After his wife is killed in a car accident, Dr. Andrew Brown moves his 15-year-old son, Ephram, and 9-year-old daughter, Delia, to the idyllic environs of Everwood to make a new start. In the opener, the relocation sparks harsh words and hurt feelings between the emotionally distant father and his neglected son, despite Andrew's attempts to reconnect with the teen. The good doctor also runs afoul of the town's only other physician when he decides to open his own practice---right across the street from his rival's office.

Andy and Ephram's fragile relationship is further strained when it appears that Andy is once again putting work before family. Meanwhile, as the town of Everwood celebrates its annual Fall Thaw Festival, Ephram's interest in Amy continues to blossom. Although Bright tells Ephram that Amy is using him just go get his father to get Colin out of coma. Delia gets into trouble at school for questioning her teacher's antiquated rules.

Andy's neighbor and friend Nina (Stephanie Niznik) is ostracized by the townspeople when they discover she is a surrogate mother for a woman in her mid-50s. Andy's clumsy attempt to come to Nina's defense backfires, but she turns to him and Ephram for help when the baby makes an unexpectedly early arrival. Meanwhile, Ephram is dealt an emotional blow when Amy disinvites him to a party in order to gain the approval of her friends; and Delia attempts to befriend the school bully, Magilla (guest star Bret Loehr).

Dr. Brown and Dr. Abbott must put their striking differences aside to educate the town of Everwood after several of their teenaged patients are diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. To make sensitive matters worse, Dr. Abbott has reason to suspect that his son, Bright, may have been intimate with one of the patients. Meanwhile, Ephram pushes his romantic feelings aside to comfort Amy who is distraught over not being able to go to the Fall Dance with her boyfriend who remains in a coma.

After a lost deer makes the Brown's backyard its new home, Andy insists on accompanying Ephram who decides to help the animal find its way home to the wilderness, where the journey includes a long hike through the mountains. Meanwhile, Ephram finally admits to Amy that he never asked his father to consider operating on her boyfriend, Colin, who is in a coma. Lastly, Delia questions the existence of God after a classmate tells hear that he doesn't believe in higher beings.

Andy meets with Colin's parents to discuss a potential course of treatment for the comatose teen. Amy is heartbroken and Ephram is furious when Andy decides against performing a risky operation on Amy's comatose boyfriend. Meanwhile, Delia is forbidden from playing with her only friend, Magilla (guest star Bret Loehr), after his parents discover them playing dress up. Dr. Trott, a traveling psychologist (guest star Jane Krakowski) sets up shop and stirs up the emotions of several townspeople who seek her guidance, much to the chagrin of a distrustful Dr. Abbott.

The former Big Apple neurosurgeon, Dr.Andrew Brown, puts on his scrubs for the first time since he relocated his family to Colorado to operate on Amy's comatose boyfriend, Colin (Mike Erwin), with the help of his friend and surgery partner from New York, Dr. Brian Holderman (guest star Lamont Thompson). Adding to his performance anxiety is the identity of the patient---Colin Hart, the boy who was dating Amy before she stole Ephram's heart. It also doesn't help that the tricky procedure he plans to perform has never been attempted before. Amy leans on Ephram for support as she awaits the outcome. Meanwhile, an emotional Bright breaks down and admits what actually happened the day of the car accident as Colin's former life in Everwood is also revisited as flashbacks reveal some startling secrets about the teen's last days before the accident that put him in the hospital.

As his wedding anniversary draws near, Andy loses all hope and questions whether he will ever feel his life is worth living again. Meanwhile, Ephram and Amy share their first kiss while on a field trip; and Dr. Abbott has a panic attack when his wife Rose(Merrilyn Gann) proposes they take salsa dancing lessons. Andy also helps a couple whose marriage problems are caused by hives.

The unannounced arrival of Jacob and Nonny Hoffman (Mark Rydell, Doris Belack) from New York is greeted with glee by Delia and Ephram. But Andy feels pressed to his limits as he tries to placate his overbearing guests, particularly his pushy father-in-law, who openly criticizes the physician's parenting skills. On top of that, Jacob obviously enjoys a special bond with Ephram that Andy can't duplicate. Meanwhile, Nonny makes her own impression in Everwood when she butts heads with Edna over Delia's affections. Lastly, Ephram sneaks out of the house to see Amy who is still emotionally recovering from the aftermath of Colin's (Mike Erwin) surgery.

Delia and her grandmother (guest star Doris Belack) throw a festive birthday party for a grumpy Edna who hates this particular day of the year, but everyone winds up snowed in for the night when a big storm hits town. In the midst of it all, Bright collapses from a burst appendix and Drs. Brown and Abbott have to improvise an operating room before the infection spreads; while Andy and Ephram let months of tension and hurt feelings explode in front of everyone with a threat of Ephram moving back to New York with his grandparents.

In hopes of raising his little sister Delia's spirits, Ephram does his best to recreate his mother's Thanksgiving traditions as the Brown family spends their first holiday without her. Meanwhile, in order to save a patient's life, Dr. Brown must find the man's missing brother, who is believed to live in the woods; and curmudgeonly Dr. Abbott attempts to befriend the entire town when he has a health scare and questions whether anyone would attend his funeral.