The Starter Wife

Hollywood wife Molly Kagen's life of luxury comes tumbling down when her husband Kenny, president of a prominent movie studio, asks her for a divorce. Humiliated, she retreats to Malibu with her 3-year-old daughter. Her friends face their own problems. Joan has secretly entered rehab, Rodney's interior design career is on life support, and Cricket's relationship with her husband Jorge is struggling. Cut off from the world she knows, Molly begins to reevaluate her life, and a near death experience leads to an encounter with a handsome stranger named Sam. Spurred on by her brush with death and intrigued by her chemistry with Sam, Molly decides to re-invent herself. She focuses on being a better mother, and after receiving unexpected attention from Kenny's boss, Lou, she boldly invites him over for dinner. When Lou doesn't show up, Molly shares a perfect kiss with Sam. Meanwhile, her friends' struggles continue as Joan grows weary of rehab and Cricket's husband has a secret tryst with their nanny.

Molly must deal with the double blow of finding out that Lou has mysteriously gone missing, and learning that Sam is homeless. The troubles of Molly's friends come to a head as Joan is kicked out of rehab and Cricket learns of her husband's infidelity. Unhappy without each other, Molly's friends descend upon Joan's house in Malibu for a tearful reunion. However, their gathering is interrupted by the police, who implicate Sam as a suspect in Lou's disappearance.

Molly is reassured by Sam's declaration of his innocence, but she is unable to help him when he is thrown in jail. Things look desperate until Lou amazingly reappears. His plan to fake his own suicide had failed when his suicide note was lost, so he pulls Molly into his scheme. With the new suicide note Lou gives her, Molly is able to clear Sam and get him released from jail. Molly's reunion with Sam ends in a night of passion. Meanwhile, things start to look up for Cricket and Rodney, but Joan's drinking has spiraled out of control, and she wraps her car around a tree.

Molly feels liberated by her relationship with Sam, which has reached a new level. However, her other relationships are going through a period of turbulence. Her divorce settlement proceedings are not going well, and she is trying to be a strong shoulder to Cricket, who has taken her husband back, but is unable to forgive him. Molly's attempts to get Joan on the wagon have also opened a rift between them.

In the season finale, Molly causes a blowup with Joan after reporting her rehab stunt to Pappy. Then she faces a difficult choice between Sam, who wants her back, and Lou, who wants to start a relationship. Meanwhile, problems with the divorce settlement drive Molly to find the strength to claim what's rightfully hers and take charge of her own life.