Cindy and Jim throw a party for their 20th wedding anniversary. As Stuart and Brenda's affair grows, he proposes marriage and she willingly accepts. Meanwhile, Brandon falls for an anthropologist grad student named Lucinda Nicholson. A paranoid Dylan buys a gun from a street dealer and almost shoots Brandon. Andrea tells Kelly that she has doubts about her affair with Dan after he tells her about his non-belief in marriage; then Andrea meets Jesse Vasquez, a charming Latino barman, at the party. Mel asks David to look after baby Erin while he heads off to Mexico with his girlfriend.

After mistaking a woman at a rural filling station for his former girlfriend Emily Valentine, Brandon decides to visit Emily's home in Marin County north of San Francisco. He learns that the Valentines have moved to Greece, but runs into Emily by chance on a cable car in San Francisco. They rekindle their romance and decide to spend Thanksgiving together, but Emily does not reveal that she must move away in a week. Back in Los Angeles, the KEG frat house and Alpha sorority serve Thanksgiving dinner at a halfway house, and John Sears tries to take advantage of a 15-year-old girl. Steve intervenes and has the fraternity president distract John. Meanwhile, Dylan declines Kelly's Thanksgiving invitation because he plans to go surfing, but later agrees to dine with the Walshes. When Kelly comes over with her family, she snaps at Dylan and makes a scene. Elsewhere, Andrea is hesitant to attend a Thanksgiving soirée at the home of Dan's parents. Jesse, the bartender from the Walshes' anniversary party, is working Dan's parents' party; he asks Andrea out, and she willingly gives him her address.

Emily has been accepted to the prestigious Cousteau Institute in France, but does not want to attend because she and Brandon are in love. Brandon observes her passion for marine biology and encourages her to pursue her dream. Brenda balks when she is asked to appear nude in an experimental campus play. The frat and sorority pledges must endure a series of humiliating experiences during "Hell Week." The upperclassmen order Steve to steal a prize autographed baseball from Professor Randall for a scavenger hunt, but he gets caught. Andrea breaks up with Dan and begins dating Jesse. She learns that he is a UCLA law student who attended undergraduate courses at Yale.

Strange dreams contemplate Donna to fulfill David's dream to sleep with her on their second anniversary together, until her parents show up for a surprise visit. Meanwhile, Brandon returns from San Francisco where he learns about the Steve's botch break-in, who finds himself left in cold after Mike Ryan and the rest of the frat members reject him. Only John Sears remains sympathetic to Steve and tries to help. But when Brandon learns and relays to Steve that the campus police were anonymously tipped off to Steve's break-in, Steve realizes that Sears had set him up. In the meantime, Brandon plays hardball with the corrupt Professor Randall to drop the break-in charges against Steve by threatening to go public about him rigging test scores for D'Shawn and other basketball stars to they can play basketball for the university. Elsewhere, Andrea falls deeply in love with Jesse. Also, John Sears continued wooing of Kelly only pushes her back to Dylan.

The Walshes trip to Hawai'i doesn't go as planned when their plane is turned around due to technical problems. A woman claiming to be Jack McKay's mistress shows up on Dylan's doorstep with her daughter in tow. David's sexual frustration leads him to be hostile to Donna. A lonely Kelly cracks her tooth on candy and calls Mel for dental advice. Jesse takes Andrea with him to church for midnight mass. The characters all flash back to previous Christmases over the course of the episode.

David's work and study schedule begins to take a toll on him when mid terms come around, leading him to start using crystal meth. His erratic behaviour worries Donna and Kelly. Dylan wants to help Suzanne with her financial troubles by giving her $10 000 but Jim urges Dylan to let him do a background check on her first. Steve decides to take his suspicions about John Sears to their fraternity chapter president. Brandon continues to tutor D'Shawn in sociology but still feels that Professor Randall is giving him preferential treatment. During a basketball game, D'Shawn sustains an injury that he fears will impact his future career prospects. Andrea learns from her new RA that Dan Rubin has transferred to another dormitory.

Dylan gets Suzanne a job at the Peach Pit as a waitress, which takes a different turn when Nat is hospitalized after a heart attack. Dylan then learns that Nat may lose the Peach Pit when Nat's cousin Joey arrives in town wanting to sell it. Meanwhile, Brandon is asked to be a candidate for a college task-force on education to go to Washington. David seeks treatment for his drug use while trying to find a substitute for his radio shift and finds Steve, who does a bad job. Meanwhile, Andrea's not sure she can tell Jesse about her pregnancy, and Cindy becomes involved in university life as a courtship instructor.

With Nat still in the hospital awaiting heart surgery, Brandon temporarily takes over running the Peach Pit, while Dylan rescues the place after he buys out Joey's share, making Dylan the co-owner. Meanwhile, David's drug problem returns, resulting in Kelly and Donna moving out and David losing his radio DJ job when Howard the station manager sees that he's completely out of control and fires him. Jesse objects to Andrea's decision to get an abortion. Brandon learns of Lucinda's divorce from Professor Randall and wants a relationship with her.

Donna tries to make up with David, whose increased drug use turns her away. David also steals $150 from his father to buy more amphetamines for himself. When his drug dealer is arrested later, he finds himself in possession of a huge stash of narcotics and calls on Dylan for help. Meanwhile, Jesse and Andrea meet with her grandmother to get her blessings before their wedding and reception at the Peach Pit. A dangerous affair begins between Brandon and Lucinda, who shows her true colors when she starts teaching her anthropology class of human sexuality and preaches the need for multiple partners, seeing sex as her personal weapon. Brenda gets a surprise visit from a long-absent Stuart on Valentine's Day.

Brandon uses Kelly as his date at a university social event to shield his affair with Lucinda from Josh Richland, a snooping student reporter from the Condor determined to dig up any dirt on Brandon. Meanwhile, Brenda and Stewart travel to Palm Springs where they find big complications from a small mistake Brenda makes which leaves them stranded in the desert, where Stuart fumes over and it resulting in her finally breaking off their engagement for good. David rents a piano as a new hobby while Kelly moves back in with him and Donna. Also, Andrea lets Steve use her dorm room after he can't stand living at the KEG house.

Lucinda temporally loses interest in Brandon when she flirts with Dylan to ask him to finance her documentary film. Meanwhile, Kelly and Brandon spend the weekend together at a task force retreat where they meet the university Chancellor, Milton Arnold, Dean Trimble and the Chancellor's teenage daughter Clare, where Brandon and Kelly become more attracted to each other and brush off Josh who's still hounding them. Brenda and Donna befriend a stray dog that escapes from the university's lab, whom they name Rocky. Also, Andrea discovers that Steve is allowing Muntz and his frat buddies to use her dorm room for nooners. Andrea protests, but changes her mind when Steve begins to date her dorm resident advisor, Kathy Fisher.

Brenda and Donna attend an animal rights rally, and are crestfallen when the university refuses to suspend animal testing. After Rocky dies of cancer, Brenda becomes involved with a small group of radicals. She serves as lookout when the group breaks into the university research building and tries in vain to save Andrea's lab (which does not harm animals in its testing). Brenda is arrested. Kelly and Brandon are furious when Dylan refuses to fund Lucinda's film. He finally tells Kelly that Lucinda came on to him. Brandon breaks up with Lucinda and Kelly confesses her kiss with Brandon. Dylan races over to the Walsh house to fight Brandon, but the tension is defused when he accidentally punches Steve.

Brenda calls Dylan from jail in the hopes of keeping her arrest a secret, but he is forced to tell her parents. Brenda's friends avoid her out of fear of being accessories after the fact and Kelly acts especially bitchy because she is tired of Dylan coming to Brenda's rescue. Brenda faces felony charges, as her crime was a federal offense. An FBI agent who had gone undercover with the activists offers her immunity in exchange for her testimony. Kelly apologizes for shunning Brenda. Andrea gives Donna a healthy puppy (Rocky II) to take her mind off Rocky's death. Steve and his overbearing father, Rush, take on a baseball star and his dad in a father/son golf tournament. Steve catches his father cheating and forces him to complete the game honestly. Lucinda receives a grant for her movie and leaves the university. Josh threatens to expose Brandon's affair with Lucinda unless he endorses his campaign for student president. Brandon calls his bluff and Josh eventually has second thoughts.

Brenda hopes to impress Roy Randolph, a visiting Broadway director, when she auditions for the lead role in the campus play of "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof." Steve is reunited with Laura Kingman, where he coaches her for the same lead role, while Kelly also wants in on the part. Meanwhile, Brandon brushes off continuing advances from his new admirer Clare Arnold, the daughter of the university's chancellor, who won't take "no" for an answer when she handcuffs herself to his bed. Also, Dylan tries to help a jealous Erica accept her mother's new chemist boyfriend, Kevin Weaver.

When Brenda and Kelly are called back to final auditions, the resulting competition puts a serious strain on their friendship. Steve continues to coach Laura for the lead, and she ends up making a superior performance, brushing aside Brenda. Meanwhile, Brandon is still being perused by Clare who has a crush on him. So, she tricks Brandon into taking her out to her senior prom at her posh boarding school which leads to Brandon getting decked by an angry passerby at Clare's hotel post-prom party. Also, Jesse's not around when Andrea has a medical emergency and she's forced to call on Donna for help to take her to the hospital. Elsewhere, Kevin continues to charm his way into Dylan and Suzanne's life which makes Kelly feel left out.

After Brenda finally wins the lead role in the play, the unbalanced Laura attempts to sabotage Brenda's acting career by spreading rumors that she granted sexual favors with Randolph to win the lead. Meanwhile, Kevin impresses Dylan and Erica when they visit his lab where he tells Dylan about his clean-up plans for Santa Monica bay which are under funded. So, Dylan asks Kevin if he could act as his beneficiary to open up his own chemical clean-up company, while Kevin also announces his engagement to Suzanne. Kelly continues to resent Suzanne and Kevin's presence which drives a further rift between her and Dylan after she tells him that her 'Woman's Intuation' tells her that something is not right about Kevin and Suzanne. Jesse also suggests more bed-rest for Andrea who continues to feel unwell over her pregnancy. Also, Brandon speaks with Clare's skeptical father over her wild behavior and her advances towards him while she's making future plans to travel with him.

Dylan and Kelly finally call their relationship quits due to him spending more time with Erica, Suzanne and Kevin, and Kelly openly expressing that she doesn't trust Suzanne and Kevin over their continued presence. Erica tells Dylan that she overheard her mother and boyfriend talking about moving to South America, while Kevin and Suzanne easily convince Dylan they want to relocate Kevin's new chemical company to Arizona. Meanwhile, Brenda finds old feelings for Dylan returning when he gives her an opening-night gift medal before the play. Dylan considers investing in Kevin's business offer by financing it, as does Jim who agrees to be a silent partner. Elsewhere, David sees danger of his drug use returning when working with a new rock band for the CU's Mardi Gras. Andrea is hospitalized and has strange dreams, fearing she may lose the baby. Also, Brandon tries to get to meet with an elusive Chancellor Arnold, after he sees that his name is not on a list of task force members to meet the president, thinking that his times with Clare may have cost him the trip to Washington. But, Brandon eventually learns that his name being absent from the list was just a typo mistake all along.

In the two-part season finale, Brandon goes to Washington D.C. as a part of the college task force to meet the president. Kelly follows Brandon to Washington to get him out of a jam when Clare and Lucinda arrive at the hotel to pursue him. At the CU Mardi Gras, David impresses pop star Kenneth "Babyface" Edmunds, and his recording manager Ariel with his keyboard music and Donna catches David in a very compromising position with Ariel. Steve runs into Celeste who's now with John Sears. Kevin and Suzanne get married in a semi-formal ceremony where he persuades Dylan to cut out any outside investment in their business offer. Jim becomes angry at Dylan for making such a rash move and Dylan fires Jim as his financial holder. Dylan then goes to a bank and gives Kevin full power-of-attorney control over his money, unaware that Kevin and Suzanne have had a hidden agenda for Dylan's inheritance all this time. After her major success in the CU play, Brenda gets a scholarship offer to study acting in London and she pays a visit to Dylan's place before leaving. Also, Andrea and Jesse experience the joys and fears of parenthood after their daughter is born.

The Walshes welcome Valerie Malone, a young and charming family friend from Buffalo, who moves into Brenda's room after she leaves for England. But unknown to everybody, Valerie is secretly revealed to be a manipulative, cynical and callous woman with a taste for drugs and hard liquor. Meanwhile, Donna returns from her summer stay in Texas and claims that she's over with David, who's doing a video for his film class about his travels during the summer. But that evening, Donna has an emotional breakdown when she runs into David at a nightclub. Steve returns from his summer vacation in Hawaii and decides to pursue Kelly, unaware that she's involved with Brandon. Dylan returns from his summer stay in Baja, Mexico and is revealed to have gone back to drinking since learning that Kevin and Suzanne have swindled him and skipped town with all of his money, and Erica. Also, Andrea and Jesse finally take their new baby daughter, Hannah, home.

Donna announces to the gang that she has decided to move to Houston to be a débutante. But Kelly eventually learns that Donna still emotionally fragile since her breakup with David and she's hiding behind her mother just to avoid running into him. Dylan also finds out that his entire bank account is cleaned out by Kevin and Suzanne's scam, but alienated with life and embarrassed and ashamed at himself for what happened, Dylan keeps his financial problem to himself. Meanwhile, Brandon decides to tell Dylan about him and Kelly, but chickens out after seeing him drinking again. Later, at a banquet for Donna's, Dylan crashes the party and creates an ugly scene after being inadvertently tipped off by Nat about Brandon and Kelly. Dylan then goes to a nightclub where Jesse is bar-tending and tries to get a drink, but Jesse turns him away, and Dylan also picks up a prostitute at the bar. When Kelly comes over to Dylan's out to talk to him, she finds him with the scantly clad prostitute. When Donna's mother criticizes her behavior by accepting a dance with D'Shawn, she decides to face up to Felice and stay in Beverly Hills. The university's day-care program leaves Andrea wanting to spend more time with her baby. Also, Brandon is reunited with Josh Richland who offers him a chance to run with him for campus office.

Brandon runs for vice president alongside Josh and does great when he steps in and gives a speech in Josh's place. Their campaign is threatened, however, when Alex Diaz - their opponent's campaign manager - uncovers the unpublished article that Josh wrote about Brandon the previous year, detailing Brandon's tutoring of D'Shawn and alleging that Brandon took tests for D'Shawn. Donna asks Clare (now attending C.U. as a sophomore) to move into the beach apartment in David's place, but Clare brings a bad snoring habit with her. Meanwhile, Valerie secretly decides to pursue Dylan after finding Brenda's mementos of him in the Walsh's garage, and hides her connection to the Walshes from him.

Brandon has trouble coping with Josh's sudden death in a car accident, which is a challenge to his political position when he's forced to fill Josh's shoes. Meanwhile, Donna finds a new man for herself, a KEG member named Griffin Stone, who her mother wants her to date. David meets Clare for the first time, and they, too, become close. Also, Valerie continues pursuing Dylan, who lays out ground rules that their clandestine relationship is based purely on sex, while Valerie continues her "good girl" charade in front of Steve and everyone else.

Kelly's senses alert her to be suspicious of Valerie's true unwholesome colors when she catches her smoking pot and she naturally makes a big fuss about it. But to Kelly's surprise, she cannot get a sympathetic ear. Steve refuses to believe Kelly, thinking that she's just jealous. Even Brandon is skeptic and tells Kelly to give Valerie the benefit of a doubt. However, Donna doesn't seem to care and tells Kelly that what Valerie does in her spare time is none of their business. Later when Kelly sees Valerie at the Peach Pit drinking and flirting with Dylan, she immediately tells Steve. But when then both confront her, Valerie (a true master of manipulation) convinces Steve (but not Kelly) that it was Dylan who made a pass at HER. All in the meantime, Valerie begins to grow suspicions of Dylan's cash-flow state when she discovers him stealing money from the Peach Pit to support himself. Meanwhile, Steve decides to revitalize the Peach Pit by throwing a rave party to boost business. While working on a video project with David and Clare, Donna meets a musician and carpenter named Ray Pruit. Also, Andrea juggles college and child care.

Brandon, now the new student body president of CU, has his first challenge when he is pressed into action by some human-rights activist students who are against the chancellor's friend Quintaro, a visiting Asian dignitary from a fictitious South-East Asian country of Selanesia, who is accused of human-rights violations which puts Brandon at odds with both Clare and Chancellor Arnold. Meanwhile, Valerie helps Steve, Kelly, and fellow KEG members Griffin and Muntz, plan the theft of a rival college's mascot, a huge stuffed bear, during homecoming weekend. Donna skips the caper to spend some time with Ray at his family's pumpkin stand. Also, Andrea is depressed when Jesse is spending more time studying and bar tending than being with her. Andrea then meets a mysterious guy, named Peter, at her local laundromat. Elsewhere, Dylan forces Valerie to keep his financial situation a secret. But when Valerie later walks in on Dylan cheating on her with a local prostitute, she vows revenge.

Kelly's disapproval of her mother's return to modeling increases when she learns that her baby sister Erin is involved. Meanwhile, the Walshes finally learn that Dylan is broke when the proposed Peach Pit expansion leads to an exposure of his finances. Valerie, still smearing with both anger and pity after catching Dylan cheating on her, confirms to them that Dylan is bankrupt. Jim then offers Dylan financial assistance. But the growingly misanthropic Dylan is too far gone to accept any sympathy and rudely blows off Jim. While Donna has trouble balancing the affections of both Griffin and Ray, she sees Griffin's sleazy other side when he whisks her away for an overnight trip to Catalina Island and attempts to seduce her. David's love experiment by handcuffing himself to Clare's bed to win her affections backfires when her father shows up and takes her out to dinner, leaving David alone. The next morning, when Steve and David come over to Dylan's house to talk about the Peach Pit After Dark expansion, they find Valerie in bed with Dylan. Steve, being the person he is, draws the wrong conclusion and responds by punching Dylan in the face.

On Halloween night, Donna becomes scared when her two suitors, Ray and Griffin, finally cross paths during a costume party at the KEG house. After being shunned by the Walshes and the rest of the gang, Valerie considers moving back to Buffalo, but decides to stay after learning that her mother has suffered a nervous breakdown. Steve unfairly blames Dylan for having a tryst with Valerie, and breaks his business agreement with the Peach Pit After Dark. Valerie also fails to bewitch Dylan who's sinking deeper into depravity with hard drugs, while Brandon reacts coldly towards Valerie after finding out that she skipped out on Steve's frat party to be with Dylan after she promised everyone to stay away from him. Meanwhile, Andrea's not pleased to see the cross necklace her baby daughter Hannah receives at a Day of the Dead celebration. Also, Clare talks David into a UFO hunt for the night in the desert near Barstow, CA.

Dylan enters a rehab center after all of his friends conduct an intervention. Valerie and Clare, left out of the intervention, spend the day shopping and bonding with each other. But after one day, Dylan runs away from the clinic with a little of Valerie's help. Dylan then alienates Valerie more with his continuing drug use and attitude in which she walks out on him for good. Kelly gets a modeling offer from Seventeen magazine. Meanwhile, Ray has dinner with Donna's wary parents Felice and John. Also, David and Clare's homemade video of their lovemaking disappears and turns up in the home of Donna's parents.

When Dylan is put in a coma after a car accident while driving under the influence of heroin, bizarre near-death dreams he has mirror his fight for life which involve his drug dealer, his high school principal Mrs. Teasley, Kevin, Suzanne, Erica, Valerie, the Walshes, and his own long-dead father, Jack. Meanwhile, Steve is bothered by the appearance of his annoying and overbearing father, Rush, at a flag-football tournament as part of the KEG sports weekend.

Brandon and Dean Trimble are caught in the middle of a conflict when several Jewish students, including Andrea, protest the scheduled campus appearance of a controversial, anti-Semitist, African-American orator, in which the demonstrations and near-riots disrupt Kelly's photo shoot for the magazine. Meanwhile, Donna plans a party for Ray's 25th birthday. In the hospital, Dylan spends the time talking with his mother Iris, while his drug dealer pays an unexpected visit and threatens him not to tell the police about their business.

Jim gets Brandon tickets to the Rolling Stones' Rose Bowl concert, but a hearing to determine the legality of his presidency is moved to the night of the concert. Jesse argues that Brandon is already the legitimate president, as he has been calling senate meetings to order; the challenge to the presidency is denied. Brandon takes Andrea to the concert. Kelly gets backstage access through the magazine, while braggart Steve has trouble getting in at all after a hippie steals his wallet. Ray and Donna work as vendors and see the show free of charge. David and Clare go to the concert even though they claim to hate the group, but have to turn to a scalper when Mel lets them down. Steve and his father force Dylan out of the Peach Pit After Dark. He agrees to sell his shares when Steve, Nat, and Willie (the cook) visit him in rehab. Dylan and Valerie agree to stop seeing each other, as he doesn't want to involve her in his problems. During group therapy, Dylan has a confrontation with Charley, an older man who likes to bully other patients instead of dealing with his own problems. Charley seeks Dylan's help to finally overcome his addiction.

Emily flies back from Paris to attend a seminar at La Jolla. She asks Brandon to meet her at the airport, claiming to have just a four-hour layover. She actually has a week until the beginning of her seminar, but Brandon breaks her heart by revealing that he is dating Kelly. When he sees her back to her hotel room, they share a passionate kiss. Steve and Griffin organize a holiday rave at an abandoned house. Valerie helps them out in the hopes of getting back in Steve's good graces. David and Clare accidentally post the notice about the event on a computer bulletin board for lesbians, who constitute most of the guests. The house has very poor wiring and continually blows fuses. Griffin uses too much electricity, and the house catches on fire. Ray rescues Steve and Valerie, who were fooling around in one of the bedrooms. Kelly and a girl named Allison are trapped in a downstairs bathroom with no means of escape. The firefighters try to reach them as they are engulfed by flames.

In the aftermath of the house fire, Kelly suffers second and third degree burns on right wrist, ear, and the whole right side of her neck. Allison's injuries are much more severe, but she maintains a positive attitude. Brandon is racked with guilt because of his feelings for Emily. Kelly does not react well when she learns that Emily is still in town. She calls Dylan to discuss her insecurities and Brandon visits him in search of advice. Kelly believes that Brandon is only staying with her out of guilt, but Emily eases her mind when she reveals that he expressed his love for Kelly before the fire. Meanwhile, Steve feels guilty for the house fire and calls upon his father, Rush, to help out. Griffin's father hires an accomplished attorney for Steve and Griffin where Rush advices both to plead guilty to criminal trespassing in order to avoid jail time. Steve and Griffin receive two years of probation and community service... and are forbidden from operating dance clubs or parties for two years. Steve is furious to learn of this provision, especially after he discovers that Griffin in fact stole the keys from his father's real estate office to the house, rather than obtaining permission to use it for the rave. Steve tells his father that he didn't know about what Griffin did, but Rush (being more arrogant and narrow-minded) refuses to believe Steve and tells him not to ever call on him again for help. Afterwards, Steve physically attacks Griffin and orders him to leave the fraternity. Elsewhere, Ray's perpetual bad mood confuses Donna. He explains that his mother always begins drinking around the holidays, as his drunkard father left her on Christmas... after pushing her down the stairs and causing her to have a miscarriage. Andrea and Jesse throw a party for Hannah's first Hanukkah. Jesse obtains work as an attorney for those who cannot afford representation. He is frustrated by the court treatment of a single Mexican immigrant father, whose kids are taken away when a babysitter neglects them. At the end, Dylan comes home from rehab and is greeted by a letter from a stranger who found Erica's bathroom note pleading for his help.

Donna's snobbish mother, Felice, puts Ray's feelings for her daughter to a test by offering him money to stop seeing her, while Ray's alcoholic, chain-smoking, redneck mother, LuAnn, goes Christmas shopping with Donna. Differing family traditions cause tension between the Catholic Jesse and the Jewish Andrea. Clare introduces David to her father during a faculty Christmas party who finds common ground with him over their love of music. Meanwhile, Dylan goes to his old friend, Christine Pettit, from the FBI to help him find his stolen money. Unable to help Dylan, Christine then contacts an alcoholic, former FBI agent-turned-bounty hunter/private investigator, named Jay J. Jones (Jonesy), who contacts Dylan on Christmas Day and offers to track down his money in exchange for getting a full share of it. Brandon is left alone to care for the recovering Kelly when Jim and Cindy leave town to visit Brenda in England and Valerie leaves to visit her mother in Buffalo. Also, Nat hosts a special holiday feed-the-homeless dinner at the Peach Pit.

Steve begins community service at a retirement home and meets Saul Howard, an ex-entertainer with Alzheimer's disease, whom Steve confides in with his problems. Dylan asks Jesse for advice when he is told to appear in court over his car accident. Meanwhile, Valerie returns to Beverly Hills after spending a sunny Christmas vacation in the Caribbean, instead of visiting her mother in Buffalo, which prompts a cold response from Kelly who openly admits to everyone that she despises Valerie and doesn't trust her for a second. Ray declines a request by Donna to perform at the opening of the Peach Pit After Dark nightclub. While working at the hospital as a resident intern, Andrea has a run in with an attractive doctor named Peter Tucker.

On their semester break, Dylan and Brandon take a motorcycle trip through California and they end up being subjected to slave labor by a Native American sheriff for trespassing on a reservation, which helps dissipate the tensions between both of them over Kelly. Meanwhile, Kelly benefits from attending psychology workshop seminars run by a famous, psychology professor named Patrick Finley. Donna tries to help Ray get over his stage fright on the eve of his debut at the grand opening of the Peach Pit After Dark. Steve spends the weekend moping over his father, Rush, taking over the Peach Pit After Dark club from him.

Dylan recruits Valerie to help him and Jonesy pull off a caper in Punta Brava, Mexico to reclaim his lost money after they find Kevin and Suzanne. Jones and Valerie pose as a couple at a resort hotel where they befriend Kevin and Suzanne (aka: Karl and Kitty Cavendish) in order to get to know more about where they keep Dylan's stolen money. But when Dylan wants to rescue his sister Erica, Jones backs out, leaving Dylan to carry on a rash rescue attempt alone. In Beverly Hills, Brandon feels threatened by Kelly's relationship with Professor Finley when Brandon starts dealing with criticism by the dean concerning the professor's tenure and his unorthodox teaching methods. When Brandon meets Professor Finley for the first time to question him about his teaching methods, he sees another side to Finley who lashes out at Brandon which causes a rift between him and Kelly.

Kelly's continued involvement with Professor Finley and his conflict against the college faculty to preserve his tenure frustrates Brandon since he knows about Finley's hostile and paranoid attitude. Meanwhile, Valerie seeks a reward for helping Dylan recover his money and asks both him and Jones to cut her in on a large share. David's old flame Ariel Hunter, now a music company rep, returns and woos Ray to get him to sign a music deal, much to Donna's worry. Also, Andrea flirts with trouble when she starts seeing Peter while Jesse is away on business.

Steve tries to secure the R&B group "Jade" for a Valentines Day telethon at the Peach Pit After Dark. Meanwhile, Brandon coaxes Kelly away from Professor Finley and his work at his newly opened commune, but only for the moment. After moving out of the Walshes and into a hotel suite, using some of Dylan's money, Valerie comes onto Ray who's having problems with Donna and pressures him into an affair. Ray's mother, LuAnn, figures out that Ray cheated on Donna when he doesn't come home after that night, and covers for him when Donna comes calling asking of Ray's whereabouts. Also, Andrea with Jesse meets Peter and his wife, but that doesn't disrupt their feelings for each other.

When a rainstorm hits Beverly Hills for the week, Andrea gets a job at the hospital where Peter works just to be near him. Valerie refuses to accept a "no" from Ray in response to a relationship with him. Meanwhile, Dylan goes undercover as a new Finley follower at the commune to spy on him and Kelly, while Brandon questions Chancellor Arnold and then seeks out a former Finley follower to speak to Kelly about Professor Finley's true racial and unethical ways.

An unseen psycho, who may be the creepy grad student Lenny, creates a crime wave on the CU campus which includes the rape of a coed, worrying everyone. Meanwhile, Ray decides to leave town after Valerie buys the Peach Pit After Dark from Steve's father for her own use. Peter tempts Andrea to stay out late at the hospital with him, so she gives in to his requests to sleep with him. Also, Dylan is tempted by Valerie to fall off the wagon again. Seeking answers to his path in life, Dylan tracks down and finds his rehab friend Charlie Rollins, a motel owner, where Charlie tells him his idea of writing a movie screenplay to make money and asks Dylan for a little help.

Lenny becomes an outcast when he is suspected of the campus rape despite his protest of innocence which prompts him to ask Brandon to help him prove his innocence. At the same time, the real rapist stalks an unsuspecting Donna and violently attacks her in the beach apartment. Meanwhile, Dylan accidentally becomes privy to Andrea's affair with Peter when he sees them together at Charlie's motel. When Andrea decides to leave Jesse to be with Peter, he reveals that he doesn't share the same views as she. Elsewhere, Valerie asks Steve to help secure the rock group "The Flaming Lips" after she cancels Ray's bookings, and Donna wrongly blames David for Ray's departure after Valerie lies to her that David is the one responsible for Ray leaving town.

Brandon, Kelly, Donna and Steve appear in Clare and David's cinema verity project which ends up revealing truths from their pasts to each other. Valerie moves back in with the Walshes after being evicted from her hotel suite. Meanwhile, Dylan helps Charlie work on a movie screenplay and more help comes from Valerie who repeatedly temps Dylan. After visiting a therapist, Andrea considers telling Jesse about her affair. But she is unprepared when Jesse has a confession of his own for her.

Brandon and Clare have the same bad dreams involving "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek and announcer Johnny Gilbert while competing with each other and Andrea for a spot in the show's college tournament. After learning from Andrea about her affair, Jesse moves in with Dylan and talks about the possibility of divorce while Dylan tries to reason with him to make up with her. Meanwhile, the reconciliation of Mel and Jackie gives David hope of reuniting with Donna whom he still has feelings for.

During spring break, Donna visits Ray now living in Portland, Oregon and David tags along to visit his mother only to learn that she has disappeared. So David, along with Donna and his father, Mel, follow a strange trail of the past to find her, while Ray begins to show increasingly signs of jealousy over Donna helping David find his mother. Back in Beverly Hills, Dylan undergoes hypnosis by a therapist in his research to find ideas for a screenplay for Charlie, while Valerie considers and gets a tattoo for herself.

Sagging attendance at the Peach Pit After Dark draws David back to the stage with a talented new partner named Juwan, a young gang member whose performance is threatened by violence from a disgruntled band. Valerie flies to Reno, Nevada to ask Ray to come back to the After Dark when Donna lobbies for his return. Meanwhile, Brandon becomes a guide to Warren, a young and bright, but immature and spoiled genius coveted by Chancellor Arnold to attend the university. Also, Dylan has a disturbing experience with hypnotic regression.

Kelly finally becomes a cover girl on Seventeen magazine, but hesitates to continue modeling due to her fire burn scars. While coping with her newfound stardom, Kelly learns that she has a new admirer: the horribly scared Alison from the fire that night. Ray returns to Beverly Hills and to a bravo return appearance at the After Dark. But Ray's mother LuAnn, in an intoxicated state, ends up tipping off David and Clare about his unfaithfulness to Donna with Valerie. After David and Clare confront Ray, and then Valerie, they decide not to tell Donna to avoid hurting her feelings. Meanwhile, Andrea thinks about her future after Jesse is offered a law position in Idaho. Also, Dylan continues talking with Charlie about the correct script for themselves.

Hypnotic regression leads Dylan to a past life where he is Billy McCoy, a gun-slinging outlaw in the Wild West, until he meets an upper-class woman (in the form of Kelly) to redeem his outlaw ways. Meanwhile in the real world, while Kelly goes to New York with Steve to meet with modeling agencies, Valerie turns her sights on Brandon who is hoping to be re-elected student body president. But Brandon runs into all kinds of problems when news of college tuition for undergraduates will be increased, he is criticized for not looking after the students best interests. As a result, Brandon's political rival, Alex Diaz, enters the race as a new candidate and wins by a landslide.

Dylan makes summer plans for a trip around the world with Kelly while Brandon counters with a marriage proposal, forcing her to make a decision. Donna tries to cope with Ray's growing hostility as they confront their differences. Meanwhile, Andrea and Jesse go through a tearful going away party at West Beverly high school before leaving town to go to Yale. Also, Jim gets a promotion which means moving to Hong Kong.

The gang goes to Palm Springs for the national KEG/ALPHA fraternity/sorority convention, where Steve tries to find the perfect woman for himself after he rejects the blind date his father sets him up with. But Steve gets more than he bargained for when he meets a shady women named Elle. Kelly spends a day shopping with Alison in which David and Clare misinterpret their relationship as something else. Jim and Cindy put their house up for sale before moving away to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Donna brings Ray along to make up with him, but later regrets it when he injures her during a fight, while he manages to stay on the good side of her mother. In another part of town, Dylan and Charlie meet with Tom Rose, a mobster-type businessman as a potential backer for their film who agrees to finance their movie, but only if Tom's beautiful, but untalented mistress, gets the lead role.

In Palm Springs, Brandon reacts coldly to Kelly after mistakenly thinking that she and Allison are more than friends; he considers surrendering to Valerie's advances toward him. Things get even worse for Brandon after he's arrested for driving Valerie's car when he's pulled over by a traffic policeman, who finds Valerie's marijuana stash in it. Meanwhile, Steve finally learns Elle's secret of being "more than a woman." Donna decides to give the possessive Ray a second chance, and rudely blows off Valerie, revealing she's figured out that Valerie seduced Ray. Also, Tom Rose and his thugs threaten Dylan with death when they catch him phoning agent Christine Pettit to make a background check of Mr. Rose, for they know something about Dylan's father's murder. This prompts Dylan to terminate his partnership with Charlie and return to Beverly Hills, determined more than ever to find the mobster who ordered his father's killing.

In the aftermath of the house fire, Kelly suffers second and third degree burns on right wrist, ear, and the whole right side of her neck. Allison's injuries are much more severe, but she maintains a positive attitude. Brandon is racked with guilt because of his feelings for Emily. Kelly does not react well when she learns that Emily is still in town. She calls Dylan to discuss her insecurities and Brandon visits him in search of advice. Kelly believes that Brandon is only staying with her out of guilt, but Emily eases her mind when she reveals that he expressed his love for Kelly before the fire. Meanwhile, Steve feels guilty for the house fire and calls upon his father, Rush, to help out. Griffin's father hires an accomplished attorney for Steve and Griffin where Rush advices both to plead guilty to criminal trespassing in order to avoid jail time. Steve and Griffin receive two years of probation and community service... and are forbidden from operating dance clubs or parties for two years. Steve is furious to learn of this provision, especially after he discovers that Griffin in fact stole the keys from his father's real estate office to the house, rather than obtaining permission to use it for the rave. Steve tells his father that he didn't know about what Griffin did, but Rush (being more arrogant and narrow-minded) refuses to believe Steve and tells him not to ever call on him again for help. Afterwards, Steve physically attacks Griffin and orders him to leave the fraternity. Elsewhere, Ray's perpetual bad mood confuses Donna. He explains that his mother always begins drinking around the holidays, as his drunkard father left her on Christmas... after pushing her down the stairs and causing her to have a miscarriage. Andrea and Jesse throw a party for Hannah's first Hanukkah. Jesse obtains work as an attorney for those who cannot afford representation. He is frustrated by the court treatment of a single Mexican immigrant father, whose kids are taken away when a babysitter neglects them. At the end, Dylan comes home from rehab and is greeted by a letter from a stranger who found Erica's bathroom note pleading for his help.

Kelly finally becomes a cover girl on Seventeen magazine, but hesitates to continue modeling due to her fire burn scars. While coping with her newfound stardom, Kelly learns that she has a new admirer: the horribly scared Alison from the fire that night. Ray returns to Beverly Hills and to a bravo return appearance at the After Dark. But Ray's mother LuAnn, in an intoxicated state, ends up tipping off David and Clare about his unfaithfulness to Donna with Valerie. After David and Clare confront Ray, and then Valerie, they decide not to tell Donna to avoid hurting her feelings. Meanwhile, Andrea thinks about her future after Jesse is offered a law position in Idaho. Also, Dylan continues talking with Charlie about the correct script for themselves.

Brandon and Dean Trimble are caught in the middle of a conflict when several Jewish students, including Andrea, protest the scheduled campus appearance of a controversial, anti-Semitist, African-American orator, in which the demonstrations and near-riots disrupt Kelly's photo shoot for the magazine. Meanwhile, Donna plans a party for Ray's 25th birthday. In the hospital, Dylan spends the time talking with his mother Iris, while his drug dealer pays an unexpected visit and threatens him not to tell the police about their business.

Jim gets Brandon tickets to the Rolling Stones' Rose Bowl concert, but a hearing to determine the legality of his presidency is moved to the night of the concert. Jesse argues that Brandon is already the legitimate president, as he has been calling senate meetings to order; the challenge to the presidency is denied. Brandon takes Andrea to the concert. Kelly gets backstage access through the magazine, while braggart Steve has trouble getting in at all after a hippie steals his wallet. Ray and Donna work as vendors and see the show free of charge. David and Clare go to the concert even though they claim to hate the group, but have to turn to a scalper when Mel lets them down. Steve and his father force Dylan out of the Peach Pit After Dark. He agrees to sell his shares when Steve, Nat, and Willie (the cook) visit him in rehab. Dylan and Valerie agree to stop seeing each other, as he doesn't want to involve her in his problems. During group therapy, Dylan has a confrontation with Charley, an older man who likes to bully other patients instead of dealing with his own problems. Charley seeks Dylan's help to finally overcome his addiction.