Freddie, a volatile, heavy-drinking veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a new "religion" he forms after World War II.

Oliver can't help but wonder if his new tattoo is the cause of his recent spate of romantic bad luck. Gay and single in San Francisco, he spends a lot of time out and about meeting other like individuals. As he fails repeatedly to connect with any eligible bachelors and it seems that the pickings are getting slimmer and slimmer, he becomes more and more distraught over what could be the true meaning and power of his tattoo and whether it has doomed him to be alone forever.