We follow four outcasts on their first day of junior year at Rydell High. There’s Jane, a brainiac good student who wants to run for student council but is fighting tawdry rumors about her; Olivia, who is still fighting off a scandal from last year; Cynthia, who just wants to be one of the boys; and Nancy, a fashion maven who is growing apart from her childhood friends. The four unlikely friends will shake up the social order of Rydell High.

A moral panic drives Jane and her friends to create their own narrative and name and The Pink Ladies “girl gang” is officially formed.

The administration is determined to squash the brewing teenage rebellion at Rydell. A new scandal galvanizes Olivia to take action, but causes Jane to consider giving up.

On Halloween, a last-minute move by Buddy and the Socs threatens to blow up Jane’s campaign, and romance proves to be tricky for the Pink Ladies.

With the election over, Cynthia questions whether the Pink Ladies' relationship will be the same as she rehearses for the play. As the girls consider who they are without each other, they make unexpected connections. Nancy struggles to delegate her vision to Hazel while making costumes for the play. Jane and Susan, at the peak of their frustrations with one another, are forced to take drivers ed together. And Olivia must ask for Mr. Daniels help to do an investigation for the newspaper.