A group of people from different backgrounds have one thing in common: when they hear the world "gumball" whispered by one of the others, they know that it's time for the Gumball Rally: a no-holds barred, secret, winner-take-all rally across the USA.

The closing of a small shipbuilder in New England places stresses on the people involved.

Elizabeth, a vet assistant, falls for Max, who brings in an abused dog. His jealousy burdens their relationship as does talk of marriage. Lena wants Max and she schemes.

Smitty, a young man sentenced to six months in prison for marijuana possession eventually becomes the sexual subordinate of another inmate, Rocky.

Antonio is a seductive, charismatic Sicilian living illegally in New York. He wanders from job to job, lives as a squatter and enjoys a carefree romantic tryst with a wealthy art dealer. When he falls in love with Ellen, a strong-willed radio talk-show host who is set to move to Paris within a few days, he decides he must find a way to keep her from leaving.

After his young son dies from the negligence at a hospital, Harry Fertig takes matters into his own hands and kills the doctor, nurse and clerk responsible. Slick lawyer Roy Bleakie, looking only to win a case and not caring of the matters involved, is asked by Fertig's boss to defend him. Shocked to hear that his client wants to plead guilty, the case causes Bleakie to question his own morals by defending an honorable man.

Two Vietnam vets, Tom and Nordi, live sad lives in a crumbling New Jersey city. Sharing a one room apartment, they talk about their inability to hold down real work, struggle to get noticed at the VA and fail to connect with women. This changes for Tom when he meets Marcella and they begin a relationship. However, he can't escape his past with Nordi and the toxic bond soon takes a gruesome turn.

Three episodes based on O. Henry's texts. The first deals with the friendship between a painter and two young women. The second, a young man who receives an insignificant amount of his uncle, as an inheritance. The third concerns two people who make it all possible when they give themselves love as Christmas presents.

A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself and into a chaotic adventure of amnesia and self-discovery.