Brandon uses Kelly as his date at a university social event to shield his affair with Lucinda from Josh Richland, a snooping student reporter from the Condor determined to dig up any dirt on Brandon. Meanwhile, Brenda and Stewart travel to Palm Springs where they find big complications from a small mistake Brenda makes which leaves them stranded in the desert, where Stuart fumes over and it resulting in her finally breaking off their engagement for good. David rents a piano as a new hobby while Kelly moves back in with him and Donna. Also, Andrea lets Steve use her dorm room after he can't stand living at the KEG house.

Lucinda temporally loses interest in Brandon when she flirts with Dylan to ask him to finance her documentary film. Meanwhile, Kelly and Brandon spend the weekend together at a task force retreat where they meet the university Chancellor, Milton Arnold, Dean Trimble and the Chancellor's teenage daughter Clare, where Brandon and Kelly become more attracted to each other and brush off Josh who's still hounding them. Brenda and Donna befriend a stray dog that escapes from the university's lab, whom they name Rocky. Also, Andrea discovers that Steve is allowing Muntz and his frat buddies to use her dorm room for nooners. Andrea protests, but changes her mind when Steve begins to date her dorm resident advisor, Kathy Fisher.

Brenda hopes to impress Roy Randolph, a visiting Broadway director, when she auditions for the lead role in the campus play of "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof." Steve is reunited with Laura Kingman, where he coaches her for the same lead role, while Kelly also wants in on the part. Meanwhile, Brandon brushes off continuing advances from his new admirer Clare Arnold, the daughter of the university's chancellor, who won't take "no" for an answer when she handcuffs herself to his bed. Also, Dylan tries to help a jealous Erica accept her mother's new chemist boyfriend, Kevin Weaver.

When Brenda and Kelly are called back to final auditions, the resulting competition puts a serious strain on their friendship. Steve continues to coach Laura for the lead, and she ends up making a superior performance, brushing aside Brenda. Meanwhile, Brandon is still being perused by Clare who has a crush on him. So, she tricks Brandon into taking her out to her senior prom at her posh boarding school which leads to Brandon getting decked by an angry passerby at Clare's hotel post-prom party. Also, Jesse's not around when Andrea has a medical emergency and she's forced to call on Donna for help to take her to the hospital. Elsewhere, Kevin continues to charm his way into Dylan and Suzanne's life which makes Kelly feel left out.

After Brenda finally wins the lead role in the play, the unbalanced Laura attempts to sabotage Brenda's acting career by spreading rumors that she granted sexual favors with Randolph to win the lead. Meanwhile, Kevin impresses Dylan and Erica when they visit his lab where he tells Dylan about his clean-up plans for Santa Monica bay which are under funded. So, Dylan asks Kevin if he could act as his beneficiary to open up his own chemical clean-up company, while Kevin also announces his engagement to Suzanne. Kelly continues to resent Suzanne and Kevin's presence which drives a further rift between her and Dylan after she tells him that her 'Woman's Intuation' tells her that something is not right about Kevin and Suzanne. Jesse also suggests more bed-rest for Andrea who continues to feel unwell over her pregnancy. Also, Brandon speaks with Clare's skeptical father over her wild behavior and her advances towards him while she's making future plans to travel with him.

Dylan and Kelly finally call their relationship quits due to him spending more time with Erica, Suzanne and Kevin, and Kelly openly expressing that she doesn't trust Suzanne and Kevin over their continued presence. Erica tells Dylan that she overheard her mother and boyfriend talking about moving to South America, while Kevin and Suzanne easily convince Dylan they want to relocate Kevin's new chemical company to Arizona. Meanwhile, Brenda finds old feelings for Dylan returning when he gives her an opening-night gift medal before the play. Dylan considers investing in Kevin's business offer by financing it, as does Jim who agrees to be a silent partner. Elsewhere, David sees danger of his drug use returning when working with a new rock band for the CU's Mardi Gras. Andrea is hospitalized and has strange dreams, fearing she may lose the baby. Also, Brandon tries to get to meet with an elusive Chancellor Arnold, after he sees that his name is not on a list of task force members to meet the president, thinking that his times with Clare may have cost him the trip to Washington. But, Brandon eventually learns that his name being absent from the list was just a typo mistake all along.

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.

Brandon has trouble coping with Josh's sudden death in a car accident, which is a challenge to his political position when he's forced to fill Josh's shoes. Meanwhile, Donna finds a new man for herself, a KEG member named Griffin Stone, who her mother wants her to date. David meets Clare for the first time, and they, too, become close. Also, Valerie continues pursuing Dylan, who lays out ground rules that their clandestine relationship is based purely on sex, while Valerie continues her "good girl" charade in front of Steve and everyone else.

Brandon, now the new student body president of CU, has his first challenge when he is pressed into action by some human-rights activist students who are against the chancellor's friend Quintaro, a visiting Asian dignitary from a fictitious South-East Asian country of Selanesia, who is accused of human-rights violations which puts Brandon at odds with both Clare and Chancellor Arnold. Meanwhile, Valerie helps Steve, Kelly, and fellow KEG members Griffin and Muntz, plan the theft of a rival college's mascot, a huge stuffed bear, during homecoming weekend. Donna skips the caper to spend some time with Ray at his family's pumpkin stand. Also, Andrea is depressed when Jesse is spending more time studying and bar tending than being with her. Andrea then meets a mysterious guy, named Peter, at her local laundromat. Elsewhere, Dylan forces Valerie to keep his financial situation a secret. But when Valerie later walks in on Dylan cheating on her with a local prostitute, she vows revenge.

Kelly's disapproval of her mother's return to modeling increases when she learns that her baby sister Erin is involved. Meanwhile, the Walshes finally learn that Dylan is broke when the proposed Peach Pit expansion leads to an exposure of his finances. Valerie, still smearing with both anger and pity after catching Dylan cheating on her, confirms to them that Dylan is bankrupt. Jim then offers Dylan financial assistance. But the growingly misanthropic Dylan is too far gone to accept any sympathy and rudely blows off Jim. While Donna has trouble balancing the affections of both Griffin and Ray, she sees Griffin's sleazy other side when he whisks her away for an overnight trip to Catalina Island and attempts to seduce her. David's love experiment by handcuffing himself to Clare's bed to win her affections backfires when her father shows up and takes her out to dinner, leaving David alone. The next morning, when Steve and David come over to Dylan's house to talk about the Peach Pit After Dark expansion, they find Valerie in bed with Dylan. Steve, being the person he is, draws the wrong conclusion and responds by punching Dylan in the face.

Donna's snobbish mother, Felice, puts Ray's feelings for her daughter to a test by offering him money to stop seeing her, while Ray's alcoholic, chain-smoking, redneck mother, LuAnn, goes Christmas shopping with Donna. Differing family traditions cause tension between the Catholic Jesse and the Jewish Andrea. Clare introduces David to her father during a faculty Christmas party who finds common ground with him over their love of music. Meanwhile, Dylan goes to his old friend, Christine Pettit, from the FBI to help him find his stolen money. Unable to help Dylan, Christine then contacts an alcoholic, former FBI agent-turned-bounty hunter/private investigator, named Jay J. Jones (Jonesy), who contacts Dylan on Christmas Day and offers to track down his money in exchange for getting a full share of it. Brandon is left alone to care for the recovering Kelly when Jim and Cindy leave town to visit Brenda in England and Valerie leaves to visit her mother in Buffalo. Also, Nat hosts a special holiday feed-the-homeless dinner at the Peach Pit.

When a rainstorm hits Beverly Hills for the week, Andrea gets a job at the hospital where Peter works just to be near him. Valerie refuses to accept a "no" from Ray in response to a relationship with him. Meanwhile, Dylan goes undercover as a new Finley follower at the commune to spy on him and Kelly, while Brandon questions Chancellor Arnold and then seeks out a former Finley follower to speak to Kelly about Professor Finley's true racial and unethical ways.

Brandon and Clare have the same bad dreams involving "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek and announcer Johnny Gilbert while competing with each other and Andrea for a spot in the show's college tournament. After learning from Andrea about her affair, Jesse moves in with Dylan and talks about the possibility of divorce while Dylan tries to reason with him to make up with her. Meanwhile, the reconciliation of Mel and Jackie gives David hope of reuniting with Donna whom he still has feelings for.

Sagging attendance at the Peach Pit After Dark draws David back to the stage with a talented new partner named Juwan, a young gang member whose performance is threatened by violence from a disgruntled band. Valerie flies to Reno, Nevada to ask Ray to come back to the After Dark when Donna lobbies for his return. Meanwhile, Brandon becomes a guide to Warren, a young and bright, but immature and spoiled genius coveted by Chancellor Arnold to attend the university. Also, Dylan has a disturbing experience with hypnotic regression.

Donna invites NFL quarterback Steve Young over at Casa Walsh for Thanksgiving, one of two surprises she plans for Joe's birthday on that same day. But Donna later learns that she and Joe have a thing in common: they both disapprove of premarital sex. Meanwhile, the absence of Susan and Colin weigh on Brandon and Kelly who find old feelings returning to each other. Steve becomes a surprise hit at Clare's father's faculty party. Also, Valerie disdains cooking help from David's mentally unbalanced mother.

Jonathan returns to Beverly Hills which once again discourages Brandon during a writer awards dinner in which Susan receives an award for a poignant article about a woman's abortion. Later, Susan then reveals to Brandon that she was the woman the article was about in which getting an abortion was the reason that broke up the conservative-minded Jonathan and the liberal-minded Susan. Valerie pretends to be Colin's agent to an art collector who is interested in buying some of Colin's paintings, hoping she will get a share of the money, and that he will quit drugs. But Valerie becomes discouraged when after she sells two of his paintings, Colin vows to continue using drugs because he claims that being under the influence is part of his creative process. Meanwhile, Clare refuses to believe Steve's true story when his Palm Springs "old flame" Elle, (from the P.S. I Love You episode) a transvestite, suddenly shows up and starts flirting with her father. Also, Kelly tries to tell David and others that she has given up cocaine, but no one believes her.

Steve is impressed by Clare's childhood friend Carl, who is actually a prince. Donna and David's music video of her and Powerman 5000 is a hit with everyone but Joe. Meanwhile, Colin receives his prison sentence of two years after his attorney makes a deal with the D.A. Tara flips out when she discovers that Kelly had called her parents and found that she ran away from them years ago. Tara then kidnaps Kelly and plans to murder her to end their "pain," via a murder/suicide, until Kelly managed to overpower and subdue her.

Steve's so-called "harmless prank" of streaking with his fraternity pledges for Spirit Week lands Brandon in trouble. He refuses to give a video tape of the event to Chancellor Arnold, knowing it will incriminate Steve, while Tracy decides on a crafty plan to get Brandon off the hook. Meanwhile, Donna becomes chairperson of the rush committee for ALPHA sorority and lobbies to get a female jock, named Dani, accepted. Kelly takes a sickly Jimmy on a religious journey to explore his Jewish roots before he dies. David returns to school at California University, but finds all the classes he wants full, and he even has a run-in with Olympic champion gymnast Kerri Strug. Also, Kenny shows Valerie his new apartment for her to live in, but Valerie becomes angry and upset when he breaks a dinner date with her in order to go out with his wife and young son whom he continues to hide his tryst from them.

During an argument with Donna in the student union, David throws a tantrum and cuts his hand on a glass. He must see a psychiatrist after displaying hostile behavior toward the ER staff. Mel agrees with the doctor's recommendation that David be held 72 hours for observation. David is diagnosed with a mild form of manic depression. His mother comes to see him and advises him to moderate his behavior; he will not require medication if he seeks therapy and stops drinking. David thanks Donna for her support and they decide to get back together. Steve faces plagiarism charges; Professor Randall, who assumed control of the independent study course after returning to CU, recognized Brandon's writing. Randall still holds a vendetta against Brandon and brings collusion charges against him. Kelly and Mark's plans for a romantic weekend getaway are foiled by a lost reservation. They finally secure a motel room, only to come down with food poisoning. The gang helps Willie build a house that his family will receive from Habitat for Humanity. Val displays construction skills as a result of working with her contractor father, but hints to Clare that she has few happy memories of her dad. Everyone eats Thanksgiving dinner inside the unfinished house.

Steve pleads guilty to plagiarizing and avoids a hearing in front of Chancelor Arnold and the conduct council, but the corrupt and vindictive Professor Randall pursues a case against an innocent Brandon. At the last moment, Steve, with Clare's help, proves Brandon's innocence when they expose Randall for fabricating evidence against Brandon. Meanwhile, David hedges on investing in Valerie's club while Donna clashes with her uptight mother, Felice, over wanting to renew her relationship with David as part of her effort to help his mental recovery. Also, Kelly throws a surprise birthday party for Mark who becomes increasingly jealous about her and Brandon.

Valerie and Kelly are reluctantly paired in a Christmas gift exchange, where Valerie goes shopping with Tracy to find the certain gift. Kelly gets a big surprise when she meets Joy, a half-sister from her father that she never knew existed. Meanwhile, Steve and Clare find themselves playing holiday matchmakers to his mother and her father during a Christmas faculty party. Also, David tries to get on the good side of Donna's conservative and domineering mother, Felice, who offends everyone again. Elsewhere, Brandon and Tracy share their exchange of gifts.

Donna's stalker, who is finally revealed to be a disturbed TV station worker, named Evan, takes her, Brandon, Tracy and a group of other people hostage in the campus TV station, where Brandon tries to calm down everyone's heightened tensions as Donna sits in front of the running cameras with a gun to her head. Meanwhile, Steve and Clare travel with their parents to a getaway in San Diego where they try to cool down the burgeoning romance between them. Also, Tom and Kelly's attraction between each other increases and David finds himself drawn to Chloe Davis, a aspiring singer determined to make it big.

Kelly learns that her old engagement ring that Brandon bought for her years ago is the cause of the continuing friction between him and Tracy. Meanwhile, Donna can't decide whether to be with Cliff or David, while Chloe makes a move on David after she tells him that Donna is not the woman for him. Clare tells Steve to give one of his step-brothers, Ryan, an advance talk about the birds and the bees. Valerie finally confronts her mother and tells her the true, long-kept facts behinds her father's suicide which are: her father killing himself on the day Valerie and Tom threatened to go to the police with the fact that he's been molesting her. Also, Abby then flies back to Buffalo and Tom soon follows suit.

David takes Donna on a one-night trip to New Orleans in an attempt to sleep with her, which also delays Donna's presentation of her business project the very next day to her stern teacher, Professor Langley. In Beverly Hills, the relationship between Steve's mother and Clare's father becomes strained during a TV historical awards dinner, when Steve's self-obsessed mother once again lets success go to her head, which also strains the relationship between him and Clare. Meanwhile, Brandon attempts to nurse a flu-stricken Kelly and Valerie back to health, who re-live to each other how they became hard-core enemies two years ago which involved both of them pursuing Brandon. At the end, Valerie secretly meets with a certain Derrick Driscoll, who works for Kelly's father, to ask about a possible investment plan.

On the day before commencement, Kelly becomes determined to oust Valerie from the Walsh house (and town) and pressures Brandon to do so. Meanwhile, Donna decides it's time to move up to a new level of romance with David after getting advice from her grandmother. Steve plans to pull the "best senior prank ever" with some help from his frat brother Muntz, as well as David.

On the day of graduation, a broke and lonely Valerie disrupts Kelly's plans when she takes off on a mindless spree causing Brandon to delay the ceremony to look for her. Kelly's father, Bill, throws a 1920s nostalgic post-graduation party for the class and has the The Cardigans band perform. He also tries to make up with Kelly, who continues to push him away. Steve's stepbrothers, Ryan and Austin, show up for festivities where Ryan is drawn to Kelly's half-sister, Joy. Also, Steve's plans for Clare derail due to her decision to move to Paris with Chancellor Arnold, which leads to Steve and Clare breaking up for good.