In France, Julia butts heads with Simca while working on volume two of their cookbook. In Boston, Alice faces pressure to find the network’s next hit.

After failing to see eye-to-eye with Simca, Julia proposes a culinary showdown. Meanwhile, Alice and Avis each face new romantic possibilities.

Left to her own devices in Paris, Avis bonds with a prominent existentialist, while Julia turns to her friends at Le Cordon Bleu for help with an impossible recipe. As WGBH experiences a shake-up, Alice goes through a trial of her own.

After returning to Boston, Julia finds herself at odds with her new director and Avis's new beau. Later, a run-in with an old colleague finds Julia fielding questions from the FBI.