During a routine appointment, Jane learns that her baby has died. Michael is reluctant to express his emotions about the loss, and quarrels with colleague Kimberly Shaw when she tries to convince him to show his feelings. He later apologizes, and the two flirt rather obviously. The Mancinis' friends give them a dog to help take their mind off of losing the baby, but Jane loses the dog at the beach. Michael lashes out at her and admits that he fears she may have lost the baby because she initially considered an abortion. He later apologizes for not being more supportive throughout the pregnancy. They find the dog, but let a lonely old woman keep it. Meanwhile, Alison is enraged after finding Billy fooling around with one of her bras while doing the laundry. She claims their friendship is over, but later explains the reason for her anger.

A mysterious aspiring photographer named Jo Reynolds moves into the building. She responds coldly to the other residents' attempts to make nice, although she develops an instant attraction to Jake. She strikes up a friendship with Alison when they take out their romantic frustration on a washing machine. Jo explains that she left New York to escape from her marriage. The women continue to bond, and hustle some guys in a pool game at Shooters. Jo flirts shamelessly with Jake after he comes up to her apartment in a towel to remind her about the hot water shortage. Michael and Jane begin spending time with a respected pediatrician and his wife. Jane suspects that the woman is being abused, but Michael doesn't believe it because her husband is so good with his patients. Jane is certain that something is wrong, and pleads with Liz to seek help. Liz goes to the Mancinis after being beaten, and decides to leave Scott. Michael plans to report Scott to their boss, but convinces him to do

Sydney continues to get on Jane's nerves. Jane tells Michael that she is going to kick Sydney out of the apartment, but Michael has already asked Syd to take Jane out and get her to a surprise birthday party. He convinces Jane to go out with Sydney and think things over. This proves to be a disaster, as they get into an argument. Jane accuses Syd of trying to steal her life, and Sydney lets her storm out instead of taking her to the party. Michael has to spoil the surprise to get Jane to the event. Jane orders Sydney to move out, and the two talk about their long-standing differences. Jake reluctantly tells Jo about his meeting with her husband, Charles. Jo decides to contact Charles. Jake feels helpless when Jo begins seeing Charles, who seems to be a changed man. Jake later admits his strong feelings for Jo and shares his frustation about standing on the sidelines. Charles shows his ugly side after drinking, and grants Jo a divorce. Jo thanks Jake for his patience, and he

Alison is promoted to junior account executive and works with art director Amanda Woodward on an underwear account. Alison flirts with the handsome tennis star who is modeling for the account. She decides not to pursue him because she fears it could affect her career. Jo is hired as photographer, but jeopardizes the account with her ""alternative"" photos. Alison gets into hot water when she takes a risk and shows the client Jo's photos, even though they had already expressed approval about the more traditional shots. Jo upsets Jake and Alison by going to dinner with Rex. She later apologizes to Jake and admits that she has strong feelings for him. Billy doesn't hit it off with a blind date arranged by Michael, but is attracted to Amanda. An overwhelmed Rhonda breaks her engagement after Terrence tries to buy them a house in the suburbs.

Billy and Amanda bicker constantly after he moves in with her. Alison quits her job and decides to move to Seattle with Keith. Billy confronts Amanda after she insults Alison at her farewell party. Amanda sarcastically wonders if Billy would rather be with Alison. Billy breaks up with Amanda and moves out. He drives Alison and Keith to the airport, but then pleads with Alison to stay in Los Angeles. She tells him that it is too late to change her mind, and leaves. Michael's college friend Sam makes a pass at Jane after they have dinner together. Michael is livid when Sam--not Jane--is the one to tell him about the incident. Kimberly offers to ""comfort"" him.

Amanda throws herself a housewarming party, but forces Alison to work late so that she can hit on Billy. Alison continues to receive threatening letters and phone calls. Keith picks her up at work and takes her to the party. He slips something into her drink and tries to take advantage of her, but Billy interrupts. Keith purposely injures his head and claims that he was attacked. Billy doesn't seem to believe him. In order to dodge suspicion, Keith pays a homeless man to make an obscene phone call to Alison while Keith is present. Jane files for divorce. Michael moves in with Kimberly. Jake brings a bimbo to the housewarming party to make Jo jealous, and Jo agrees to live with him. They argue about everything. Matt loses his job when the halfway house shuts down.

Amanda's father offers Jake a high-paying job at his car restoration business. He refuses, but changes his mind after sleeping with Amanda. Jo is devastated by the news, but cheers up when Steve asks her on a date. Sydney prevents Michael from breaking up with her by threatening to expose their affair. Jane decides to take things slowly with Robert.

Alison learns that Steve is leaving for Europe in a few days. He gives her a new jeep and confesses his feelings. Alison joins him for a weekend on his ranch, but suddenly dumps him because she wants to reconcile with Billy. Billy's bitterness about Alison clouds his judgment on a writing assignment. Jake forces Palmer to confess to fraud on tape. Palmer convinces Amanda that Jake set him up, so she dumps Jake and plots to evict him. Michael falls out of bed, and Sydney refuses to help him until he apologizes for his past actions. Jo rejects Jake's thinly veiled advances, but Billy and Amanda sleep together.

Reed plans to start over in Mexico after one last major drug deal. Jo knocks him overboard with a harpoon, but the boat runs out of gas. When Reed climbs on board and holds her at gunpoint, Jo is forced to shoot and kill him. She is arrested when the Coast Guard raids the boat. Alison accepts Billy's explanation about his date, but breaks up with him again when he wrongly assumes that she is moving to New York. He follows her back to Los Angeles and surprises her with a marriage proposal. Sydney presents her blackmail demands and moves in with Michael.

Michael is astonished when Kimberly pays him a late-night visit. She reveals that she was in a coma for months, and that her mother claimed that she had died to keep Michael away from her. Michael dumps Sydney without explanation. When she brings a police officer to the hospital to have Michael arrested for manslaughter, Kimberly enters the room, prompting Syd to faint. Kimberly is plagued by headaches, and removes a wig in the bathroom to reveal a nasty scar on the side of her head. Amanda fires a model after learning that she is from the agency Models Inc., and is reprimanded by her boss. She reveals that her estranged mother, Hillary Michaels, is the head of the agency. Amanda rejects Hillary's overtures, but Jake later convinces her to give her mother a chance. Alison takes back her decree about not sleeping with Billy until their wedding night. Alison's parents hire an obnoxious wedding planner, but Billy and Alison fire her and decide to marry in the courtyard of the apartment bu