The film portrays life of New York City's Lower East Side inhabitants. Introvert therapist Betty is befriended with Chinese immigrant Lu Lu, leftist radical Che is also Lu Lu's friend. Italian immigrant and wife of supervisor of building where they all live, Marta, is having an affair with her neighbour Frankie who likes scams. One of his scams goes terribly wrong.

Jennifer's life changes when Warner, now Vice President of the United States, decides to see her and her son, Joshua. At the same time, Jennifer is unaware that James Moretti, an underworld figure, holds her responsible for the death of his brother. Moretti determines to blackmail her and Warner into halting a Justice Department indictment against another underworld figure. Further complicating Jennifer's life is her mother, who abandoning her as a child, reappears with a new identity, Marchesa Allabrandi.

In order to save her daytime soap drama from cancellation, head writer Maggie must convince Darin, fan favorite actor and her real-life ex-boyfriend, to return to the show.