In addition to a huge ransom, the kidnappers demand that Meredith, the only one who can identify them, be handed over to them in exchange for Richard's son. Richard learns that Angela was responsible for putting Meredith in his household and vows that she will pay for what she has done to him. Concerned about Vicky's relationship with Dan Fixx, Chase travels to Oklahoma to determine for himself the type of man his daughter is involved with, and is then beaten up by the small town's corrupt chief of police and his henchmen. Lance refuses to declare Melissa mentally incompetent after her breakdown. After selling his winery to Lance, Eric talks Angela into letting him manage the spa. Emma discovers that she is not pregnant with Dwayne's child and now wants to have a baby with Karlotti.

Due to Melissa's peculiar behavior, Lance loses his chance to join an exclusive club, which alienates him from Joseph. After Richard becomes the new distributor for Angela's wines, Angela hires a new lawyer. Vicky and Angela become concerned about Dan's preoccupation with Suzanne. Richard tries to recruit Peter in his vendetta against Angela. Lance enlists Chase and Maggie to help him with Joseph.

Tony and Lance assist each other as circumstantial evidence implicates them in murder, but it is to no avail when Angela goes back on her word. Angela breaks her promise to Lance when she realizes that it is more important to protect her grandson than his father. Vickie and Eric's actions at the party make Dan face a dilemma. Francine Hope is able to help Maggie and Chase, who are then able to contact the lawyer who arranged the adoption of their baby. Richard is finally able to realize his revenge on Angela. When Melissa entertains as ""Veronique, the Slumming Socialite"" on amateur night at a San Francisco nightclub, she becomes all the rage.

As Tony begins to mistrust Kit, Angela ensnares Melissa, and Richard attempts to console Maggie. Richard plans a trip for Maggie to overcome her melancholy, but a ghost from the past interrupts. Melissa's secret world tumbles when Angela finds out about it. Chase decides to file for a divorce. Tony suspects that Kit Marlowe may have used him in order to remove suspicion from her. Angela offers Dan a new job. Lance offers hope to Chao-Li. Although Emma traps Karlotti with plans for a church wedding, her offer of community property turns him from a man in hot water to one who has just struck the mother lode.

A French woman and a mercenary soldier from Chase's past intrude on the lives of Angela and Maggie and force them to face unpleasant consequences. Angela's wiles work on Chao-Li. Emma believes she is embarking on a new life as a businesswoman. After Lance moves in with Dina amid Melissa's accusations that he cares more for his car than he does for her, Melissa attempts to make peace with Lance.

When Richard Channing and John Remick offer to help Maggie pay off Angela, each plays dirty to make sure that he will be the one to whom she is indebted. When Angela sends Lance and Dan to investigate Emma's new job, she is too late. Vickie not only tells Maggie that she is pregnant, but also confesses Eric's gambling mania. Dina is seriously injured in a car accident with Lance. While Maggie and Richard visit his new Nevada property, they are unaware that they are under surveillance. Consequently, they return home to face Angela's demand for payment.

After Angela and Richard meet the mysterious Carlton Travis, Angela conspires with Carlton to destroy Richard. Richard realizes that although Carlton is a man who won't listen to reason, he will listen to Angela. With all the trimmings Hollywood offers, Emma works on her screenplay. Melissa takes Dan to Australia to visit Cole and her son. With Frank Starr's assistance, Dina's nurse works on her patient to discredit Lance. Angela and Travis discover that they have a history.

After Angela digs into the past to save Richard from Carlton Travis, she must open old wounds. Angela goes to the wife of a Supreme Court justice and one of Washington's most celebrated hostesses to recruit help in rescuing her son. When Lance is arrested for murder, Melissa comes to his aid. A man who Dan suspects is a thief turns out to be his father. While asleep, Lance is injected with a toxin that will kill him within 24 hours.

Upset with Richard's involvement with Liz and unable to make a decision about his proposal, Maggie leaves the Tuscany Valley to join Vicky in Monte Carlo. While a mysterious and eerie assassin figure stalks Liz, Maggie resents her reliance on Richard's protection. After Melissa gets even with Angela, Angela retaliates with a scheme that boomerangs. Maggie enters her new wine in a contest and wins second place. Angela discovers that Dan's father has a second family. After Lance rescues Emma from her would-be producers, she starts writing an advice column for The New Globe.

After discovering that Maggie has finally accepted Richard, Emma and Angela throw a surprise engagement party. During the party, Melissa makes her entrance dressed only in a bathrobe. Lance discovers that the charming stranger he has befriended knows secrets that could directly impact him. Liz makes an announcement that infuriates Angela but delights Maggie. Melissa overhears Angela talking about her plan to drive Melissa insane and have her committed. Richard saves Eric from making a terrible mistake.

Angela takes advantage of Richard's absence to get closer to her grandson and Maggie, while Richard and Eric search for Vickie overseas. Richard seeks the help of a beautiful party leader to help him rescue Vicky, but must use strong tactics and blackmail to get her cooperation. When Dan tries to help Carly, Melissa lacks the patience to deal with the wild young woman who could threaten her happiness. Emma's kindness makes her prey for a scheming couple. Shannon thinks she might find happiness with Lance, but her past again interferes. Angela anticipates that all of her own wishes will soon come true.

As Maggie is haunted by nightmares over her husband Richard's death, Angela surprises her friends and family with her calm resignation over losing control of the winery empire, while Melissa mercilessly wields her newfound power over everyone within her domain, down to the field hands and household help. As Maggie must take control over Richard's vast financial empire, she tries to cope with the agony of his murder by the underground group, The Thirteen. After leaving years ago after a dispute with her family, Pilar Ortega, not only the daughter of the vineyard foreman at Falcon Crest but also now a bank vice president, returns and provokes intense curiosity throughout the valley.