It’s the end of the month and performance review time for the Dead Letter Office’s team of Postables. During Oliver’s tenure as section leader he has consistently earned the highest scores of anyone, but this time, Theresa is determined to dig into Oliver’s mind and learn how he makes the team so effective. The end of the month is also ‘Impossibly Ripped and Mangled Day’ and this month’s most ripped and mangled letter is also postmarked 4 years ago. Having worked through lunch, Shane convinces the team that this investigation is best handled over dinner.

Grabbing a bite to eat at the Mailbox Grill, Rita brings up her utter amazement at the teams new supervisor, Theresa Capodiamonte. Despite all of Theresa’s postal accomplishments, she’s still working to pursue her dreams of becoming a stage performer. She’s even landed a small part in a local production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Rita is clearly inspired by Theresa’s moxie, but she’s not yet ready to openly share her dreams with the other Postables. Norman’s vivid dreams about cheese with feet does however provide the perfect segue for the team to get back to the investigation at hand. Oliver pulls a torn and tattered piece of paper from the equally mauled envelope and finds a letter reading:

“To Whom it May Concern,
My name is Samila I am eighteen years old and I live in Seattle, Washington. I have tried everything – I’ve called all your official phone numbers, I’ve checked all sorts of online websites and searched dozens of archives but nothing has worked, so I am turning to you, whoever opens this, and I am hoping you will care enough to help me. I am trying to find the man who saved my life and changed it forever.”
Accompanying the letter is a request for military service information along with a personal card addressed to ‘Buzz.’ The letter has piqued the team’s interest, and citing Oliver’s belief in miracles and making a difference, Shane volunteers to see the letter is delivered to the US military.

Oliver and Shane head to Ft. Platte where they meet with the Public Affairs Officer, Capt. Hopper. After explaining the situation surrounding the letter, Capt. Hopper points out that his office gets similar requests all the time from Vets looking for old buddies and ex-wives looking for money. The Captain thanks Shane and Oliver for doing their duty and throws the documents into a large stack of papers labeled “SEARCHES.” As Oliver tries to mention the personal card accompanying the letter, Shane interrupts him, sliding the letter into her bag, thanking the Captain for his time and making a hasty retreat. Oliver quickly follows, clearly disturbed at Shane’s disregard for rules and regulations. He confronts Shane about her actions to which she counters that she would rather put her faith in Oliver’s ability to find “Buzz” than leave it in a pile of bureaucratic red tape.

Back at the dead letter office, Oliver, Theresa, and the team open the letter…

“Dear Buzz. This is Samila. Sammy. I hope you remember me, because I’ve never forgotten you. I have so many things to thank you for. But first, I guess I should thank you for the socks…”

Now we learn that Buzz was a soldier serving in the Kamdesh District of Afghanistan. While opening a care package from his mom, Buzz encountered a young girl named Samila. The friendly soldier offers the little girl a pair of handmade socks to which she repays him by offering him a traditional Afghan hat. The hat belonged to Samila’s father and was the only thing she had left of him. Over the coming months Buzz taught Samila to read and even worked with her to start a small school where they taught other Afghan children to read. All that came to end however when the Taliban launched a mortar attack, destroying the school, wounding Samila, and forcing the soldiers to abandon their post. Buzz rescued Samila from the attack, staying behind while placing her into a waiting helicopter.

In the letter Samila says she remembers very little after Buzz put her in the helicopter. However, Samila did make it to America and became a student in Buzz’s home state of Colorado. A quick internet search revealed that Samila is a college senior and is graduating this weekend. The Postables take their “license to deliver” and head out to find Samila.

At the university, the team finds a Samila working in the library. She sits with the Postables and shares her memories of Buzz. Besides being kind, Samila remembers the amazing brownies his mom sent every month. Everyone loved them and gave them a nickname, “Peg’s Practically Perfect Brownies!” As it turns out, the Postables had investigated and rerouted a box of Peg’s Brownies before. The owner, Peg Parker, began her brownie company to honor her son who served in Afghanistan. And thanks to Rita’s photographic memory, the team is now hot on the trail. But there is one problem…Peg started her company to “honor her son,” leaving the team to fear that he may no longer be alive.

After tracking down Peg, the team learns that “Buzz’s” real name is Benjamin. And while she never thought she would say it about her own son, Peg has no idea where he is. Peg goes on to describe the man her son became after his tour of duty. She said he was restless and would disappear for days at a time until one day he didn’t come home. He called once for his mom’s birthday but when she asked where she could send him some brownies, he paused before saying, “Don’t. I don’t deserve them.” He hung up the phone and that was the last time Peg spoke to her son.

With some help from Capt. Hopper the team is able to track Buzz down to a ministry for homeless vets. They also learn that he was awarded the Purple Heart, but left the award in a VA hospital before falling of the grid. Feeling that they may be close to finding Buzz, Oliver and Shane head to the ministry where they meet Pastor Perry who points them toward a disheveled and unkempt man pushing a cart of flowers through the pews. When Oliver calls him Buzz the man stops moving and immediately looks up. He, Shane, and Oliver take a seat in a pew where Oliver hands Buzz the letter from Samila.

Sitting in a pew, Shane tells Buzz about the young woman whose life he saved. Buzz opens up saying he feels guilty for teaching Samila to read and making her a target. It’s than that Oliver reminds him that his sacrifice gave Samila a better life. Oliver reaches out his hand to Buzz, and after a moment, Buzz takes it.

Now that they’ve found Buzz, the Postables must overcome the problem of turning a homeless man into a cleanly shaved and well-dressed gentleman. Quoting John Adams, Theresa reminds the team “There are no problems. Only opportunities in disguise.” With moments to spare, the cleaned up Buzz makes his way into the auditorium, filled with graduates and their families. As Buzz and the team watch, Samila makes her way to the stage to receive her degree and to give the valedictorian speech. Before she starts her speech, she puts out her leg, revealing the red sock she got from Buzz. Samila delivers a moving speech, even crediting Buzz for inspiring her to teach inner-city children. As Samila speaks about the gifts and sacrifices of others she sees Buzz walking towards the dais. Samila runs off the stage and the two share a long awaited and emotional embrace.

Having reunited Buzz and Samila, the Postables rush to make the curtain call at the community theatre. Playing Glinda the Good Witch, Theresa gives the performance of a lifetime. Her performance is so well received that Theresa decides to leave her career with post office and pursue her acting dreams. And in a farewell reminiscent of Oz, the living legend Theresa Capodiamonte wishes the Postables well before taking her final curtain call.

It’s the start of a new week for the team of intrepid postal detectives tasked with tracking down the recipients of undeliverable mail. Amongst the hustle and bustle of shuffling letters, Oliver O’Toole (Eric Mabius), the rigid leader of the team, makes his way to the office. As he moves through the mailroom, he bumps into department newcomer and resident technophile Shane McInerney (Kristin Booth). As Oliver and Shane arrive at the dead letter office they are greeted by the free-spirited, “girl next door” Rita Haywith (Crystal Lowe) and the nerdy but lovable Norman Dorman (Geoff Gustafson).

It’s a particularly special day at for the dead letter team as they prepare to welcome their new supervisor, the legendary Theresa Capodiamonte (Valerie Harper)! As 6-time recipient of the prestigious ‘Dark of Night’ award, Theresa Capodiamonte is a legend in the postal community. The once aspiring Broadway performer followed the dreams of her father, joining the postal service and working her way up to becoming a “goddess in the postal Acropolis.” From the moment she walks into the office, her larger-than-life personality captivates the team. Theresa is also a former colleague of Oliver’s grandfather. A postal legend in his own right, the memory of Oliver’s grandfather is an unseen hand, inspiring Oliver to maintain the highest standards in postal excelence.

With the team assembled and their new supervisor in place, it’s time to get down to the work of delivering lost letters. Oliver selects a letter addressed to ‘Gramma’ at the ‘Lend Him Her Manners.’ The letter also includes a child’s drawing, presumably of the author and his grandmother, standing in front of two trees with a wind chime hanging from one of the branches. There is also a message, “P.S I’m bringing more spoons so we can make another one.”

With just these few details to go on, the team almost immediately discerns that the letter is intended for one of the presumably many ’Grammas’ at the Lendimer Manor Retirement Home. The letter goes on to say that since ‘Gramma’s’ birthday is the next day, and since he’s “pretty sure the retirement home is just down the road,” he’s going to sneaking out of his house and ride all night until he gets to ‘Gramma’s’ retirement home. The author closes the letter by saying that ‘Gramma’ “has to call him Owen now.”

Based on what they’ve determined, the dead letter office team head to the Lendimer Manor Retirement Home to find Owen’s ‘Gramma’. At the home the team finds a few “Babbas,” “Bubbys,” “Grammys,” and “MawMaws” but no “Grammas.” The team approaches Donna, the activities director at the home, for help at whittling down the search. Donna leads the team to the music room where they find a group of “Grammas” rehearsing for an upcoming musical cabaret. As luck would have it, one of the “Grammas,” Vivian, has a birthday the tomorrow. But instead of being happy, Vivian is clearly agitated by the attention and is adamant that she doesn’t know anyone named Owen. Vivian refuses to accept the letter and sends the Oliver and the team away.

At lunch with Theresa, the team can’t escape the feeling that Vivian is in fact their missing “Gramma.” After analyzing the clues they realize that Vivian was doing all she could to avoid talking about her family in front of Donna. It’s then that it becomes obvious that Vivian isn’t forgetting her grandson, but that she’s protecting him. But from what?

The team runs back to the retirement home, but this time, they do everything they can to keep Donna occupied while they talk to Vivian. While Rita distracts Donna, Oliver and Shane confront Vivian one-on-one. It’s then that Vivian reveals that her grandson’s real name is Casey and that she doesn’t know where he or his parents are. Casey recently witnessed the murder of a drug kingpin. Vivian reveals that terrible threats were made against Casey’s life and that if anyone found out where he was, his life would be in jeopardy. As a result Casey and his family were sent into witness protection until after he can testify at the trial. Shane immediately begins researching the case and even stumbles across a picture of the suspected murderer and his accomplice. Shane recognizes the accomplice as Donna, the new activites director at the home. The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place and it’s clear that danger is a lot closer than anyone suspected.

With time ticking away, the dead letter team races to get intercept Casey before he makes his doomed bike ride to the retirement home. But on her way out of the home, Vivian gets cornered by Donna. Donna makes an unusual point of buttoning her coat and tightening her scarf. What Vivian doesn’t realize is that Donna also slyly grabbed the letter in Vivian’s pocket, containing all the information about Casey’s whereabouts.

Now that Donna has everything she needs to get to Casey, Vivian and the dead letter team move at break-neck speed to head her off. Luckily, Norman, with a little help from his real estate mogul cousin, is able to set up a diversion that sends Donna to the wrong house. Donna walks up to the home, gun in hand, and rings the bell. After no one answers, Donna peers into a window, seeing what appears to be an empty house. Realizing she’s been had, Donna attempts to run away. But before she can make a break for it, Oliver opens the door and the police pull into the driveway. A police officer orders Donna to freeze and put her hands up–she’s busted.

With Donna in custody, Shane, Norman, Rita, and Vivian frantically search for Vivian’s grandson. Just then, a squad car zooms past illuminating a little boy riding his bike. Vivian immediately recognizes Casey, jumps from the car, and runs to embrace him.

But all is not finished for the intrepid team of postal detectives. With Vivian reunited with her family, the Lendimer Manor needs a replacement for the musical cabaret. Enter Theresa Capodiamonte, who bravely takes the stage and fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a Broadway performer…even if it is on a slightly smaller stage!