The Jarretts, a WASP family from Chicago's North Shore, try to return to normal life after the attempted suicide of their teenage son, Conrad, who has recently come home following a long stay in a psychiatric hospital. Alienated from his friends and family, Conrad seeks out the help of a psychiatrist, Dr. Berger, who learns that the boy had been involved in a sailing accident that killed his beloved older brother, Buck. Calvin Jarrett, the father, awkwardly struggles to connect with his surviving son, who is tormented by clinical depression, survivor guilt, and post-traumatic stress disorder, but he has no help from his wife, Beth, who is cold, selfish, and obsessed with maintaining the appearance of perfection and normality.