Twins Brandon and Brenda begin school at trendy West Beverly High after moving from Minnesota. Brandon joins the newspaper and meets Andrea Zuckerman, the intelligent and devoted editor. Brenda is befriended by snobbish Kelly, who picks her as a chemistry lab partner to avoid being paired with a fat girl. A rich but reclusive girl invites the entire school (except the freshmen) to a party at her house, complete with a live rock band. Freshmen David and Scott crash the party, and the drunken Steve asks David to drive him home. David accidentally damages the car, prompting Steve to begin a frantic search for the culprit. Brandon connects with the hostess, Marianne, and goes on a date with her. He insinuates that they slept together, prompting rumors to fly at school. Andrea is disappointed in him. Brandon clears the air about Marianne over the campus radio station. He follows Andrea home to explain himself, and discovers that she lives out of district. Brenda and her friends get fake IDs

Sheryl, Brandon's old girlfriend from Minneapolis, stays with the Walshes for the weekend. A concerned Cindy asks Jim to have a talk with Brandon. Before he gets around to it, Sheryl spends the night in Brandon's room. Sheryl seems obsessed with wealth and fame, and takes a liking to Dylan and his Porsche. Brandon believes that Dylan is hitting on Sheryl and punches him. Brandon is stunned to learn that he was not the first guy to sleep with Sheryl. Sheryl's mother calls Cindy and reveals that her daughter ran away following a fight with her stepfather. Brenda babysits for her handsome algebra teacher, with ""help"" from Kelly and Donna. She no longer finds him appealing after watching his wife push him around.

Brenda is mesmerized by Kelly's hip and glamorous mother Jackie, a former model. Kelly insists that her mother is not all that she appears to be. Jackie is a recovering addict, and begins hitting the bottle again after her boyfriend dumps her. Cindy is hurt when Brenda initially fails to ask her to be in a mother-daughter fashion show. They eventually agree to appear, and are joined by Andrea, who draws raves. Jackie attempts to emcee the show while high on cocaine. She becomes disoriented and disrupts the show with a rambling tirade. Kelly convinces her to check into rehab. Kelly gains new respect for David when he gives her the fashion show tape to save Jackie from embarrassment. Jim becomes addicted to his new keyboard.

Brandon meets senior Melissa Coolidge on the school lawn during lunch. He makes a date with her, and learns that she is the mother of an infant son, Joey. Brandon is forced into emergency babysitting duty while Melissa has an interview with Harvard. Jim and Cindy are unavailable, but Steve helps Brandon through the afternoon. Melissa's interview does not go well, and she becomes frustrated with her life. She fears that she may have to give up her son, but Cindy calms her with a heart-to-heart talk. Brenda and Kelly win skydiving lessons from a radio contest.

Brenda invites Kelly, Donna and Andrea over for a ""night of female bonding."" They are having a good time until Kelly's friend Amanda shows up. She insults everyone and decides to turn the girls against each other. As part of a ""game"" about secrets, Amanda bullies Kelly into describing her first sexual encounter, in which she was humiliated by the football captain. After Brenda recalls stealing a Minnesota friend's boyfriend, Kelly admits that she tried to hit on Dylan. The girls eventually make up, and Brenda and Kelly vow to never let a man come between them. Amanda's behavior is attributed to a diet pill addiction. The girls catch David and Scott lurking outside the window and taking pictures of them. Brandon and Steve are denied entry to a club, but hook up with two girls. They steal Steve's Corvette, but he doesn't press charges (and pays their traffic ticket) because he foolishly thinks that he and Brandon still have a chance with them.

Everyone but Dylan is driven into a frenzy by the upcoming SATs. A completely panicked Andrea seeks help from Steve, who attended an expensive SAT prep course. During their study session, they end up kissing, and avoid each other for days. Kelly reads an article about breast health, so the girls take time out from studying for a self-exam. Brenda discovers a lump in her breast and must undergo a biopsy. Cindy and Brenda are haunted by memories of Cindy's sister Sheila, who died of breast cancer. Brandon cannot concentrate during his SAT, so he leaves during the exam to go to the hospital. (He and Brenda are to take a make-up test at a later date.) Brenda is relieved when she receives a clean bill of health.

Brenda tries to convince Andrea to ask Brandon to the spring dance, but Kelly beats her to it. Steve reluctantly takes Donna, who wears an elaborate gown that impedes sitting or dancing.

After a home pregnancy test is inconclusive, Dylan and Kelly take Brenda to a gynecologist. The pregnancy scare turns out to be a false alarm, but Brenda is badly shaken by the experience. Cindy and Jim confront her after finding the pregnancy test box in the trash. Brenda breaks it off with Dylan because she is overwhelmed by the issues that their relationship has forced her to confront. Hoping to earn extra cash during the Peach Pit's summer lull, Brandon tries out for lifeguard at the Beverly Hills Beach Club. He fails, but is offered a cabana boy position. He feels guilty when he must quit the Peach Pit without leaving notice. Brenda, Donna, Andrea and David enroll in a summer school acting class.

Music: ""Rockin' Robin"" by Bobby Day (#2, 1958); ""Tell It Like It Is"" by Aaron Neville (#2, 1967); ""Wake Up Little Susie"" by the Everly Brothers (#1, 1957); ""Losing My Religion"" by R.E.M. (#4, 1991)

Brandon and Brenda's cousin Bobby visits, as he is considering transferring to UCLA. He is a paraplegic, the result of a skiing accident three years earlier. Bobby and Kelly develop a mutual interest, but Brenda fears that Kelly will break her cousin's heart. Although Bobby is extremely well-adjusted, he feels uncomfortable when he attends a party with the gang. After seeing Kelly dance with another guy, Bobby becomes depressed and asks to leave. He squelches his relationship with Kelly because he believes that she would lose interest in him. Brandon confesses his guilt about the accident to Bobby, who insists that Brandon should not blame himself for daring him to take the fateful ski jump. Brenda finally passes her driver's test, but is afraid to get behind the wheel. Emily joins the school paper. David asks Donna for a date.

Music: ""Romantic"" by Karyn White (#1, 1991); ""Crazy"" by Seal (#7, 1991)

Steve arrives in Albuquerque and tracks down his grandfather, a diner owner. Al explains that his daughter gave up Steve because she was very young and wanted him to have a good home. He sadly reveals that Karen died in a car accident. Steve leaves flowers at her grave, and convinces an eccentric Santa-like charter pilot to fly him home for Christmas. Cindy is depressed about her first Christmas in Beverly Hills. She invites the kids' friends and their families for Christmas Eve dinner, but everyone has other plans. Brandon visits Emily in a psychiatric hospital, where she is doing very well. Brenda begins work at an upscale clothing store. She feels bad when her boss throws out a cheerful old man dressed as Santa Claus. She stops the police from harassing him and invites him over for dinner. Dylan goes to see his father in prison, and talks with the same Santa. Jackie is furious when Mel backs out of Christmas Eve plans because his estranged wife asked him to come over with David. Sam

The gang stays at the Peach Pit after hours to study for midterms. Brenda is left alone while Brandon and Dylan take out the recycling. A gunman enters through the unlocked door, holds a rifle to her head, and forces her to empty the cash register. Brenda puts on a brave front for family and friends, but suffers nightmares and behaves erratically. She has a flashback during a midterm, screams, and runs out of the classroom. A psychiatrist helps her begin to deal with her fears. Brenda reluctantly views a police line-up, resulting in the arrest of the 17-year-old gunman.

Music: ""Let the Good Times Roll"" by Shirley & Lee (#20, 1956)

A furious Jim goes to the Mexican border to retrieve Brenda. Jim bans Dylan from the Walsh house. Jackie learns that Kelly covered for Brenda, and embarrasses her by yelling at her in front of Jake.

Music: ""Wedding Bell Blues"" by The Fifth Dimension (#1, 1969); ""Blue Moon"" (Glen Gray - #1, 1