Angela's scheme to regain control of Falcon Crest falls through when she assumes Chase and Richard will be bankrupt after a competitor wins the Helios bid. However, she is unaware that Cassandra Wilder holds the liens on their shares. Cassandra's mother, Anna Rossini, has come for long-awaited vengeance against Angela, now that her daughter owns two-thirds of Falcon Crest. At the winery, Connie offers to make Chase a partner in Giannini Winery. Maggie walks in and catches them in a celebratory embrace. Enraged, she announces she will be moving out that evening. Angela testifies on Melissa's behalf, which gives her a lenient sentence of 60 days in jail, in return for the Agretti harvest. As Lorraine's condition deteriorates rapidly due to brain damage, Lance must sign the release to remove her from life-support systems. As Maggie and Richard comfort each other that evening, an explosion rips through his house, trapping them.

Frustrated that he has been unable to prove that Senator Horton is a mole for The Thirteen, Richard leaves Washington for home with Maggie and Garth. As they cross that state border, two gunmen open fire on their limo. Garth's expert driving saves them. The limo is bullet-ridden and the passengers are not hurt, but in another part of town Rosemont and Gray Suit watch as Eric Stavros is pumped full of chemicals. The Thirteen is going to turn him into a killing machine. Angela comes home accompanied by Richard's security men. She's off again once she learns that Melissa and Lance are trapped in that underground bank vault in Hobart. At the drill site, Frank Agretti conducts the rescue mission. Underground, Melissa is delirious over her deed: Falcon Crest might actually belong to her. Above ground, several rescue workers resurface coughing up hydrogen sulfide fumes. Frank realizes his efforts may be in vain. Dan Fixx arrives and volunteers his help. Mr. Gray Suit shows up for his regular

When Maggie and Richard spend their wedding night at Falcon Crest, they are trapped in a house with no food, no phone, a murderer, and no way out, while Angela listens at every keyhole. A storm forces Angela to be the unwilling hostess for Maggie, Richard, Dan, Melissa, Vicky, Eric, Garth, Curtis and Sheriff Buckman. In order to keep the uninvited guests, Lance, Carly, Chao-Li and her mother occupied during their forced hibernation, Emma organizes a game of murder. However, when the game turns into reality at midnight, Richard is the prime suspect.

Melissa's desperate attempts to keep the baby result in a car chase that ends when the car carrying her, Chase, Maggie, Richard and Dan plunges into San Francisco Bay. Angela discovers that her child, whom she previously believed to have died in childbirth, is alive and ready to return to haunt her. When Angela and Peter reconcile and she tries to buy Peter's freedom, Peter, facing murder charges, flees with Kit.

At the charred springhouse, the coroner, after inspecting a ring and bone fragments, positively identifies the remains as Julia's. In a note to Lance, Julia's last request is to have her ashes scattered in Italy. Angela asks the Channing and Gioberti families to travel to Italy in hopes that Julia's death can somehow reunite them. Richard is heartened to learn that Pamela may be alive in Europe. Melissa informs Lance that when he returns from Italy, she will have already moved out of Falcon Crest. Angela discovers that Melissa has filed for a divorce and is unable to have children. As everyone prepares to leave, Melissa pays one of the workers to stage an accident at the winery so that Cole will have to stay behind with her. As Chase inspects the airplane, he fails to recognize one of the cartel's men posing as a mechanic. As Angela, Philip, Lance, Emma, Richard, Maggie, Michael, Terry, Linda and Joseph take off in the plane with Chase as the pilot, the emergency buzzer sounds indicati

Due to his past manipulations of Melissa's life, Lance's attempt to win control of The New Globe backfires. Richard overcomes Lance's ploy to control The New Globe by producing the man who framed Melissa, who demands that Lance move out. Emma brings Karlotti home to trace Wayne's spirit and begins to transfer her affections to the medium. Angela begins to believe that Lance framed her. Kit is reluctant to leave Tony for Guy and his plans of a fake suicide. Dan is able to break through Vicky's defenses. Maggie observes Chase's victory kiss from Gwen and has complications with her pregnancy.

As Richard and Lauren enjoy their wedding at the winery, Richard agrees to sell Falcon Crest back to Angela on the condition that half will go to his sons in the event of her death. Lance, however, will receive ten percent now and the remainder after Angela's death. As the wedding reception draws to a close, Angela recalls all the people who passed through Tuscany Valley during the last decade and toasts the future of Falcon Crest.

At the Tuscany Hospital, Chase pushes Maggie's wheelchair toward their car. As it has only been a week since Maggie's accident, the doctor orders her to be careful because she had suffered a severe concussion. Chase tells Maggie that he is not taking her to the hotel, but home. At the Falcon Crest meadows, Lance and Melissa ride horses and gaze at the land that they hope will be theirs someday. Lance shows Melissa the divorce papers that he had intercepted before Julia could see them. Over at The Globe office, Phillip discovers that Richard has not been seen for ages, nor has Diana Hunter. Emma sees Phillip leave Richard's office, which piques her curiosity. At the Gioberti's house, Chase tells Maggie that her close call with the barrels was not an accident because he had heard someone running away. Angie arrives and insists on having Vickie's wedding at Falcon Crest, while Chase is still concerned with the accident and Richard Channing's disappearance.

Emma and Lance discover Julia hiding out at the springhouse with her hostage Joseph. Terry receives a disturbing letter, dredging up more of her sordid past and forcing her to lie to Michael again. As Angela reads a letter that Julia had sent her while in college, she regrets having been too busy with her business career to spend time with Julia. In the springhouse, Julia agrees to release Joseph if Angela is brought to her. The police surround the house as Angela enters in exchange for Joseph. Angela admits to Julia that she has failed her as a mother and finally says what Julia has been waiting to hear, that she loves her. As Julia breaks down and hands Angela the gun, the deputy prematurely opens fire, igniting a kerosene lamp and setting the house on fire. Braving the flames, Lance and Chase dash into the house. Chase pulls Angela to safety, but Lance is knocked out by a falling beam and must be rescued from the fire. As the springhouse erupts in flames, Angela watches helplessly,

When Skyler's disappearance and apparent suicide casts a pall over the mansion, Peter blames himself for not recognizing her distress. Peter's guilt drives him away, but Skyler's tragedy makes Emma finally realize that Dwayne is gone forever, and Angela is at last able to comfort her daughter. Tony learns the truth about Skyler (Kit). When Richard's son is kidnapped, he feels lost. Chase faces the fact that, of the two people in the valley he most despises, Richard and Angela, one is taking flowers to his wife and the other is trying to get closer to his daughter. Lance calls for his father's help when Melissa has a nervous breakdown.

The New Globe publishes news of Julia's escape, while Julia steals a wallet and buys a wig from a waitress at a roadside coffee shop. Melissa pays a heavy price for trading her son for power. Chase meets with Philip to determine how serious Angela is about trading Joseph for half of Falcon Crest. When Philip produces Angela's custody contract, Chase is appalled, but is pleased to know that he can pry Joseph out of Angela's clutches. Melissa begs Angela to call off the deal with Chase, but Angela tells her that it's too late. As Chase and Cole come to take her child, Melissa is overwhelmed by guilt. Later, Chase gets an anonymous tip that Richard bribed a county geologist to approve construction of the racetrack. At the cartel's behest, Pamela plants bugs in Richard's office and home. Terry remorsefully suffers the backlash from her sordid past, but surprisingly, Michael still asks her to stay in Tuscany. Julia uses her disguise to slip past a police checkpoint, then assumes the identit

As Angela's wedding day draws near, Julia prepares to murder her mother. The wedding ceremony begins as Julia, dressed in a nun's habit, heads towards the church. Chase notices her, but Julia manages to lock him in a closet. As he feverishly tries to work his way out, Julia misses her chance to shoot Angela and leaves for Falcon Crest and the wedding reception. As the reception begins, Julia, hiding upstairs, crouches at the railing and aims her gun at Angela. The sound of sirens distracts Angela, and she moves out of range. As Julia realizes she's lost her chance, Joseph comes to her. Chase bursts in with the police, warning Angela that Julia intends to kill her. Cole dashes upstairs to check on Joseph, but it is too late: Julia has taken the child hostage.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, aftershocks rock the region and the people of the Tuscany Valley struggle to cope with the loss of property and loved ones. Father Bob transforms his church into a field hospital for the earthquake victims and as an information center for concerned friends and relatives. As the death toll mounts in the valley, Maggie and Cole wait in a San Francisco hospital for the doctor's prognosis of Chase's gunshot wound.

While Chase buries himself in his business deals and his political campaign, Maggie agonizes over the problems of her children, but mostly about her baby. While Cole takes his unhappiness out on his family, Vicky grows closer to Dan Fixx. With her paternity tests inconclusive, Maggie's fears increase along with her determination. Chase and Tony discover that their vines are withering. Angela and Lance fight over his association with The Globe and her obsession with Dan Fixx. Meredith starts her seduction of Richard Channing. Lance conspires with Karlotti to take over Emma's stock certificates in The New Globe. A hit man sees through Kit's disguise.

Melissa, enraged over being written out of Angela's will, solicits Joel's help by offering him $50,000 to discredit Lance in Angela's eyes. Joel tricks Lance into meeting him privately and locks him in a deserted warehouse. Disguising himself as Lance, he uses Lance's Porsche to drive Angela off the road. As the real Lance is released from the warehouse, he is promptly arrested for the attempted murder of Angela Channing. Angela reveals her plan to Reardon to ally with Richard in order to get Chase to cease his champagne operation. Gustav orders Spheeris to follow Chase and Ben to Paris, where they are searching for clues to Johann Riebmann's whereabouts. When Ben and Chase are trapped in a set-up, Ben is killed. At Richard's racetrack, Charlotte begins to lose control over her gambling impulses.

Angela's kidnapping brings her face to face with Julia at Riebmann's house, while Chase, Richard and Greg plan a mission to save her. They play into Riebmann's hands, gain control of the guards at his house and escape. Richard follows Riebmann into the old mineshaft where the treasure has been buried. As the mine begins to collapse, Chase, Pamela and Chao-Li stand by in horror. Richard manages to escape, but Gustav and Renee are buried with the treasure. Lorraine reveals to Lance that she is planning an abortion procedure to avoid further complicating his life, but Lance adamantly opposes the idea. Father Bob provides disappointing news for Melissa and Cole when he mentions that the annulment of her marriage to Lance could take up to two years. They decide to plan for a civil ceremony the following week.

In the hospital, Lorraine, depressed, misses Lance and laments her lost baby. In his jail cell, Lance reveals to Angela his fears about Lorraine's survival. Angela reassures him and promises that Greg is working on freeing him. At The New Globe, Pamela hands Maggie a cassette, explaining that Richard had taped all his conversations, and she had decided to validate his mistrust in her. When Maggie and Greg play the tape, they hear Richard and Judge Holder plot against Lance. Melissa breaks the news to Cole that she hired Joel McCarthy to frame Lance. Cole strikes back by informing her that her surrogate mother idea worked because Robin is pregnant. Due to the overwhelming evidence against him, Judge Holder is forced to release Lance. Ecstatic, Lance rushes to the hospital, where a judge marries him and Lorraine.

Peter threatens Angela and Roland Saunders as he tries to discover their connection to Kit Marlowe. Due to Angela's interest in Maggie's baby, Maggie concludes that she must give the baby up for adoption if the child is to lead a decent life. After Maggie refuses to allow Emma and Karlotti have her child, the two instead apply to adopt a child. While Angela plans Dan and Vickie's engagement party, she promises to give them a vineyard. Peter forces Tony to tell him about Kit. After Chase makes Gabrielle a proposition, he offers Lance a partnership with him and Tony. Angela plans to solve the mystery of Kit Marlowe.

When Kit comes to Tony's defense, the gesture proves worthless. Tony's trial proceeds as if D.A. Wilkinson had scripted it, until Kit arrives at the courtroom. After Chase uncovers evidence that Melissa had engineered the botched paternity test, he is too late to intercept her due to Angela's threats. Chao-Li loses face because Angela and Lance stay up all night to take care of him. After Chase and Maggie decide on a quick divorce, Richard sees his chance for happiness.

Chase's wealthy mother, Jacqueline Perrault (Special Guest Star Lana Turner), mysteriously returns to Falcon Crest. When Jacqueline warns Chase of Angela's treacherous nature and tries to persuade him to leave Falcon Crest, hatred erupts and Jacqueline argues with both Angela and Chase. However, through their conflict, the mother-and-son relationship is strengthened; Jacqueline is convinced that Chase will survive and prosper in the valley.

At the winery, Chase joins Connie and hugs her, announcing that he has received the loan necessary to bid with Angela. However, Connie's former suitor, Larry Michaelson, could threaten the bank deal. Cole realizes that Connie may be a threat of another kind. Greg hunts for Joel McCarthy and finds that he died at Camp Mary Jane of a drug overdose. He confronts Richard with his suspicions about Lance's framing, hoping he can force him to reveal his involvement. In Chinatown, Lance insists that Lorraine be included in Angela's plans to send him to Italy, and she makes the arrangements for them to meet at the boat. Pamela warns Angela that Richard and the police are on their way to Lance's hideout and Lance manages to escape. When Lorraine arrives and discovers that Lance is already gone, she rushes to the fire escape before her stepfather can detain her, and in a hurry, slips and plummets two stories to the street.

After Chase is shot, he begins to hemorrhage and is wheeled into surgery. Angela and Lance close down the winery and break Eric and Melissa's alliance by forging Melissa's signature. After Greg and Harriet Roberts bail Jordan out of jail, they discover that Jordan's split personality, Monica, is in control. Dr. Kramer and Harriet help Jordan face the personality behind which she has hidden all her suffering. In his search for Cassandra, Richard arrives at her grave in England. According to Wilkins, Cassandra died while giving birth and Damon Rossini disappeared with her baby boy. Later, Sabrina Cross shows up with his son, Michael. In the finale, an earthquake ripples through the Tuscany Valley, leaving many injured in its wake at Falcon Crest.

After Angela, who is annoyed at Lance's defection to Richard's New Globe, continues her patronage of Dan Fixx, Emma seeks guidance from a storefront psychic. Kit appeals to Richard for help from Fixx, giving Richard a weapon to use against Angela. Cole is disenchanted with his father's partnership with Tony as Maggie is unable to help her troubled son or herself mend their relationships with Chase. Angela provides Miss Jones' sister with the nanny job in Richard's house. Richard dumps waste near Chase and Tony's vineyard.

Maggie's determination to keep her baby, regardless of the consequences, further alienates her from her family. Cole is adamant about leading his life away from the family, and Maggie has no choice but to give him her blessing. Vicki goes to see Dan Fixx, whom her parents disapprove. Chase accepts his wife's views on her upcoming motherhood. Angela attends Karlotti's seance, which is instrumental in giving Lance control of Emma's holdings. Chase and Tony discover vineyards contaminated from the dumping at Tuscany Downs, with evidence pointing to Angela's conspiracy to ruin her rivals. Fixx confides in Vicky. Lance moves to take over The Globe.

At Angela's engagement party for them, Vicky and Dan set the tone of the party by trying to avoid it. After Kit demonstrates a need to tell Tony good-bye, both Richard and Peter confront Saunders. Maggie arrives looking for her baby, which she now knows is Chase's. After Emma confounds Angela by introducing her adopted son, one of the guests is found dead in the winery.