A major earthquake hits L.A. which traps Susan and Brandon in an elevator with a pregnant woman who goes into labor. Meanwhile, his friends are rocked after Dylan's announcement about his and Toni's engagement. While Donna continues to try out for Rose Queen, she finds a picture of her mother taken during a 1969 Rose competition, while at the same time, Ray's therapist warns Donna that he has a history of being abused as a child by his father and he may harm her.

Donna's mother, Felice, confesses a past indiscretion to her about her involvement in the Rose Bowl tryouts of 1969, causing Donna to question her own innocence. Meanwhile, bounty hunter Jay J. Jones returns and asks Valerie for help in a divorce case he has by posing as a prostitute in a sting operation to catch the husband in the act. A revenge-seeking Ray charges Joe with battery over their Halloween encounter, resulting in Joe being suspended from CU's homecoming football game. Also, Steve tries to protect the CU mascot, the Golden Condor Head, from the rival college. Brandon mourns the departure of Dylan from Beverly Hills, and Susan encourages him to write a paper about Dylan's plight.

Joe's assault and battery trial begins where Donna is caught in a lie on the witness stand, and Brandon gets a national byline for his coverage of the trial. Meanwhile, the sociopath Valerie once again puts her manipulative skills in action when she tells Colin and Susan about Brandon and Kelly's romantic liaison at Thanksgiving to break them up, while Kelly sees a different and kinder side to Colin when they spend time with her sister Erin.

Steve begins an internship at a talent agency and later tries to comfort his discouraged supervisor, Tammy Kane, after she is dismissed from the agency. Donna covers for the new Rose Queen, Lisa, at her convenience-store job in South-Central L.A. and feels sympathy for a ghetto boy she catches shoplifting. Donna forces Joe to drive her over to the boy's house and learns that the boy, Isaiah, and his two siblings are not supervised at home. Meanwhile, Susan learns more about Brandon when his addiction to gambling resurfaces during a casino-night fund raiser at the After Dark. Also, Valerie and Kelly vie with each other to buy a portrait to pose for Colin.

The day after New Years Day, Clare arrives at Casa Walsh from her Christmas stay with her father in San Diego and listens to the gangs New Years Eve mishap stories which include: Steve babysitting for his two rowdy teenage step-brothers, Ryan and Austin, whom sneak into the After Dark for some rowdy partying. David and Joe skip out on the After Dark party to help Donna peruse her escaped parrot. At the same time, the stress between Kelly and Colin over his drug use escalates to a point of him having Valerie hide his cocaine stash for him. Also, Susan's ex-boyfriend, Jonathan Casten, arrives in town which discourages Brandon when he learns Jonathan's true colors that he wants Susan back for himself.