After Kelly kills her rapist, she is arrested by the police who, though they believe her self-defense story, they still want to prosecute her for possessing a stolen gun. Kelly refuses to reveal that Dylan gave her the gun. Meanwhile, David kicks Dylan out of his house after finding Gina and Dylan in bed. Donna throws Gina out of the beach house after hearing Gina bad-mouth Kelly to TV reporters. Gina moves into Dylan's hotel suite at the same hotel where he lived as a teenager. Noah refuses to associate with Donna or anyone near her, while Donna thinks that her involvement with Wayne was a mistake when all he wants to do is have fun as Kelly is going through hell. Steve is perplexed with Janet's behavior after she tells him she loves him and then later says she's not sure the relationship is working.

Steve mistakenly assumes that Janet's secret is that she wants to break up with him, but when she tells him that she's four months pregnant, Steve does not seem happy. Meanwhile, Donna tries to reconcile with Noah, but he doesn't want to talk to her, considering he's with another woman from the After Dark. Dylan tries to help out Lucy Wilson, a former high school girlfriend living at the Bel Aire Hotel after she is arrested for drug possession. Matt continues to try to help Kelly recover from the shooting by taking her to a support group. Pretending that her car has broken down and that she needs David's help, Gina begins a new plan of revenge against everybody when she keeps David away from the surprise birthday party that the rest of the gang is planning for him at the After Dark.

Dylan is denied college readmission due to a lame essay and missing the deadline to submit his application. Meanwhile, Kelly and Donna prepare the reopening of the boutique, a fashion show of Donna's men's line. Hours before the New York buyers are to arrive for the show, Gina accidentally sets fire to the rack of -of-a-kind men's clothes. Donna's friends assemble to salvage the fashions and the guys step in as models when the actual models are stuck in traffic. When Matt realizes that Gina set the fire deliberately to ruin Kelly and Donna, he uses the information to pressure Gina to help with the show's publicity. Also, the realities of fatherhood strike Steve, who doubts his ability to be a father but doesn't tell Janet.

Steve practices marriage proposals for Janet, who thinks she only wants help to raise their unborn child. Meanwhile, Dylan asks Gina to move out of his hotel suite and into another one because he not only wants space but also because she keeps spending his money. Matt's announcement of his cautious view of marriage angers Kelly, who believes in lifelong commitment. Meanwhile, while representing a woman who wants out of her 15-year marriage at all costs, Matt's belief in his failed marriage increased. David's date, Robyn, joins him on his radio show to discuss their date and its aftereffects on-air. Noah's attitude toward Donna and the others changes when he hosts a new band for the After Dark and he learns that the band leader's cousin was Wayne.

Steve and Janet finally break the news of her pregnancy, which garners hostility from her conservative mother and father, and mixed reactions from his unorthodox father, Rush. Meanwhile, David tries to curb his radio persona in an attempt to make up with Robyn, but is sidetracked by fans wanting more of his love life. Both Matt and Noah offer to move out of the house to make room for Steve and Janet's nursery. Also, Dylan tries to help out a hotel maid who has to bring her two wild sons to work with her. Gina proposes a plan to Noah, to turn the After Dark into a gentlemen's club to make some quick cash.

David's brash, new radio persona received flack from Donna and others, but also high ratings. Meanwhile, Matt and Kelly clash when he goes to court to try to overturn the death sentence for a convicted rapist-murderer, while Kelly also gets a visit from the parents of her rapist. Noah and Gina continue running their secret gentlemen's club in the After Dark, but the place attracts the wrong attention when the police raid it after several nuisance complaints, arresting both Noah and Donna. Gina slips away with David's father, Mel, who's also in attendance. Steve and Janet clash over their plans for Halloween as Steve wants to decorate the house and Janet wants to appear in a band that's playing at a 1980's Halloween party at the After Dark.

Kelly and Dylan are asked to be the godparents of Steve and Janet's baby and so they travel to Ojai to plan their approaching wedding. There, Kelly and Dylan question their link to each other. Meanwhile, Steve hesitates to trade in his beloved Corvette for a mini-van. But then David takes matters in his own hands when a shady performance artist, named Marta, offers $28,000 for Steve's car. A homeless man's death affects Donna which sets her and Noah out to learn the history of the anonymous man. Matt's determination to overturn the death sentence for his imprisoned client continues to anger Kelly. Also, Gina begins blackmailing Mel Silver for $1,000 a week in order to remain silent about his philandering. At the end, when the ever greedy Gina demands even more money from Mel for her silence, he refuses to pay. So, Gina does not hesitate to make an anonymous phone call to Kelly's mother.

Steve and Janet get married.

Kelly finally learns from Mel that Gina had blackmailed him over his infidelity. But when Kelly tells David, he refuses to believe her or anyone thanks to his renewed involvement with Gina and her skill of manipulation. At the same time, Kelly's mother, Jackie, asks Matt to represent her in suing David's father, while their daughter, Erin, shows obvious signs of depression over the breakup. Meanwhile, Dylan goes to bat for Andrew when he loses his job at the community center. But Dylan's victory over the center is bittersweet when word of Andrew's homosexuality spreads among the kids in which they no longer want Andrew around. Kelly also has to deal with Noah's presence in the beach front apartment which takes up space. Also, Steve and Janet's honeymoon is plagued by a series of mishaps and situations one of which includes a loud polka band playing in the room next to theirs.

Janet goes into premature labor near the end of the honeymoon and gives birth to a baby girl, while Steve maintains a vigil through the week as he worries about the safety of Janet and their newborn. Meanwhile, Dylan asks Kelly and Nat to volunteer in a feed-the-homeless Thanksgiving dinner at the community center. Kelly, seeking a way to boost Jackie's mood, asks her to help out with the dinner, while little Erin continues to mope about her parents' separation. Donna learns of a past indiscretion by her father with Gina's mother, which brings out revelations that could threaten to tear Donna's family apart. Also, David becomes uncertain about where Gina stands with him over her breakup with Dylan.

Dylan gives an expensive painting to Kelly as a gift which disturbs Matt thinking that Dylan is trying to buy Kelly's affections again. Meanwhile, Donna finally tells Gina their whole story about that they are half sisters, which throws Gina into anger and frustration. But Donna learns that Noah hasn't told her all of his life story when he tells her that he never went to Harvard. After returning from the hospital, Steve becomes overprotective of baby Madeline. Also, David's jealousy surfaces again when Gina confides in Dylan instead of him with her personal troubles.

As Christmas approaches, Gina's meeting with Dr. Martin as her biological father is awkward and unsatisfying, similar to Janet and her parents when they accidentally run into each other at a Christmas tree lot. Steve eventually confronts Janet's parents and tells them to stop acting cold towards her and him. Donna's mother, Felice, offers to help Gina financially, but she refuses. Meanwhile, Donna can't let go of Noah's accident years ago resulting in the death of his girlfriend which leads to her and him considering breaking up. Also, Dylan loses control in front of kids during a Christmas gathering at the community center when he punches a belligerent neighbor complaining about the center's residents hanging around his house. Matt takes advantage of a client's latest fee to buy Kelly an engagement ring and proposes marriage which she accepts. But Dylan confides in David about him still having strong feelings for Kelly.

The loss of a client's business puts Matt in financial straits because of the engagement ring he bough for Kelly which was paid for with the retainer. Gina tries to help Matt by asking Dylan for the $15,000 Matt owes, but Matt refuses the money because of his own pride and reliance, while he begins lying to Kelly about his financial problems. Meanwhile, Dylan grows uncomfortable about God-parenting to Kelly because of her engagement. David and others benefit from a man's crush on Donna whom she asks out on a date that flops. Also, Noah attempts to fight his loss over breaking up with Donna by hanging out with a pair of wild and crazy swingers, named Josie and her brother Shane, that come to the After Dark every night.

Donna and David meet promising new mates for themselves, she with an unpredictable businessman named Jerry, and he with a law clerk named Chrissy. Meanwhile, Kelly decides to quit working at the boutique store. Soon after being suspended by the state bar for misappropriate use of legal funds, Matt violates his suspension by taking a case of an injured factory worker, until Chrissy finds out and threatens him. The increasingly moody Dylan suffers from the fast-lane acquaintances of Noah's which takes a turn for the worse when both Dylan and Gina are arrested when Josie's stash of drugs is found in the limo they take for a drive. Also, Steve and Janet hire a nanny, named Darby, for baby Madeleine whom Noah asks out on a date.

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.

Dylan's generous wedding gift of two open-ended airplane tickets vexes both Kelly and Matt who consider moving to Seattle for Matt to interview for a job at a prestigious law firm. Meanwhile, Steve and Janet receive an offer by a businessman to buy their newspaper which Janet will run it where as Steve will not which sets both of them to try out a trial run of Steve being with baby Maddy for a week while Janet runs the office. Donna tells David that she wants to keep their relationship strictly platonic, while Donna's mother, Felice, tells her that she has decided to put the family house up for sale. Also, Noah meets Ellen's family which includes her mother and Ellen's six-year-old, out-of-wedlock daughter.

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.

After David proposes marriage to Donna, both of them contemplate the matter and finally make a big decision. With Janet's career as a junior editor for the new owner of the Beverly Beat taking off, Steve become conflicted about being an unemployed stay-at-home father for baby Maddy. Kelly, while trying to open her independent public relations company, must make her own final decision on marrying Matt to console him after he learns that his brother in New York has suddenly died, and an uncertain-of-himself Dylan after he gets his college diploma. When Kelly tells Matt that she cannot marry him out of uncertainty, he lets the slip about his one-night stand during the desert road trip. Also, Noah contemplates commitment to Ellen and her daughter, but when he feels he's not ready, he breaks up with Ellen for good.

David and Donna announce their engagement in which all of their friends rush to give them the perfect wedding with Donna's mother, Felice, and Kelly's mother, Jackie, taking over the arrangements and Nat catering for the ceremony and agreeing to escort Donna down the church aisle. Meanwhile, Steve asks Janet to help him form their own publishing company so they both can have time for baby Maddie. Noah returns to Ellen and tells her that he has decided to give their relationship a second chance. At Donna's pre-wedding party, Kelly, Janet, Felice and Jackie are in attendance as well as friends from their past who include West Beverly High principal Mrs. Yvonne Teasley, as well as Andrea Zuckerman and even Valerie Malone. At David's bachelor party, Steve, Noah, Dylan, Nat, and David's father Mel attend the gathering as well as Steve's stepbrother Ryan and former KEG fraternity brother Munz, except for Brandon Walsh who sends his regards to everyone via videotape. The day of the wedding goes without a hitch and at the end, Matt shows up briefly to tell Kelly that he has decided to move back to New York, and she goes back to try to renew her relationship with Dylan.