Plot Summary:It's been six months since Diane walked out/Sam kicked her out of the bar, and it hasn't been a good six months for either. Sam has gone back to his carousing drunken ways, none of which he attributes to the break-up with Diane. Diane has spent the last three months as a voluntary patient at Goldenbrook Sanitarium. Upon her release, she seems happy but she is still jumpy and nervous and can't even say Sam's name. The break-up and Sam's behavior has had an affect on others in the bar. Sam has continually slept with the replacement waitresses, who have in turn quit when things went sour with Sam. This instability has taken its toll on overworked Carla. However, the one positive thing for Carla is that at least Diane is gone, and Carla has stipulated that no one is allowed to even mention Diane's name in the bar. But hardest hit is Coach, who lived through Sam's previous life as a drunk. Coach takes matters into his own hands and goes and sees a just released Diane. Coach tries to convince Diane to come and see Sam. After an initial refusal, Diane agrees if only because she has a friend - a psychiatrist she met at Goldenbrook - who she thinks can help Sam. Upon Diane's arrival back at Cheers, Sam believes Diane has only returned because she's still in love with him. What he sees on Diane's face is not quite what he thinks. With others in the bar, Cliff has just returned from a 2-week trip to Florida. No one seems to have missed him or pays much attention to his vacation tales.
Sam falls off the wagon and Diane has a nervous breakdown after the breakup. But after she's cured, Diane returns to Cheers to recommend her psychiatrist--Dr. Frasier Crane--to help Sam. But she doesn't say that she's involved with him.