Jake and Jo see the Carters arrive at the cabin with Emily and the baby. While Jake is calling the police, Jo disobeys his wishes and confronts the Carters. Mr. Carter shoots her in the back. Mrs. Carter sneaks into Jo's hospital room in the middle of the night, and threatens to kill Austin if she does not receive custody. The judge nullifies the previous custody arrangement, and agrees with Jo's suggestion that the baby be given up for adoption. Amanda is fired after testing positive for illegal drug use. Amanda and Matt discover that Peter prescribed pills for Amanda that contained the active ingredient in marijuana. Although Amanda has no proof, Peter believes her bluff. He knocks her out and plans to kill her on the operating table. Michael pulls the scalpel away and breaks Peter's nose. Michael and Amanda interrupt a D&D meeting where Caitlin is to be appointed president, and discredit her. Alison stops Terry from drinking after he loses a playoff game. He expresses his gratitude

Rikki commits acts of vandalism against Jo, Jane and Jake, who believe that Syd is responsible for the crimes. The isolated Sydney is forced to turn to Martin's cult for comfort. The visiting Meredith admits that she has never slept with a man because of the trauma of the childhood abuse. She tries to seduce Billy. The new chief-of-staff institutes mandatory psychological testing for the staff. Kimberly's test proves that she is extremely disturbed and highly dangerous. She has some men on the street assault test coordinator Matt, then changes her results while he is out of commission. John Rawlings, the police detective investigating the case, befriends Matt. Billy is concerned by Amanda's deteriorating health, and asks Michael to check her out. Amanda is horrified when tests reveal that she has Hodgkin's Disease.

Amanda and Michael clash over the treatment of her cancer, but she eventually realizes she must turn to him for support. Amanda shares her condition with Billy, but asks him to keep it a secret. Alison pries the truth from him after he seems a little too tolerant of Amanda's behavior. Sydney attends a retreat with Rikki and other cult members. She finds it unsettling when Martin demands that his followers try to scam money from their families, and decides to leave after seeing Martin in bed with two women (including Rikki). Martin agrees to let her go, but he and Rikki pursue her and throw her into an underground pit. John pulls Kimberly out of her car and threatens her at gunpoint after learning that she orchestrated the attack on Matt.

Martin lets Sydney out of the pit and talks her into staying. Jane and Jake drive to Tucson to rescue Syd, but she refuses to leave with them. They return the following day, and Sydney is alarmed when Martin asks her to shoot her sister. She instead shoots up the camp and flees with Jake and Jane. Kimberly is furious to learn the role Michael is taking in Amanda's treatment. Matt nixes a relationship with John. Jo goes on a ride-along with John to get photos for an underground magazine, and secretly snaps pictures of John beating a drug dealer. She claims she didn't see anything, but John trashes her apartment. Billy and Alison spend a platonic Valentine's Day together.

Michael and Amanda fly to New York to try to get her into an experimental treatment program. Kimberly sabotages their chances by phoning the doctor and telling him that Michael has a personal agenda. She also convinces Amanda that her condition is terminal. Michael tells Amanda that Kimberly is a liar, and persuades the doctor to accept Amanda as a patient. Amanda is taken aback when Michael kisses her, but she later sleeps with him. John holds Matt and Jo at gunpoint after they turn incriminating evidence over to the police. With Amanda out of town, Billy and Alison fumble away a big account. Jane convinces Jake to rehire Sydney. Syd is grateful, until she learns that her sister is dating Jake.