SUMMARY:  Ally and Mark have had trouble in love all their lives.  Ally lets herself be a walking doormat for guys, while Mark's a "nice guy" who doesn't understand why just being a really good friend doesn't get him a girlfriend.  Ally takes her romantic cues from Disney films - her imaginary romantic advisor is Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" - while Mark was raised on comic books and gets bad advice from Superman.  Ally and Mark are perfect for each other... but there's a good chance they may never meet.

SUMMARY:  Mark and Ally's friends give them conflicting and ultimately useless relationship advice. If this were a movie, it would be the point where Ally and Mark meet the people they realize are perfect for them. Instead, Mark goes on a date with a co-worker he doesn't really think is right for him, a shallow weathergirl named Lucy, while Ally goes invites her douchebag ex-boyfriend Max over. Lucy has multiple dates in one night, and leaves the dinner early, while Max is only interested in getting laid, not talking. She fails to tell him off for his callousness. Lucy does suggest that Mark meet her roommate, but he demurs. Of course, said roomate is Ally. In the end, both Mark and Ally have one consolation they can count on - an evening of pizza and Star Wars... and the belief that there's somebody out there for them.

SUMMARY:  Mark and Ally's parents weren't terribly good influences.  Mark's macho-guy dad was convinced Mark was gay, while Ally's uptight mother thought there was nothing more important in attracting a man than staying thin by any means necessary.  Ally tries internet dating at Lucy's behest.  Lucy says to be super-specific about what you want, but Ally disregards her advice and writes in her profile that she's more interested in a man's ambitions, interests and hobbies.  She ends up receiving a ton of photos of men's penises, but no real responses.  Mark, for his part, has already been trying internet dating, but only got one response, from a multimedia hipster artist named Juneau Alaska.  He doesn't want to meet her, but his friend persuades him to go on the date.  She turns out to be a thoughtful and funny person... but at the end of the date, Juneau says she's just getting out of a relationship and just wants to be friends, and tells him what a "nice guy" he is.  Mark wants to scream, but instead meekly accepts his fate.  That night, Mark and Ally both muse about taking chances. Are they being naive or noble to keep hoping there's someone out there who will love them not just despite, but because of, their flaws?  Ally finds a profile online that makes her smile and sends a message.  There's a "ding" on Mark's laptop...

SUMMARY:  Mark and Ally both feel alone in a crowd - Mark's couple friends don't invite him on their double-dates, while Ally's mean friends won't set her up on any dates with their friends. Ally tries to get through to Max, telling him what she really wants out of a relationship, but Max doesn't understand.  She texts Mark, needing someone to talk to.  They decide to meet, but Max arrives unexpectedly. He suddenly realizes he doesn't want to be alone, and is willing to give a relationship a shot.  He suddenly wants to talk about his feelings.  Ally sends Lucy to meet Mark and let him down gently, but insensitive Lucy, not even realizing that Mark's Ally's date, tells him that she's there to "blow off some loser" because Ally's "getting it from her ex-boyfriend."  Dejected, Mark decides that online dating isn't for him.  He goes home and deletes his account, as Ally starts to learn that sometimes the worst thing that can happen... is getting what you want.

SUMMARY:  Mark's ideal couple is Bob and Alice, who have been together since college, but Mark's shocked to find that Bob's thinking of leaving her out of boredom. Ally's perfect couple are Brenda and Sam... who subsequently creep her out when they invite her to join them in a threesome.  Ally, frustrated with Max, plans a girls' night in with her oldest, dearest friend Kelly, who tells her she should leave Max; he'll never change.  Meanwhile, Mark has a boys' night out with Bob, who turns out to be friends with Max.  Bob admires the way Max plays the field, and indeed, Max takes a call from a cute blonde he's seeing on the side... he's cheating on Ally.  Back at Ally's, an increasingly drunken Kelly sings "Hold On for One More Day" to Ally.  Elsewhere, a shell-shocked Mark takes a drunken Bob home to Alice, observing their seemingly perfect relationship.  Mark tells a concerned Alice that he's fine.  Meanwhile, as Ally considers leaving Max, Max meets up with his blonde on the side... Lucy.  As much as we'd like to believe others can change... some people never do.

SUMMARY:  Both Mark and Ally have a history of being terrible at flirting.  Mark tried too hard when he met Alice, pretending to hate Disney films, and it turned out she loved them as much as he did... and so she ended up with Bob.  Ally, for her part, couldn't flirt without being upstaged by Lucy.  Although she's found herself dating Max, Max can sense he's losing her, so he tries turning up the charm.  He even gets her a puppy... but it turns out that Max merely stole the dog from a neighbor's yard.  Still, Ally held out, hoping, as in the Disney films she loves as much as Mark does, that someday, her prince will come.

SUMMARY:  Mark was often rejected for being too nice by women who tell him what a catch he is, while Ally had a history of going on what she thought were dates, but were really evenings of mixed signals with guys who were actually interested in Lucy.  Ally and Lucy go over the pros and cons of dating Max, and Lucy inadvertently reveals that she knows Max is hung like a horse. Meanwhile, Alice has Mark list the attributes of his perfect woman so they can go out and find her... and Mark describes Allison to a tee, though she doesn't realize it.  Max continues to be horrible, gifting Ally with a pornographic "Tijuana Bible" - which contains an inscription showing it to be regifted and was originally given to Max by a former girlfriend.  Mark and Ally both ponder their lists, wondering if they're asking too much to find somebody who meets all their criteria.

SUMMARY:  Both Mark and Ally are flummoxed by the games people play.  Mark finds that a seemingly normal woman he goes on a date with has terrible problems, while Ally idoesn't understand why the very intelligent Lucy acts like a bimbo around men.  Mark and Alice attend a 25th Anniversary screening of The Princess Bride... as to Ally and Max, who has to be dragged along and talks through the whole film.  Afterwards, while Ally is in the bathroom, Max says hello to Alice, who is his neighbor, and calls Mark a schmuck for liking the film.  Mark tells him off... and Ally overhears.  That night, both Mark and Ally reflect that if there was someone truly special for them, they were going to be worth waiting for. What neither of them could have known at that moment was that the wait... was almost over.

SUMMARY:  Max twists Ally's words every time she tries to break up with him, making it impossible for her to walk away... and Lucy keeps encouraging her to stay with him.  Meanwhile, Bob breaks up with Alice, and she turns to Mark - and alcohol for comfort.  Mark confesses that he's dreamed of kissing her for the last eighteen years, but when she drunkenly kisses him, he pulls away.  It's just not right.  Not like this.  Meanwhile, Ally has an interview with lesbian activist and author, Casey Collins, who helps Ally realize that Lucy is a "stepsister" - a cruel non-friend who is just bitter because she's never fallen in love herself.  Ally returns home to discover Max and Lucy about to sleep together... and collapses in relieved laughter.  She finally breaks up with Max, and gives Lucy the heave-ho as well.  Sometimes, people say that when you least expect it, love happens. Sometimes they say that the moment you put the wrong person behind you is the moment the universe sends you the right person. And sometimes... they're right.  Casey meets up with Mark.  "Brother," she says, "have I got a girl for you."

SUMMARY:  Mark and Ally, at last finding self-respect, turn down bad dates with, respectively, Lucy and a shallow Hollywood asshole.  As Mark helps Casey prepare for a costume ball, Alice admits she's still in love with Bob. And indeed, Bob is still in love with her, and has been desperately trying to call her. He's furious at Max, who tries to set him up with an increasingly lonely and desperate Lucy. Meanwhile, Ally has moved in with Kelly, and is also getting ready to go to the costume ball. Max barges in to try to get Ally back, but she finally tells him off and sends him packing. At Mark's place, a disheveled Bob arrives to beg Alice to take him back. The moment she walked out, he realized what a fool he'd been. For the first time, he asks what Alice wants out of her life. Ally arrives where Casey told her the party was, and, exhausted, starts to fall asleep. Mark arrives and startles her awake. The party is elsewhere, and they quickly realize that Casey has set them up. They also quickly realize how much they have in common. As Bob and Alice reconcile, and Lucy, who has now read Casey's book and realized what was wrong in her life, meets Casey, and the two are attracted. And it transpires that Max hates Kelly because he's inexplicably - to him - both attracted to and terrified of her. Meanwhile, as Ally and Mark lean in for their first kiss, they have to shush the "Princess Bride"-quoting narrator.  They'll take it from here.  But as they kiss, the Narrator has one more thing to say: "This was the story of two people who were made for each other. A man and a woman destined to fall madly in love - who finally found each other."