Saving Face follows Wilhelmina ("Wil"), a young Chinese American surgeon, as she deals with her unwed mother's pregnancy, and the obligations of her dancer girlfriend Vivian. Wil struggles with allocating time between her mother (Gao) who is shunned by the Chinese American community of Flushing for being pregnant and unwed and thus has come to live with Wil. Wil first meets Vivian at a party in a restaurant called Planet China, in which many chinese friends gather. Gao convinces her to attend in the hopes of setting Wil up with the son of her friend. Wil however, is immediately attracted to Vivian instead. Wil meets Vivian again at the hospital in which Wil worked. Meanwhile, Gao decides to move in with Wil after learning of her own pregnancy. Gao is shunned by her family due to the fact that she is unmarried with child. She was told to only come back home once she marries. Despite many questions, She refuses to reveal the father's identity. Vivian invites Wil to one of her dance shows with a letter left on the vending machine. After the show, the two hang out. Vivian reveals the fact that they had met once before when they were 8 and 9 years old; Vivian kissed Wil on the nose after Wil rescues her from her buillies, and that Wil ran away afterwards. Vivian and Wil later goes to Vivian's house, and the two share a kiss on the floor. The couple then goes on several dates. Wil is afraid of kissing Vivian in public. Vivian's birthday however, Wil gets held late due to a number of surgeries and attempts to redeem herself by spending the night at Vivian's house. Vivian reveals that she had informed her own mother of the relationship between them. Meanwhile, Gao goes on several dates in order to find a man to father her child. She is uninterested in all the men she meets. She is debating on whether or not to accept the affections of Cho, one of the men whom had liked her for 15 years and is willing to father the child as his own.