Donna lands a job as a modeling assistant and flies to Hawaii for the photo shoot. The rest of the gang - David, Brandon, Valerie, and Steve -follow her there for an end-of-summer vacation, where Valerie meets and becomes smitten with a mysterious sailor, Noah Hunter, who tries to help Donna when the shoot goes wrong. Also, Brandon's former girlfriend from his senior college year, Tracy Gaylian, shows up to hang out with the group and to introduce her new boyfriend, Eric Anderson. Later, David lands in danger on a nature hike with the group, and Noah ends up saving him from injury.

With Kelly recovering in hospital from a drive-by shooting in an LAX parking lot, Brandon searches for the shooter and his partner who were responsible for the car theft that Kelly witnessed. Meanwhile, Donna lands another job at a prestigious fashion company and, after much hesitation, finally tells her mother of her living arrangements with David. Steve has yet another run in with Carly and tries to help her financially by landing her a job at the Peach Pit. After spending a torrid night with Valerie, Noah makes a quick exit and refuses to associate with her again.

While investigating Donna's story about working conditions at a sweatshop, Brandon discovers that Steve's father is involved, which brings up tension between Brandon and Steve over publishing the story. The events also throw off Steve's plans to take Carly and her son, Zack, to an amusement park. Meanwhile, David's financial problems with the After Dark worsen due to studio costs and Devin's racist remarks. Kelly still has partial amnesia when she is called to pick out her shooter from a police lineup. Valerie turns on her deviousness again when she begins stealing Donna's design clients for her own purposes. Val finds herself in a quandary over whether to be with Donna's new client, Cooper Hargrove, or with Noah, who wants to go back to Hawaii for a job.