Following a little advice from Gil Meyers, Brandon and the rest of Donna's friends join forces to help her in a major school protest when she is suspended from school and is threatened with not graduating for getting drunk on Senior Prom night.

In the two-part season finale, Brandon goes to Washington D.C. as a part of the college task force to meet the president. Kelly follows Brandon to Washington to get him out of a jam when Clare and Lucinda arrive at the hotel to pursue him. At the CU Mardi Gras, David impresses pop star Kenneth "Babyface" Edmunds, and his recording manager Ariel with his keyboard music and Donna catches David in a very compromising position with Ariel. Steve runs into Celeste who's now with John Sears. Kevin and Suzanne get married in a semi-formal ceremony where he persuades Dylan to cut out any outside investment in their business offer. Jim becomes angry at Dylan for making such a rash move and Dylan fires Jim as his financial holder. Dylan then goes to a bank and gives Kevin full power-of-attorney control over his money, unaware that Kevin and Suzanne have had a hidden agenda for Dylan's inheritance all this time. After her major success in the CU play, Brenda gets a scholarship offer to study acting in London and she pays a visit to Dylan's place before leaving. Also, Andrea and Jesse experience the joys and fears of parenthood after their daughter is born.

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.

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.