Ms. Lemry teaches the Contemporary American Thought class, which includes discussions on abortion, suicide, religion, body image, social justice, and many other topics. Eric and his agnostic friend Steve Ellerby conflict with Mark Brittain, a devout Christian. Mark's girlfriend, Jody Mueller (also Eric's crush), secretly doesn't agree with all of his views. It is revealed that Mark encouraged her to abort his baby. Jody breaks up with Mark and starts going out with Eric. Meanwhile, during the course of this class, Mark is confronted with the truth of his actions. He has difficulty reconciling his actions with his beliefs and later attempts suicide, but fails.