While fishing on No-Name Fork, Chris stumbles across a human body frozen into a block of ice. He retrieves it, along with the man's presumed belongings: his boots, his hat, his watch, and his diary, the latter revealing him to be of French descent and containing evidence that Napoleon was not at Waterloo, but rather in Alaska with his companion, Pierre, who has been frozen for 176 years. While Pierre is stored in Holling's walk-in freezer, he causes disturbances in town: Joel starts thinking about history, Maurice dreams of a new business scheme, Holling curses his genetic background, and Shelly worries about fertility. Because Maurice is busy trying to make money off of Pierre, Ed takes a job at Ruth Ann's store, and she helps him through an artistic crisis: He's sent his film script to someone in Hollywood for evaluation, it comes back rejected, and Ed feels dejected. But through Ruth Ann's telling him about her own sons, he regains his confidence. In the end some Indians steal Pierre out of the walk-in, smashing Maurice's latest scheme.