An employee leaves the company, lured away by a “competing company”, but his boss doesn't want to let him go at all, not handing over the documents, instead of saying goodbye through the secretary, that he doesn’t want him to leave, and gives three months to say goodbye to them or not. Nevertheless, he leaves, while grossly violating party discipline. A new venture awaits him, there he will be a big boss, an “outsider.” They have high hopes for it, but they are in no hurry to immediately reveal all the features and hidden production problems.

Follows the service of Lieutenant Colonel Lubentsov as commandant of the German city of Lauterburg in the first days after the end of the Great Patriotic War.

The television play begins with the story of Ishmael, an American sailor who sets out on a whaling voyage. The ship's captain, Ahab, is obsessed with getting revenge on a giant white whale known as Moby Dick. During a previous voyage, the whale bit off Ahab’s leg, and since then, the captain has worn a prosthetic.

The action takes place during the Great Patriotic War. The fates of two friends, Lyusia and Lyuka, unfold in different ways. Lyusia is a person of strong character and constancy in her affections. Lyuka, relying solely on her beauty, sought by any means to achieve her chosen goal — to become an actress. The friends meet again after the war. Lyusia finds her true happiness, while Lyuka never manages to find her place in life.

The distinctive traits of the Doroshin family are hard work, courage, and principledness. Pavel Nikolaevich is a war veteran and the chief engineer of a factory, while Anastasia Mikhailovna is the head of a university department and an active participant in the partisan movement. Their eldest son, Ilya, a sanitary doctor, demands the closure of one of the city's enterprises. However, war criminals, who are hiding from retribution, know that the Gestapo archives are hidden in the building's basement and fear that the documents might be discovered. Terrified of exposure, they try to prevent Ilya from carrying out this action and attempt to discredit the Doroshins.