SURPRISE PARTY -- While making preparations for baby Hannah's first birthday party, Joanie (Paula Cale) is pleased to learn that Ritchie , the baby's father, will be in town to join the celebration. What she hadn't planned on was that Ritchie would be bringing a special guest of his own to the party -- his new, very young bride, Kris. Meanwhile, Syd invites Kyle to move into the guest house while he undergoes his chemotherapy treatment.
In this season's opener, an out-of-control Mercedes smashes through a wall of the clinic; Molly, a mentally disturbed and dellusional young woman, holds Syd (Melina Kanakaredes) at gunpoint because she thinks she kidnapped her baby; and Helen contemplates a new career, away from the clinic. Meanwhile, Joanie hires Doug Dog Boy Boyce to help her out at the Barkery.