Convicted felon Max Truemont (played by Josh Holloway) is hired to execute a kidnapping of the son of one of the richest women in the state. Along with his fiancée Roxanne (played by Sarah Wayne Callies), Max joins two other strangers who were also hired by the same absent mastermind behind the kidnapping.

Dr. Syd has a good practice in the big city but a bad day when her terminal patient finally passes away. Her surgeon boyfriend, who has been sarcastically nick named “Mr. Personality” and “Settle For” by Syd’s best friend (Nurse Brenda), takes this opportunity to offer support and destroys it by telling Syd dying is part of life and she’d be a better doctor if she stayed more remote from her patients and, oh, by the way, “can I come over tonight”? He is surprised when she says “not tonight.” Brenda tells Syd to get away for a few days and suggests Syd change her mind and go back to her small hometown for her school reunion.

The Baker brood moves to Chicago after patriarch Tom gets a job coaching football at Northwestern University, forcing his writer wife, Mary, and the couple’s 12 children to make a major adjustment. The transition works well until work demands pull the parents away from home, leaving the kids bored — and increasingly mischievous.