Brandon and Steve become very competitive over a tennis match, and nearly come to blows when Steve purposely hits Jill with the ball. During a makeout session Jill pushes Brandon away. She confesses that she was recently raped and isn't quite over it. Brandon agrees to sleep beside her because she is not ready for sex, but cannot talk her out of returning to New York. Dylan returns from Europe and Kelly avoids him. She explains to Donna that Dylan became extremely moody after U.C. Berkeley rejected him. Kelly returned from a shopping trip to find him flirting with a girl, and responded by going out with a bartender before leaving for the States. Kelly finally goes to see Dylan and they quickly make up. Donna's parents are moving to Houston for a year. Kelly and Donna struggle to prevent Felice from finding out that they are living with David. David believes that Donna will now sleep with him, but she has other ideas. Brenda cannot get into any of her desired classes. Darla (her roommate and best friend from junior high) monopolizes the room for liaisons with her boyfriend, and Brenda's "friends" talk about her behind her back. Brenda drops out of school and heads back to Los Angeles.
This long-running drama dealt with the experiences of a group of young people in Beverly Hills, CA as they navigated high school, college and ultimately the real world. The series focused on their travails as they tried to maintain their friendship while dealing with romances, family and personal crises, tragedies and countless drug addictions.