Brandon, now dating Brooke, is troubled by the hard-luck story by a homeless man named Jack Canner. Dylan and Kelly teeter on the brink of a romantic affair. Steve pressures David to let him manage his music career after listening to David's demo tape. Andrea becomes alarmed when Cameron, her deaf student, goes missing. In Paris, Brenda pretends to be French to fit the assumption of a handsome American student named Rick who asks her for directions and becomes smitten with her.

Dylan and Kelly decide to keep their romantic liaison a secret when Brenda and Donna return from Paris. During a welcome-back party for Brenda and Donna, Brenda confides in a guilt-ridden Kelly that she sees that something has changed about Dylan while she was away. Meanwhile, Brandon discovers that Brooke is not the girl of his dreams after he sees little amusement in her repeated racist and stereotypical comments. Also, Steve finally lands a gig for David at the end-of-the-summer clambake at the beach club.

Fate touches Brenda when her Paris beau, Rick, suddenly shows up, causing her to question her relationship with Dylan. Tragedy literally strikes Andrea when she's seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident. Meanwhile, Donna considers becoming more intimate with David, but she feels guilty about thinking about the subject of sex. Nikki also gets tickets for the Rosie O'Donnell show about the topic of AIDS and gets Brandon, Donna and David to come with her. After Steve gets bad news regarding his low SAT score, he decides to take the risk and gets Herbert to help him hack into the school computer to change his grades.

Steve stays close to Andrea (now confined to a wheelchair with two broken legs) who is keeping on top of the Feds investigation of the school break in; He fears that she may find out his criminal secret. Steve gets more worried when the sleazy school janitor, Hutchins, demands more blackmail money to keep quiet about Steve's copy of the master key . Meanwhile, Brenda, now dating Rick, freaks out when she sees Dylan dating Kelly. Dylan gets bad news regarding his appeal over his SAT' score; His frustrated peaks and he hits the road. Jim's dull work life gets a lift by his new attractive secretary Dottie and Rick's admiration of his career.