Thanksgiving 1973. The climate is changing, both politically and physically. As the Watergate scandal unfolds in the background, the inhabitants of a small Conneticut town begin to slip into an existentialist void. Social taboos are shattered on whims and the line between adult authority and juvenile irresponsibility is practically nonexistant. Focuses on the Hood and Carver families. Chronicles a brief period of rapid moral deterioration. Their actions - including adultery, sexual experimentation, drug use and petty crimes - become increasingly unpredictable and impulsive. Once the 'ice storm' hits, though, reality sinks in, and the severity of their situation becomes all to apparent.