Living together begins to take its toll on Kelly and Brandon's relationship. Donna asks David to move back in with her at the beachfront apartment, but with a stipulation that they sleep in separate rooms and that he doesn't tell her parents. Meanwhile, Steve has a couple of run-ins with Carly Reynolds - a young, overprotective, sarcastic, single mother with a six-year-old boy named Zack - who Steve wants to know more about.

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.

Kelly is struck with amnesia after suffering mild brain damage from an emergency operation for her wounds, and Noah takes it upon himself to take Kelly on her first excursion outside the hospital. Meanwhile, Brandon quarrels with himself over what to do when he receives an offer for a newspaper job in Seattle. Steve attempts to make his first 'faux pas' as a sports agent to impress Carly at what he does for a living. Donna has an on-the-job crisis when she loses her new boss, Jane's dog while taking it to the vet. Noah also offers to help David look for a band to perform at the Peach Pit After Dark while at the same time, David to continue to keep his financial problems with the After Dark from Donna. Also, Valerie (for some suspicious reason) offers to help Donna with her job to land more clients.

Kelly, still stricken with amnesia, is finally released from the hospital and returns to the only home she can recall, which is her old beach front apartment. Meanwhile, Steve and Brandon secure a production manager, named Terri Spar, for their new newspaper agency, called the Beverly Beat, in order to meet a deadline. Donna's newest designs impress a manufacturer, whose workers she discovers toil in depressing conditions. David attempts to secure a new band for the After Dark and lets the lead singer, Devin, and his band crash at the beach front apartment. Carly reluctantly asks Steve to baby-sit for Zack as she goes out for the evening. Also, Valerie continues pursuing Noah who eventually tells her all about his lonely life and unwillingness to keep a relationship, while Valerie meets a guy interest, a wealthy heir named Cooper Hargrove.

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.

Brandon's overprotection of Kelly after the drive-by shooter and his friend go free on a legal technicality alienates her to the point of anger. Meanwhile, Donna finally learns about Valerie's backstabbing and stealing all Donna's clients. Donna successfully plots revenge against Valerie when she sets up Cooper and Valerie on a dinner date at a fancy new restaurant where Noah also shows up after Donna anonymously sends him a message to meet Valerie there. A record executive makes a huge offer for David's band, but problems arise after Devin and his group surprises David with the racial material they plan for their debut at the After Dark. Steve continues to try to win Carly's affections by trying to help her keep her small house in order.

On Halloween, Brandon and Kelly put more excitement in rebuilding their relationship by having 'nooners' in the most bizarre places. Donna is hired by an eccentric widow who wants to organize a séance to contact her long-dead husband. David's continuing financial troubles with After Dark begin to take a toll on him and an unknowing Donna when the club is foreclosed for late rent payments. David continues to hide his problems from Donna. Steve continues to pursue Carly and asks her to a formal autumn banquet, where Valerie's two suitors, Cooper and Noah, finally cross paths when they meet each other face-to-face for the first time and neither enjoys it, prompting both Cooper and Noah to break up with her.

Brandon and Kelly are surprised when they find Erica Steele, Dylan's younger half-sister, working the streets. They turn to Pam, a social worker, to help them find Erica when she runs from them. Meanwhile, Steve is struck with uncertainty after he is mistaken as Zack's father. Life then takes an unexpected turn when a pregnant girlfriend from Steve's past claims that her unborn child is his. In a desperate attempt to hold onto After Dark, David meets with Everett Sands, a loan shark, and Donna finally learns about David's financial problems after she discovers that David has forged her signature on checks to pay club bills. After breaking up with Valerie, an angry and frustrated Noah lands in jail after a drunken barroom brawl. Brandon bails Noah out of jail. Noah then unloads his secret past to Brandon - of being heir to millions, from which he ran away because his family holds Noah responsible for the his fiancée's death 1 year ago, in a drunk driving crash.

After throwing David out of the beachfront apartment, Donna meets with Noah who takes her on sailing, then rescues a bankrupt David from his loan shark who wants a huge payback, with interest. Meanwhile, Erica runs away from Brandon and Kelly to go back to her pimp, Riggs. After a heated confrontation, Erica comes to her senses and helps Brandon write her life story for his newspaper, but Brandon soon finds himself in trouble when he refuses to reveal his source to an A.D.A. who wants to prosecute Erica's pimp. Carly persuades a reluctant Steve to take a paternity test to find out if Jodi, his former flame, is really pregnant with his baby.

Following Brandon's arrest, sparks fly between him and Kelly over his ongoing refusal to reveal the name of his source, until Erica proposes a way to help him entrap Riggs in a sting operation. Meanwhile, Valerie seeks to learn who anonymously helped David pay off his loan shark, and learns the truth about Noah and his wealthy background. At the same time, David's jealousy and pride get the worst out of him after he rejects help from Donna after a fire breaks out at After Dark. Steve & Jodi, then Steve & Rush, talk about paternity and if he is ready for fatherhood; Steve goes to Carly for comfort. Kelly volunteers for a new job at the free clinic and meets the volunteer doctor Monahan. Noah starts dating Donna after telling her about his wealthy family.

After parting ways with After Dark, David takes a retail job at a department store and continues to reject friendly overtures from Noah, who takes over ownership of After Dark. Meanwhile, Brandon hires Emma Bennett, an attractive young writer, for important articles at the Beverly Beat. Kelly questions the professionalism of Dr. Monahan after he makes a pass at her. Valerie lobbies Noah to let her manage the Peach Pit After Dark, much to Donna's suspicions and jealousy. Elsewhere, Steve and Carly search for time alone together, while Donna's mother disapproves of her dating Noah.

At Donna's urging, Kelly returns to modeling for a few days' shoot, and later calls Dr. Monahan on his alleged conduct. Meanwhile, David gets a new job at a car wash and tries to help a troubled, gay, teenage co-worker, Ben, who's tormented by their other co-workers and shunned by his conservative parents. Steve takes the stage on comedy night at the Peach Pit After Dark to impress Carly. Also, Brandon finds Emma - who's determined to bag him - almost irresistible, while an unsuspecting Kelly stands by. Valerie schemes with David to make Noah and Donna jealous by making it seem that they are having an affair, but it doesn't work due to David's lack of lying skills.

In the week before Christmas, an administrator asks Kelly to give a speech praising Dr. Monahan, which leaves her in a dilemma, knowing his true nature. Meanwhile, Donna reacts to Noah's lack of Christmas spirit due to his history. Carly's son, Zack, questions the existence of Santa Claus, and Steve sets out to prove that he's real, with a little help from Nat. At David's urging, a depressed Ben delivers gifts to his parents, and later he and Valerie help out a suicidal Ben. Emma refuses to back off from flirting with Brandon, and gives him a valuable watch as a Christmas present; he finally gives into her charms and has sex with her.

Carly and Zack temporarily move in with Donna at the beachfront apartment after they are evicted from their house, which was needed earthquake retrofitting. Carly gives Donna advice on her love life as Donna questions whether or not to sleep with Noah. Meanwhile, Dr. Monahan angrily confronts Kelly about her sexual harassment charge against him. David finally admits to Donna that his relationship with Valerie is a farce, but that soon changes when Valerie admits to developing feelings for him again. After Emma quits her job at Brandon's newspaper agency, she puts pressure on him. Brandon is determined to hide their Christmas fling at any cost, and Brandon hires a new writer, Janet Sosna, as Emma's replacement. Valerie as a run-in with Duke, Brandon's former bookmaker, who she tells to stay away from the Peach Pit After Dark, until he offers her a cut of his winnings. Elsewhere, Steve and Brandon rescue David from his carwash job by offering him another job as a music critic for their paper. Zack unknowingly draws on Donna's design sketches just before her meeting with a new potential employer.

David tries to makes amends to musical artist Jamie Blake after his first music review gets her fired from her job, by trying to get her to perform at the After Dark. Meanwhile, the greedy Valerie ignores Noah's decree to halt the betting at the After Dark, with serious consequences when they both get arrested after the police raid the place. Steve suffers after he and Brandon try to assess Kelly's potential reaction if Brandon tells the truth about his fling with Emma after she threatens to reveal it with an audio tape, and Kelly mistakenly thinks Steve is the one having an affair with Emma when she overhears Brandon and Steve talking about it. Also, Carly thinks Steve is irresponsible with Zack, which takes a turn when she herself loses Zack during an outing at a mall with Donna.

Jeff, a new medical intern, and Valerie, who is serving community service for her bookmaking, start working at the Wyatt Free Clinic with Kelly, where she also tries to help a victim of spousal abuse. Meanwhile, news of the sudden illness of Carly's estranged father has her wanting to take Zack and move to Montana to care for him, and away from Steve who's struck with grief, fearing that he will never see his girlfriend again. David hangs out with Jasper's Legend to write a story on them, but the bandmates indulge in David's worst fears, drugs and booze. Valerie turns on her deviousness again, determined not to let Brandon and Kelly get back together by interfering with Brandon's phone messages. Elsewhere, Donna and Noah begin arguing due to differing views about Brandon's fling.

David gets caught in the middle of a conflict when the band keyboardist, Mark, blames Noah for his drunk-driving accident and decides to sue. Meanwhile, Donna starts a new photo shoot and deals with a spoiled child model and her demanding mother who spells trouble for her. Steve inadvertently prompts a former frat brother's fiancée, Christy, to call off the wedding. Christy then stays at the Walsh house where she gives Brandon advice on life and love, while her perplexed fiancé, Harry, gives some love life advice to Steve regarding the departed Carly. Kelly counsels a teenage girl who contracted a sexually transmitted disease after cheating on her boyfriend. Valerie, still working community service at the clinic, continues her plan to keep Brandon and Kelly apart, setting up a scene at a restaurant so that Brandon will walk into Kelly with her date Jeff.

Donna's grandmother is hospitalized after telling Donna that her soulmate is David, who moves out of the Valerie's room at the Walsh house and into Carly's vacant house until he can afford a more inexpensive place. Meanwhile, Kelly alerts Brandon to a potential story about a recently paroled ex-con who explains to Brandon about the mistakes he made that changed his life, which Brandon realizes parallel his own. Steve coaxes Brandon into a double date with two women who he ran into at the Peach Pit, unaware that the women are not who they appear to be. Valerie brings a record executive to the After Dark to hear David and the band, Jasper's Legend, perform their debut. But Valerie is hurt after David tells her that the love song he wrote was about Donna, not her.

Kelly agrees to Jeff's Valentine's Day plans for a romantic dinner and night together. Steve badgers Brandon into going on another blind double date, but Brandon is tied up leaving messages on Kelly's answering machine, while Steve is stuck trying to entertain his and Brandon's dates at the Peach Pit, as well as a third girl. The arrival of Noah's snobbish, older half-brother, Josh, brings big trouble between both of them over their differring views. Things take an unexpected turn when Josh spikes Valerie's drink with a date rape drug so he can seduce her. But it goes wrong for Josh when Noah inadvertently takes advantage of Valerie, who wakes up the next morning thinking Noah slipped her the roofie. Also, David and Donna feel guilty about spending innocent time together to celebrate his record deal, which takes a turn when they get into a minor car accident and Donna slightly injures her back.

After Noah is questioned by the police about Valerie's rape charges, he admits to Donna that he did have sex with Valerie that night at the After Dark club, but he did not know that she was drugged. The only ones who believe Valerie's date rape story are David and Brandon, which drives a wedge between them and their friends. Josh stirs up more trouble for the gang when he gives Donna amphetamines to counteract the pain pills she is now taking for her back injury. Josh also takes advantage of Valerie and Noah's conflict to play them against each other, then persuades Valerie to launch a civil suit against Noah. Meanwhile, Steve and Brandon join a patrol ride-along with Steve's Valentine's date and her partner, and witness Tammy's partner roughing up a suspect. Jasper tells David that the other band members want to drop him from their group.

Valerie's civil suit against Noah begins with her taking the witness stand and testifying about that night. But Noah's attorney viciously cross-examines her, using Valerie's sordid past to discredit her. Then Brandon, Kelly, David, and Steve individually take the witness stand and testify against Valerie, despite her attorney trying to establish reasonable doubt against them. The final nail in Noah's defense cast a mortal blow when the real culprit, Josh, unexpectedly takes the witness stand and testifies against Noah with details about "his" version of what happened the Valentine's Day night with Valerie at the After Dark. Meanwhile, Donna's addiction to pain pills spins out of control when she begins stealing pills from her father's medicine cabinet at the Wyatt Clinic, while she also combats work pressure by plagiarizing a co-worker's ideas for her newest designs. Record executive, Frank Saunders, wants to sign David to a record deal...but not Jasper.

Donna is rushed to the hospital after falling in a coma from an overdose of painkillers where she comes clean with her father about her addiction to pain pills. When Donna admits to her boss, Robert, that she plagiarized someone else's sketches, she is immediately fired. Meanwhile, Kelly cares for a newborn baby left at the clinic by a teenage mother, named Leanne, which makes Kelly wonder if she can take in the baby to care for it herself. Steve falls for Jill, a woman that he has never met, when he starts reading her love letters which are actually addressed to someone else named Ted. Also, Brandon investigates David's sudden success with his new songs where Jasper suggests to him that David's gains for the record deal are ill-gotten. Elsewhere, Valerie struggles to get past her incident with Noah.

Kelly objects to the decision of a Special Services person when the abandoned baby is placed with a gay couple. Meanwhile, Brandon and Steve and Janet quarrel over running cigarette ads for their failing newspaper in which Brandon threatens to quit, while Steve continues to pretend that he's Ted in order to please his pen pal friend Jill. Noah asks to finance Donna's marketing of her own designs for another fashion company. Also, Valerie deals with her long-estranged mother, Abby, who arrives back in town for a visit and hits it off with Kelly's father, Bill, who has been paroled from prison. Elsewhere, David becomes intrigued by his new neighbor Woody Sloan, a former rock star.

Valerie and Kelly reluctantly join forces to attempt to break up Valerie's mother, Abby, and Kelly's father, Bill, after they announce their engagement at Valerie's birthday party. Brandon interviews for a job at a major daily newspaper and is hired on the spot, but he discovers there's a catch: Brandon must fill in as a scab for other agency reporters going on strike. Meanwhile, at the Beverly Beat, Janet begins to complain to Steve about being overworked and underpaid. Steve sets off in search of Jill's real penpal, Ted, to introduce them to try to mend the hostile situation he started. Noah goes too far in helping Donna with her work, bribing a local fashion company to set the stage for her designs and purchases.

Brandon lets his thoughts run wild after Peter Raitt, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, wants to collaborate with him for a potential sports story. Valerie creates problems between Noah and Donna when she claims that the diamond necklace that Noah gave Donna is fake. As Valerie does David's taxes, she also hooks him up with a filmmaker, Kyle Scott, who wants David to write commercial jingles for him. Kelly assists Chris Myers, a mentally-challenged man who works at the clinic, and tries to get through to his overprotective mother. Steve finds faults with Jill due to her obsessive-compulsive neatness and cultural interests that they don't share.

Andrea Zuckerman arrives in town for a visit as the gang prepares to go to their five-year high school reunion at West Beverly High. She reveals her troubled life and failed marriage to Brandon. Meanwhile, Donna becomes jealous about a Rolling Stones magazine article detailing Noah's single status, which prompts her to sneak away from the dance to the Peach Pit After Dark to see if Noah will be true to her. Valerie creates a new persona for herself and David in order to fit in at the reunion. Steve's macho image takes over when an old girlfriend, Rhonda, drives him away from his date, Janet, and leads him into a prank. Elsewhere, Kelly also deals with a former boyfriend, Ross Webber, who is attending the reunion.

When a sex shop opens, Steve & Brandon want to cover it for the Beverly Beat. Kelly is not happy with the idea. When they also invite David and Muntz to join them, David gets a little crazy and buys stuff that Valarie doesn't like.

A doctor asks Valerie to be screened to be a bone-marrow donor for an ailing leukemia patient. Valerie is delighted with the idea, but she soon reneges with she finds out that the patient sexually abused his teenage daughter. Meanwhile, Donna becomes jealous and suspicious when an old girlfriend of Noah's, Gwyneth, shows up for a visit. David lets his paranoia go too far when he gets mugged. He tries to buy a gun, and eventually steals Noah's gun, accidentally wounding Gwyneth. Kelly continues to be suspicious of Brandon until he offers her an engagement ring. Also, Steve, Brandon and Janet screen applicants for a new assistant for their newspaper. When a young college grad student, Sarah, responds to the call, Steve is wary of hiring her, anxious that he will fall in love with her.

Brandon and Kelly try to help a Bosnian refugee, named Alexander, find his missing wife whom he believes is long dead, while they deal with their own feelings about marriage and commitment. Meanwhile, Gwyneth turns to Valerie for a little help to break up Donna and Noah by sabotaging her fashion show at the After Dark. Steve goes out with Sarah on a golf course where she tells him that she happens to be married, but has marital troubles with her husband. After David is stiffed by a client, he takes out his anger and frustration by breaking up with Valerie, who rebounds by having a one-night stand with a shady photographer named Johnny, with a shocking secret that he's a drug user.

In the week before Kelly and Brandon's wedding, they experience a barrage of conflicting emotions about heading to the altar. Meanwhile, David pressures Valerie to get an AIDS test after she confesses to him about her one-night stand with Johnny. Valerie is reluctant to do so, and provokes conflicts with everyone except David, for whom she still has feelings. Steve becomes nervous about losing Sarah when she begins marriage counseling with her estranged husband. Also, different views of marriage divide Noah and Donna; he tells her that he does not believe in marriage.

With a few hours before Brandon and Kelly's wedding, they continue to feel uncertain about the path they are on. Jim and Cindy Walsh arrive in town from Hong Kong to help plan Brandon and Kelly's wedding. Meanwhile, Valerie finally decides to get an AIDS test after Johnny confesses to her that he happens to be HIV-positive, and she asks David to come along with her for emotional support. Steve becomes dateless for the wedding when Sarah decides to go back to her husband after witnessing her friend's messy break up. After the caterer, Jacob, saves Donna's life, Donna agrees to go on a pretend date with him to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. This makes Noah jealous.