As the Falcon Crest mansion is engulfed in flames, Lance plunges desperately into the inferno to try to save Melissa, who is trapped inside. The aftermath of the fire has surprising repercussions for the residents of Tuscany Valley. Meanwhile, Angela secretly arranges a meeting between Frank Agretti and his long-estranged son, Nick. Richard anxiously launches a search to discover who was behind the assassination of The Thirteen. In pursuit of an exclusive story, Emma obtains a job typing for a reclusive writer, R.D. Young, and soon meets his assistant, Cabot.

When Angela offers District Attorney Fields her support for the governorship in exchange for dropping the murder charges against Lance, he indignantly refuses; however, when Richard offers to hire Field's leukemic son to join the staff of The New Globe, Fields agrees to the deal. Lance, on the other hand, is not grateful; he wanted to prove his innocence in court. Although not charged with any crime, Maggie is guilt-ridden by the fact that she killed Senator Ryder, even though she did it in order to save Richard's life. After Nick Agretti is enraptured when he witnesses Pilar swimming nude, Angela informs him that she has learned some information he cannot release, revealing that the price for keeping the secret is Falcon Crest itself.

Angela is delighted when Emma announces her intention to marry the famous writer, R.D. Young, but her plans for the wedding conflict with Young's passion for privacy. Hurt by Lance's involvement with Cookie Nash, Pilar turns to Nick for consolation. Moreover, Angela discovers that it was Pilar who organized the consortium with Richard. When Maggie discovers that Tommy was present when her newspaper office was trashed, she must decide whether to give him a second chance.

As Anna grows increasingly weaker, she desperately tries to convince Frank and Nick to help end her pain. After Maggie dissolves in tears after a phone conversation with Michael, Tommy consoles her, revealing his true feelings for her. On a business trip to Chicago, Richard encounters a glamorous woman who is a dead ringer for Melissa. Pretending that it will help his ill mother, Richard convinces his new conquest, Samantha Ross, to return to San Francisco and impersonate Melissa. After Richard agrees to Samantha's hefty price, the deal is cemented.

Due to Richard's testimony, the S.E.C. slaps Michael Sharpe with the largest fine in history. Lauren and her husband confront Michael about his schemes and their custody of Richard's children. Frank's obsession with the treacherous Genele escalates. Charley is relieved to hear that Emma's husband has apparently committed suicide, since his death removes the last obstacle for Charley to marry Emma. When the court gives control of Falcon Crest to Emma, she is overwhelmed by the notion of running the business. Emma's new husband Charley, however, has many ideas about running Falcon Crest.

As Michael Sharpe arranges for Richard to be killed, the contract eventually goes to Sal, Richard's acquaintance from prison. Instead of killing Richard, Sal offers to help him get back at Sharpe, but later pays with his life when Sharpe learns that Sal double-crossed him. After Sydney defies her husband and befriends Emma, Ian beats her. In order to get rid of Lance, Charley shows him a videotape of Pilar's liaison with Ned Vogel. Despite Pilar's pleas, Lance leaves enraged, just as Charley had hoped.

Charley keeps the pressure on Emma to sell to Sharpe, despite the fact that she is pregnant. After Charley tells Ian about Sydney's affair with Chris Agretti at the winery, the two brothers agree to kill their wives for deceiving them. Richard lets Lauren know how much she means to him. After Frank sees Sydney and Ian in a struggle, he tries to help, but when Ian gets the upper hand, Sydney saves Frank by killing Ian with a letter opener. Charley chases after Emma, but Emma shoots him in the chest.

As payback for Jace Sampson's cooperation in Sharpe's takeover of Falcon Crest, Richard talks Jace into making an investment after which Jace loses all his money. Pilar and Lance's estrangement worsens. After Walker catches Richard and Lauren kissing, he confronts them with dynamite strapped to his chest, which is set to go off when the timer runs out. Rather than kill Lauren and the boys along with Richard, Walker runs outside just as the dynamite explodes.

Haunted by the memory of her husband's death, Lauren moves out of Richard's place and in with Genele. When Danny invites Sydney for a romantic night on his father's yacht, Sydney maneuvers to put Lance and Pilar on the boat together instead. When Sharpe uses sensitive information about Richard's business dealings, he makes $300 million and Richard loses $52 million. Richard wrongfully accuses Lauren of leaking the information. After showing up at Richard's door, Genele removes her clothes.

Richard and Sharpe search for Lauren, who had grown tired of their fighting and ran off to work as a waitress in a diner. Sharpe attempts to convince Danny to drop Sydney, who wants Falcon Crest to return to the Channing's. When Lance and Pilar ask Sharpe what it would take for him to sell them Falcon Crest, Sharpe tells them to break up Sydney and Danny. When Lauren returns to Richard and the boys, she has to deal with Richard's continuing obsession with his dead wife Maggie.

Danny has a severe head injury as a result of crashing Sydney's car, which Sharpe had tampered with to get at Sydney. Danny's mother, Anne Bowen, and Sharpe decide to approve a dangerous operation to remove a bone shard from Danny's spinal cord. Discouraged by the bad luck she seems to bring to all her boyfriends, Sydney leaves Falcon Crest. Suspecting that Sharpe was behind the car accident, Richard and Lance track down the auto mechanic, Sacco, who did the tampering. Alerted to Richard and Lance's involvement, Sharpe sends his chauffeur Nick to ensure that Sacco doesn't talk.