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.

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.

Kelly and Brandon deal with the aftermath of their decision to not marry that becomes increasingly strained for both of them. Meanwhile, David urges Valerie toward a kinder, gentler demeanor after her HIV test comes back. Valerie encourages David to demand to write a music score for Glen King, David goes along with it... and gets fired for it. Steve has eyes for a new woman in town: an ambitious actress and con artist named Sophie Burns, whom she charms Steve into letting her stay at the Walsh house, but she has eyes for David instead. Also, Donna meddles in Noah's family affairs by insisting they have dinner with his estranged parents. But problems further arise when Noah learns that his father is about to be indicted for income tax evasion as well as questionable business deals.