Donna's grandmother is hospitalized after telling Donna that her soulmate is David, who moves out of the Valerie's room at the Walsh house and into Carly's vacant house until he can afford a more inexpensive place. Meanwhile, Kelly alerts Brandon to a potential story about a recently paroled ex-con who explains to Brandon about the mistakes he made that changed his life, which Brandon realizes parallel his own. Steve coaxes Brandon into a double date with two women who he ran into at the Peach Pit, unaware that the women are not who they appear to be. Valerie brings a record executive to the After Dark to hear David and the band, Jasper's Legend, perform their debut. But Valerie is hurt after David tells her that the love song he wrote was about Donna, not her.

Matt's older brother, Patrick, pays a visit with his wife and asks Matt for a very personal favor: to be a sperm donor so his wife can have a baby since he is sterile. But Kelly pressures Matt not to agree to the favor. Noah is threatened by Josie's brother, Shane, when Dylan refuses to cover for Josie's drug loss after David destroyed a drug stash to avoid getting arrested. Meanwhile, Steve tells Janet about his previous encounter with Darby who was a wild and crazy nymphomaniac during her days at college. Donna, now running the boutique shop on her own, goes out with a fashion designer, named Dan, while David has a meeting with Camille Desmond, a magazine columnist. Also, Gina gets a promotional job offer, but only if she trains her employer's spoiled son, Michael, for an upcoming prom dance contest his school is giving.

A revenge-seeking Shane and his friend Carl, kidnap Noah and then send a ransom e-mail to Dylan for his release. Dylan agrees to deliver the ransom money without notifying the police, but confides in Steve about the situation. Then Dylan is waylaid by Josie and Shane who plan to kill him and Noah anyway. Meanwhile, Kelly and Matt prepare to go on a couples Valentine's Day game show with Donna and Janet as their coaches. But when Kelly has an attack of nerves, Donna goes on the show with Matt in her place. Donna's father tries to bond with Gina who continues to be uncertain about what to do. Also, David continues his growing relationship with Camille, until the arrival of an ex-boyfriend which puts a form of jealousy and fear in David.

After Dr. Martin dies from a sudden and massive stroke, unspoken accusations regarding his death haunt Gina. But Felice, as always, speaks her mind accusing Gina of bringing on her husband's fatal stroke while Donna gets consul David and the rest of the gang. Meanwhile, Kelly considers taking a job in public relations while Matt's financial situation gets worse. Dylan decides to explore greener pastures when he decides to leave town and Gina decides on the same. Also, Noah has trouble getting over his kidnapping and brush with death which leads to him drinking again. With everyone against her and conflicted by her past, Gina says goodbye to Donna after Dr. Martin's funeral to return to New York, but Dylan decides to stay to be near Kelly.

Dylan becomes intrigued with his past after he and Steve see a live news report showing a group of plane crash survivors, one of whom is the dead-splitting image of his long death father Jack McKay. Dylan tries looking into his family storage locker, but finds it broken into and ransacked. Dylan then goes to see Christine Pettie, the FBI agent who was involved in protecting his father many years ago, but she is not very helpful and advises Dylan to leave this alone. Meanwhile, Noah's return to drinking gets worse when he intrudes on Donna's newest date Eli. Kelly compromises her personal feelings for her new profession when her first PR assignment is to cover gay teen groups in schools. Also, David ponders his further relationship with Camille when the issue of how to satisfy her arises during their first night together, while Donna hires Camille to work at the boutique.

Matt and Kelly aid Dylan in trying to help him find his father in which the search leads them to Arizona where they find Dylan's father, who lives under the alias Eddie Waitkus, and has a wife and young son. Meanwhile, Donna brings Noah at the beach apartment to convalesce for his injuries where he begins to take advantage her loneliness to make the moves on her. Janet becomes worried when Steve reverts to his old partying form when his stepbrother Ryan visits. Also, Camille tells David that she's beginning to resent Donna's constant phone calls to him for support which intrudes on their evenings out.

Jack McKay suddenly shows up at Dylan's front door of his hotel room where he makes him an offer to be a part of his life in which he will leave the witness protection program that he is in. But Dylan is approached by Christine Pettit who warns Dylan about a rash decision that his father is making since he is still a marked man by his former mob partners. So, Dylan tells Jack to go back to his new life in Arizona while he deals with his own. Meanwhile, Steve lobbies for Ryan's return to college who falls under the influence of Noah in bar-tending at the After Dark. David interviews for a radio job in New York City while Donna and Camille worry about this turn of events. Also, Matt reopens his practice after his suspension and his first client is a stand-up comic named Stuart Patton who's jokes are funny only to Matt.

Kelly recruits Steve and Janet's five-month-old baby, Maddy, for a photo ad as part of her first independent PR assignment for a new knock-wurst sausage. But when the plans fall through, Steve decides to step in and volunteer himself for the ad. Meanwhile, Noah meets and becomes acquainted with Ellen, a fellow AA member in need of attention. Matt accompanies Dylan on a motorcycle road trip in the California hills where they Matt unknowingly ingests acid at a desert rave which leads to him spending the night with one of the party girls. Also, Donna's distress over David grows after she catches him and Camille in a compromising sexual position on the floor of the boutique after hours.

Camille continues to get between Donna and David when she decides, but not Donna, to market products from the boutique over the Internet. But David has concerns of his own when Dylan begins working closely with Camille for her on-line web site for the store, and Donna is drawn to the Internet salesman Mitch. Meanwhile, Matt begins having difficulty with Kelly when his guilt over his drug-induced, one-night stand begins to surface. Steve and Janet have a crisis when the dog they are babysitting for kills and eats their neighbor's daughter's pet rabbit and Steve resorts to low means to find a replacement before their neighbors find out. Also, Noah tries helping Ellen get a job to get a new start in her life, but she resents his help which she sees as an intrusion into her life.

Noah helps Ellen get back into AA, but she tells him that she does not see on the same lines as he does for recovery. Meanwhile, Steve invests in Donna's on-line venture after Janet says no to the offer. Matt pads his continuing lie about his one-night-stand to Kelly while Dylan continues lurking around them to see if Matt will give in and confess to Kelly about it. Donna reject Mitch's business style in personal matters when his come-ons become more frequent which leads to him sabotaging her opening night of her web site after she rejects going out with him again. Also, David becomes more grumpy with his relationship with Camille, especially after she volunteers to model for Donna's designs on-line.

Camille returns to town after a long vacation with hope of reconciliation with David, unaware of his returning feelings for Donna who finds Camille's presence uncomfortable. Meanwhile, a reported surfing accident in Dylan's area makes Kelly searching for him thinking that he may be dead. When the rumor is false and Dylan turns up alive, Kelly ponders her hidden feelings for him. Janet is offered a better editing job away from the Beverly Beat which makes Steve wary over this turn of events. Also, Noah meets with Ellen again to try to work out their differences and start anew.