraction to a hunky actor gets a bit complicated after she sees him bomb onstage; Todd struggles with claustrophobia.
Susan, overcome with that Thanksgiving spirit, decides to spend time with an elderly resident of a nearby retirement home.
Susan is appalled when she misses a deadline but discovers that Nana covered for her by submitting an article in her stead - which Jack and her fans think is the best thing she's ever written. Desperate to find an idea for an even better column, Susan ultimately does the obvious: writes a confession about the previous column. Meanwhile, there's a big change in Vicky's life when she finds a wallet and falls for its handsome owner, only to discover that he's a rabbi.
Susan twists Jack's arm to participate in the holiday choir she's organizing---then she has her regrets, in more ways than one.
Shaken from witnessing Jack and Maddy's kiss, Susan shares her disappointment with Vicki---who shares it with the whole office. Meanwhile, Vicki tries to get closer to Ben.
Vicki's torn about Ben's unusual proposal; the guys head to Reno to capitalize on Luis's streak of good luck; Susan consults a spiritual healer.
Susan fixes Nana up with a charming businessman---who's not exactly how he appears; Vicki arrives in Israel and tries to adapt to life on a kibbutz.
Believing Luis was discriminated against at a car-rental agency, Susan launches an undercover investigation. Meanwhile, Vicki gets hung up in customs while returning from Israel.
Todd and the gang attend a Shawn Colvin performance, but the singer recalls Todd from his scathing review a year earlier. Meanwhile, Susan's apartment gets robbed, so she decides to get a gun.
Hospitalized, Jack puts Susan in charge of the magazine---much to the chagrin of Maddy, whose father, an esteemed journalist, is visiting.
A stranger claims to have known Susan in a past life, so she undergoes hypnosis; Luis and Todd lose Jack's dog while using the pooch as a prop for meeting women.
On her birthday, Susan expects a surprise party---but the gang seems to have forgotten; Todd accidentally downloads a computer virus that wipes out The Gate's files.
Todd joins Susan at a poetry class to meet women---but his verses end up being better than hers; Vicki's new apartment may be haunted by a womanizing ghost.
Vicki looks for love at a hockey game, but it's Susan who attracts the attention of one of the athletes; Todd and Luis vie for the attentions of a new water-delivery ""man.""
Kenny flies in for a visit---and proceeds to smother Susan with attention; the gang plots to surprise Luis with a visit from his mom, all the way from Cuba.
Susan's sent to interview a congressman---who makes a pass at her; Vicki plans a glitzy wedding; the guys hope to cash in by selling yellow bell-bottoms.
When the congressman turns the tables on Susan, she finds herself in the middle of a scandal, searching for a way to clear her name.
Vicki's folks arrive for her wedding---a double ceremony shared with gay couple Pete and Hank; Todd's parents ready for the birth of twins.
Edie may not make it to Vicki's wedding ceremony.
Following on from the second-season cliffhanger, Jack and Susan head from the wedding reception to Susan's place with love on their minds forgetting that Susan is letting Todd stay at her place while his parents are in town. Next day Jack sends Todd out of town on an assignment and takes Susan to dinner, but she reacts badly to his eagerness to finish the meal and walks out. Fortunately, wise Nana gives her a stern talking-to, which leads to a reconciliation. Meanwhile, newlyweds Vicki and Ben also have trouble consummating their honeymoon in Hawaii, finally ignoring a hurricane evacuation order for more important business; Luis and Maddy engage in a game of cat and mouse focusing on flirtation and rejection, with Maddy wearing provocative outfits to tempt Luis but continually refusing him.
When Jack and Susan finally get the chance to consummate their new romance, it's not the earthshaking experience they were expecting. Finally they agree to relax their unrealistic expectations and immediately have great sex in Jack's office. Meanwhile, Luis accidentally thwarts Todd's attempts to fulfill his lifelong dream of catching a foul ball at a Major League game when Luis knocks the ball into the hands of an obnoxious 10-year-old. Luis tries to apologize by taking Todd to another game, at which the ball bounces off Todd's head into the hands of you guessed it. Meanwhile, Vicki returns from her honeymoon furious that Maddy never gave her a wedding present, and for revenge makes off with the expensive vase from Maddy's desk. Is this appropriate behavior for a rabbi's wife? Ben thinks not.
In a desperate attempt to keep her romance with Jack a secret from the office grapevine, Susan tells bloodhound Vicki that she's dating her dentist, Mort Gerken -- only to have Vicki decide that Mort is cheating on Susan. Meanwhile, Todd challenges Maddy to an IQ test, staking his prime-parking place in the office garage on the outcome; and Luis celebrates his fifth anniversary at the Gate.
Susan's relationship with the boss begins to take its toll on her friendships at work, and the tension boils over when the gang attends Career Day at Susan's old school and she is humiliated by her old teacher, Mr. Vance, who fills the others in on how Susan's figure used to be filled out. Meanwhile, after Todd tries in vain to coach Luis at darts for a bar competition, they discover that Pete is a whiz at the game not realizing that he folds under pressure. Vicki develops an odd romantic problem: she's become a ""man magnet"" since her marriage to Ben.
Jack misses Susan's Halloween party and then won't explain his whereabouts to protect Maddy, who called him from jail when she was arrested for drunk driving, leaving Susan furious until a reluctant Maddy confesses part of the truth. At Susan's party her landlady Mrs. Fong wears a remarkably convincing Dr. Joyce Brothers costume (who guest stars as herself); no one can figure out what Susan's costume is supposed to be; superstitious Luis is upset when he learns Todd is dating a real witch; and Nana encourages Pete's partner Hank to strike a new attitude which Pete does not appreciate.
Susan and Jack worry that they're incompatible when they, as a couple, fail miserably at games, and Susan finally throws out Vicki and Ben after a particularly humiliating fiasco at charades. When they decide to consult a therapist, he opines that they are again trying to measure their relationship against an impossible ideal, rather than having fun together in the moment. When they leave they discover the next patient is Todd, troubled by recurring erotic dreams about Jack which the doctor explains as projections of Todd's resentment at being ""screwed over"" by Jack's promises of a raise which never materializes. Meanwhile, Luis and Nana are mugged in an alley by a costumed clown who demands Nana's wedding ring, whereupon she beats him to a pulp and he barely escapes with his life and Luis' expensive camera equipment.
After a tremor shakes things up at the Gate, the staff rescue from the stalled elevator a shaken Lily, a nonagenarian survivor of the 1906 earthquake who shares her off-the-wall story (told via flashbacks featuring the cast) about Lily's mother, an aspiring singer (Susan); a lovesick busboy (Jack); a fortuneteller (Nana); two cough-drop moguls (Todd and Luis); and Enrico Caruso. This is the kind of lame fantasy episode that usually spells the demise of a sitcom, but it does have a fairly terrific dance sequence.
When Jack and Susan head off on their first weekend together, they're sidetracked by a visit to Jack's lowlife cousin Wallace and bamboozled into baby-sitting his kids, who are a handful. Meanwhile, Luis (and everybody else) hangs out at Susan's place, awaiting delivery of her new mattress.
When Grandmother Richmond invites Jack and Susan to her mansion for Thanksgiving, Jack initially refuses. He hasn't been friendly with his parents since he started dating Susan, whom they hate for abandoning her former fiancé, Jack's brother, on her wedding day. Jack and Susan agree to attend only after learning that the parents will not be there. However, Grandmother Richmond tricked Jack -- his parents do come -- in order to force the family to reconcile. As Jack and his parents' bickering escalate, Susan tries vainly to make peace. Jack finally defiantly blurts out that he plans to move in with Susan. At first, Susan is angry with Jack for announcing something that they have hardly discussed. But later, she agrees that it's a good idea. Meanwhile, Todd and Luis persuade Grandmother Richmond to let them come to the mansion as well--but they end up playing a perilous game with the family's crazy, gun-toting Uncle Bert. Also, Vicki reluctantly helps Ben and a volunteer staff to serve T
As Susan and Jack search for an apartment together, Susan wonders if Jack is really interested in living with her. His blood pressure rises whenever the subject is discussed, and he finds something to dislike in 22 consecutive places that Susan loves. Finally, when Susan makes an appointment with a handsome real-estate agent to look at the most fabulous apartment of all, Jack does not come at all. To her surprise and embarrassment, an upset Susan finds herself kissing the agent. Later, when Susan confronts Jack about his attitude and confesses what she did, Jack becomes furious. Meanwhile, Todd and Vicki vie for the favor of Mrs. Fong, the landlady of Susan's current apartment. Each wanting the choice apartment when Susan moves out, they competitively do errands and pamper Mrs. Fong. Also, Maddy reluctantly asks Luis to take her photograph as a present for her mother, but Luis must make extreme efforts to get Maddy to smile for the camera.
Susan is distraught because she kissed the realtor, and asks Luis to help her make things up with Jack. Jack spends the night with another woman, and when Luis arrives, agonizes whether to tell Susan: Luis advises against. Maddy goes to a party in a $3000 dress. Todd dates the female cantor from Ben's temple, who expresses herself in such a vocal manner that she loses her voice by the end of the evening, causing Vicki to become distraught, as a TV crew is coming to film the cantor. Meanwhile, Maddy suffers a dramatic allergic reaction to the food at the party that causes her to bloat enormously, and stretch the dress so much she can't take it back to the shop as she was planning. Jack eventually decides he has to tell Susan, and she reluctantly decides they should end their relationship.
After a brief vacation in Las Vegas, Nevada, Luis astounds everyone by announcing that he married a pretty Honduran woman, Rosie. Meanwhile, Susan is still recovering from recently ending her relationship with Jack. When Susan observes Rosie secretly meeting a man and tells Luis about it, he accuses Susan of being influenced by her own bad luck in love. But Rosie soon admits that the man is her boyfriend and that she only married Luis to gain U.S. citizenship. Susan commiserates with Luis. After Maddy cancels a coveted appointment with an extremely exclusive hairstylist, Lukaro, Vicki tries to convince him to work on her hair instead. Lukaro punishes Vicki for her stubbornness by styling her hair to look exactly like Maddy's. Also, Todd enrolls in a program to help fatherless youths. Unfortunately, his protégé is a childish 35-year-old man, Andy. Todd helps Andy mature by introducing him to a real youngster who needs guidance.
When Nana almost has a car accident because she can't hear an ambulance's siren, Susan insists that Nana get a hearing aid. This makes Nana feel old, and she becomes lethargic and uninterested in anything. Meanwhile, free from his responsibility to Susan, Jack overcompensates by indulging in more and more dangerous sports. Susan reinvigorates Nana by convincing her to go skydiving with Jack -- and Jack forces Susan to jump from the airplane as well. Meanwhile, Luis and Vicki become jealous of Maddy's super efficient new personal assistant, so they hire one. For the small amount of money Luis and Vicki can pay, they get a moron. However, Todd and Luis gloat when Maddy's assistant turns out to be a con artist who robs Maddy's apartment, steals her car and empties her bank accounts. Also, Todd makes an ill-advised attempt to establish a career as a mime-imitating passerby.
After Maddy is rejected by a television newsmagazine, Susan and the gang find her at a bar, extremely drunk. Since Maddy has been arrested for drunk driving before, Susan worries that Maddy is an alcoholic. She also finds vodka bottles in Maddy's office. Susan rallies her workmates, and they confront Maddy to say that they're concerned about her alcohol drinking. Maddy gets indignant and leaves, making Susan feel guilty. But later, Maddy secretly attends a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. Meanwhile, Todd can't wait for his ""date"" at the home of a sexy woman he just met. Unfortunately, he is so excited that he does exactly what the woman wants: he buys a huge amount of Tupperware storage containers from her. Also, Susan needs a new car--and Vicki wants to make sure it meets her own standards so she can borrow it.
Tonight's episode of ""Suddenly Susan"" includes not just one, but two reunions of huge proportions. The first reunion is for Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins, who starred in ""Blue Lagoon"" together. The show made Shields a star, but the two actors haven't seen each other in 19 years. The second reunion is for the '60s band The Turtles, whose hits included ""So Happy Together."" Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman come together again to sing that song. Jack, Susan, Maddy and Luis attend a journalism conference. Suspicious that Jack wants to renew his romance with her--which she doesn't want--Susan is surprised when he reunites with a sexy former girlfriend, Meegan Garrity. Susan tries to make Jack jealous by flirting with a bitter, unresponsive columnist but later learns that Jack was only trying to make her jealous. Meanwhile, recovering alcoholic Maddy, who is surrounded by cocktail-drinking conventioneers, cannot drink and is also forbidden from smoking on the premises. After exhausting h
Luis and Maddy continue their lustful affair at every opportunity. After Todd witnesses the couple having sex in the supply closet, Luis wonders if he is sacrificing his personal life for a meaningless relationship. Maddy doesn't pretend that Luis is anything but a replacement for her alcohol addiction, but Luis cannot refuse the great sex either. Meanwhile, Vicki's meddlesome mother Edie and long-suffering father Leon visit. Edie constantly complains about not being a grandmother yet. When Ben returns from a trip, Vicki makes passionate love to him--and he dies of a heart attack. Distraught with guilt that she killed her husband, Vicki moves in with her parents to a trashy trailer in Arizona. She seems doomed for a life of bitterness and failure until Susan finds out that Ben had a serious heart condition that he kept secret; he was due to die anyway. After Susan informs Vicki, they return to San Francisco. Ed McMahon guest stars as himself in search of a multi-millionaire sweepstakes
Now living alone in the same building as Luis, manipulative Vicki constantly reminds him of how lonely and ""helpless"" she is since her husband died. Luis guiltily does apartment repairs and cleaning for Vicki as well as cooking her meals. However, the chores interfere with his covert sexual relationship with jealous Maddy. Also, a confused Jack misinterprets an overheard conversation and believes that Luis is dating Vicki. After climbing down the apartment fire escape and witnessing Luis having sex with Maddy, Vicki gleefully tells everyone at work. While defending herself, Maddy inadvertently admits that she truly likes Luis, to his pleasure. Meanwhile, upon learning that Susan is dating a record producer, Zach Hayword, Todd forces her to play Zach a recording of Todd's singing. Susan doesn't want to jeopardize her relationship with Zach by taking advantage of him, but she tries to trick him into listening to the tape. When Susan fails, Todd accuses her of not being a good enough frie
Susan doesn't recognize her former classmate, Cindy, who renews her friendship with Susan. Cindy recounts how Maddy terrorized both Susan and her in school. She confesses that she was depressed and went to a therapist for years due to one particularly traumatic prank, which she assumes Maddy instigated. To her horror, Susan remembers that she played the prank on Cindy accidentally, intending it for Maddy. Susan never knew how devastating it was on Cindy. Nana tells Susan not to admit her guilt because Susan's friendship is the only good thing Cindy has to remember from school. When Cindy arrives at The Gate to retaliate on Maddy, Susan tells Cindy it wasn't Maddy's fault. However, Susan still helps Cindy extract her revenge on Maddy. Meanwhile, when Vicki blithely gives away her deceased husband's clothes and possessions, Luis worries that she is suppressing her sadness. Todd finds that wearing Ben's outfit makes him feel spiritual, but Vicki keeps mistaking Todd for Ben. In a disorien
Hollywood Hulk Hogan is a shoo-in for city supervisor after the sudden death of the incumbent. That is, until Susan weighs the option of squaring off with the big fella. She has already attacked him in The Gate, and when he calls her out, she rises to the challenge and the grudge match is on.
After the disastrous debate with Hollywood Hogan, Susan decides to fight back with a sleazy TV campaign. Meanwhile, Hogan infiltrates Susan's camp---by hitting on Vicki.
Luis has his first photography exhibition at an art gallery managed by Susan's friend. At the opening party, Susan notices that the buyers are intimidated, so she purchases one of Luis' paintings to spur business--not realizing that the artwork is much too expensive. Fortunately, a collector later offers her almost twice as much money for the photograph. Feeling guilty but needing the cash, Susan agrees. However, Luis is so proud and grateful that Susan bought his work that she cannot tell him that she sold it. She breaks into his apartment to steal the negative and make a copy so Luis won't notice the photograph isn't hanging on her wall. After Luis finds out what really happened, he is glad his art is worth so much money, and he convinces Susan to just be honest with him. Meanwhile, Todd is perturbed when Jack dates Todd's sexy visiting sister Oxnard. Behaving like an overprotective father, Todd tells Jack not to have sex with Oxnard. However, Todd needn't worry--Jack is strangely re
Susan finally gets her new boyfriend, Zack, to commit some of his busy schedule to her. Feeling sorry for lonely Vicki, Susan invites her to join Zack and her at a club appearance by Zack's friend, rock star Warren Zevon. However, Zack obviously has much more in common with Vicki that with Susan, frustrating her. The next night, while Zack and Vicki flirt, Warren attempts to get a date with an unreceptive Susan. When Susan and Vicki argue with each other and confront Zack, he admits that he likes Vicki and Susan equally--and he wants to have sex with both of them at once. Disgusted, Susan and Vicki abandon Zack. Meanwhile, Jack makes an ill-advised bet with rival newspaper editor Sam: the loser in a bowling match between Jack's employees and Sam's must get a Mohawk haircut. To challenge Sam's expert players, Jack recruits Maddy, an excellent bowler, along with mediocre Todd and awful Luis, who can't even keep the ball in his own lane. However, Maddy distracts Sam's guys with sexy poses
The season finale is a memorial to former series star David Strickland, who committed suicide in mid-season. After buying a used cellular telephone, Vicki becomes exasperated from receiving frequent calls to its previous owner, a psychic named Charlene--until, by pretending to be Charlene, Vicki manipulates a date with wealthy, lovelorn Eric. Eric unfortunately discovers the ruse when he calls Charlene and hears Vicki's telephone ringing. Meanwhile, Luis cannot figure out why Maddy is so irritated at having to take care of him while he suffers from a head cold. Maddy finally admits that she has bad memories of caring for her alcoholic mother. Since Jack gave Todd the day off from work, no one thinks much about Todd until Susan notices that he left her the wrong tickets to a concert that night. Unable to contact Todd at home, Susan goes on a quest to find him and learns details about his personality that she never appreciated before: an elderly woman recounts how Todd buys her health dr
Susan and co-workers Vicki and Luis find their work life disrupted by their new boss, Ian Maxtone-Graham, who buys The Gate and transforms it into an upscale men's magazine. He brings with him his fiercely loyal executive assistant, Miranda Charles, and hires star sportswriter Nate Neborsky, who immediately annoys Susan with his belittling attitude. However, she is amply distracted by the arrival of charming and highly prized celebrity photographer Oliver Brown. Ian fawns over Oliver to convince him to work free-lance for the magazine. Investigative reporter Maddy quits after Ian insults her talent, and ends her relationship with Luis because his love has made her complacent. When Ian offers Maddy the job of managing editor--which she later rejects--Susan thinks that quitting is the way to get his respect. To protest being assigned to write a salacious article, she quits. Although Nana enjoys Susan's full attention for two weeks, she encourages Susan to find another job rather than wai
Susan and Nate vie to be the one responsible for helping Luis to overcome his melancholy following Maddy's departure.
To impress Ian, Susan claims to speak Russian. However, when he asks her to be an interpreter for a dinner-party guest, she's at a loss for words.
When Oliver suggests taking pictures of the staff to put in their columns, Susan objects because she never looks good in photographs. But Oliver puts Susan at ease and gets a beautiful portrait of her. Ian likes it so much that he makes a huge billboard out of it. Susan is initially mortified, but she soon enjoys the adulation. However, Vicki rejects Susan's new self-centered attitude. While trying to force Vicki to look at the billboard, Susan crashes her car, causing Vicki to need bandages on her face. Meanwhile, Nate tries to secure an interview with baseball great Reggie Jackson. After seeing Susan on the billboard, Reggie demands a date with her in return for the interview. Nate tricks Susan into meeting him and Reggie for dinner. Susan learns the truth and is outraged. When Vicki interrupts the meal, she and Susan bicker so much that Nate does not get any good quotes from Reggie for the magazine article. Later, Susan writes a column about how men cannot view women as both sexy an
Susan isn't sure if she should put out a welcome mat when Vicki wants to move into the newly renovated apartment upstairs.
At Halloween time, rumors abound when Oliver invites Susan to pick pumpkins with him up the coast. Susan is excited about the romantic outing, but she soon becomes uncomfortable with the realization that Oliver has had dozens of short-term lovers all over the world. Susan resolves to thwart any relationship that might develop with Oliver. After he suggests that they carve pumpkins together at Susan's apartment, Susan invites Vicki to make the evening less like a date. But Susan cannot resist Oliver's sex appeal. She sends him away--and he stays all night with Vicki. Susan is furious until she learns that he only slept on Vicki's couch after becoming drunk. Later, Susan admits to Oliver that, despite her attraction to him, she does not want to be another of his flings.
An assignment to do an article on a cheerleaders' competition doesn't make Susan jump for joy, but her attitude changes when she's asked to audition.
After realizing that she's not achieved any of the goals that she set in the sixth grade, Susan tries to fulfill one: to kiss former teen idol Leif Garrett.
Oliver freaks out when Susan calls him her ""boyfriend""; Ian thwarts Vicki's plot to party on company time.
When Ian rejects Susan's column the night before the magazine is to be printed, Susan is unable to think of another topic. To help inspire herself, she writes a long parody of Nate's negative attitude towards gay people and circulates it among the office staff. Unfortunately, Ian gets a copy of the offensive article and, bored by the mundane replacement that Susan stayed up all night to write, prints the parody as Susan's opinion. Soon, gay people picket the magazine's offices, and powerful gay-owned businesses refuse to advertise in The Gate. Susan is vilified. When a gay activist smashes a pie in Susan's face, she develops an allergic rash and must withdraw from a trip with Oliver, who plans to travel to a Caribbean island to photograph models. Since Susan also cancelled a date with Oliver due to the article deadline, he thinks that she is jittery about her relationship with him. Angry, he takes Luis with him instead. Later, Ian orders Susan to reconcile with the gay community before
A frumpy coworker guilt trips Susan into attending her birthday party---on the night Susan has romantic plans with Oliver.
Susan's ex thwarts her plan to join the ""mile high club"" with Oliver; Vicki cons the gang into painting her apartment.
Inspired by her romantic bliss with Oliver, Susan hosts a dinner party to play matchmaker for her single co-workers.
Susan is depressed because Oliver always pays for their dates, and she is in debt. When she offers to take him on a ski vacation that she cannot really afford, she desperately tries Internet stock trading, hoping to earn money quickly. After overhearing Ian talking about a supposedly promising stock, she buys some shares that soon gain value, prompting her to buy more. Unfortunately, the stock then plummets in value, and Ian informs Susan that he was talking to his insane cousin whom he doesn't take seriously. Susan loses a lot of money. Now desperate, she takes a second job as a dance partner for lonely, middle-aged men. When Ian finds out, he feels guilty. He sneaks into the dance studio and secretly bribes men to give Susan big tips. Susan is grateful, but she rebuffs the gesture. Finally, Oliver arrives and dances with her. She admits that she doesn't want to be dependent on him and that she cannot pay for the Tahoe trip. Oliver is happy--he confesses that he can't ski anyway; he j
While Susan believes that she and Oliver love each other, she obsesses over his apparent inability or lack of desire to say the three magic words -- ""I love you"" -- despite his grand attempts to express his feelings in other ways. Elsewhere, Ian is deflated when the first bottles of wine from his vineyard yield nothing more than a thick intoxicating syrup. And no one knows this more than Miranda and Luis, whose unlikely flirtation is further complicated when they sample Ian's vintage.
Susan worries that she might be pregnant, but her fear eases when boyfriend Oliver suggests that they move in together -- and then unloads a bombshell that has Susan still reeling the day after. At the same time, Ian exults when he learns that his money-grubbing ex-wife plans to re-marry and spare him of his financial commitment.
Ian and Nate have romantic designs on Susan, who is suddenly single after dumping Oliver. Meanwhile, Susan and the girls get rowdy at a male strip club.
As Susan and Oliver go through withdrawals in the wake of their aborted romance, he offers her a parting gift -- a talking cockatoo -- who soon flies the coop and gets haplessly stuck in The Gate's venting system, where he creates a squawking uproar. Meanwhile, a vengeful Vicki and Luis conspire to embarrass Ian at his lavish party by inviting his former British band mates from his 1960s stint as a lead singer of a one hit wonder pop group.
Oliver and Susan are still not dating. After an embarrassing incident at her college alma mater, Susan becomes enamored with her handsome former English professor, Evan, who lovingly critiques her writing. Susan's burgeoning relationship with Evan makes Oliver jealous. Although he has his own sexy date, Oliver becomes obsessed with Susan both at work and elsewhere.
To sow the seeds of reconciliation with Susan, Oliver has his vasectomy reversed. Meanwhile, Ian seeks Miranda's advice about dating black women.
In Part 1 of the series finale, Susan feels torn between Oliver's marriage proposal and a glamorous New York job offer.
In the conclusion of the series finale, Susan may leave a man at the altar---again---when Oliver stands in the way of her career.