Angela resists Chase's claims to half ownership of Falcon Crest. Lance, already bitter over the prospect of sharing his inheritance with Melissa, gladly accepts the assignment of keeping Chase off the vineyard property. Richard Channing, illegitimate son of Angela's late husband, prepares to take control of The Globe as the new chairman of the board, while Angela looks for a way to block him. The newspaper is only a small part of the vast portfolio called ""The Company,"" held by Henri Denault, Richard's mentor and stepfather. Adopted at a young age, the desire to finally learn his mother's identity has motivated Richard to make the move to California and take over The Globe. When Cole shows up at the Agretti's demanding that Melissa acknowledge that she is carrying Cole's child and not Lance's, Carlo punches him in the face. After Gus dies in a gas explosion, Chase threatens Angela with an affidavit accusing her of complicity in Gus's death. He then forces Angela to agree in sharing the

In his new role on the Tuscany Valley County Board of Supervisors, Chase meets resistance in his efforts to break Angela's grip on county water supplies. When Melissa tells Carlo about her ambitions to control Falcon Crest, Carlo informs his daughter that she faces a powerful rival in Richard Channing, who is rumored to have ties to the C.I.A. and the British Parliament. Richard shows his ruthlessness by firing The Globe's longtime editor-in-chief, Herb Talmadge, who was only a year from retirement and a pension. After Angela tells Richard that he looks nothing like his father Douglas, Richard explodes after she leaves, vowing to ruin her.

When pressured by Richard to sell his winery holdings, Carlo spits in Richard's face, then confronts Angela about Lance's abusiveness toward Melissa and vows that Angela will never get Carlo's land through his daughter's marriage to Lance. Chase wants to distribute Falcon Crest's wine in Canada through a distributor other than Kleeger, which gets a big discount on their wine. Angela secretly owns Kleeger, and she charges Lance with keeping Chase from finding out. To counter Chase's efforts on the County Board of Supervisors to break her monopoly on the valley's water and distribute it to other growers, Angela claims her water is tainted. In turn, Chase orders another test of Falcon Crest's water supply that shows it not to be tainted. Cole gets into a fight with Carlo, who later telephones to apologize to Cole and invite him over to see Melissa. Not knowing that Carlo has leveled a pistol to his own head, Cole arrives to discover Carlo's body and becomes the prime suspect in Carlo's mu

Angela threatens Nick Hogan not to vote with Chase against her at the county supervisor meeting. If Nick votes to redistribute Falcon Crest's water to other vineyards, Angela warns that she won't be buying the $17,000 worth of pipes she was going to buy from him. Nick casts his decisive vote with Chase, and Angela warns Chase that he will come to regret his moment of glory. Emma disappears, secretly giving Chase the voting proxy to her twenty percent share of The Globe before she leaves -- the same proxy Angela hoped would give her control of the newspaper's board of directors. Richard prints a sensational article suggesting Cole murdered Carlo Agretti. When Richard asks Melissa to sell her the Agretti house, she suspects that Richard could have had a hand in her father's death. Cole is arrested for Carlo's murder after Cole's fingerprints are found on the statuette used to kill Carlo.

Chase and Maggie post Cole's bail, and Cole starts working part-time at the vineyard of a stunningly beautiful single mother, Katherine Demery. Richard's newspaper expose of workers' conditions at Falcon Crest leads Chase to publicly commit to higher wages and benefits for the workers, as well as changes in local labor laws. Lance agrees to take Melissa to child-birthing classes but refuses to attend, opting instead to spend time with Lori Stevens, his former girlfriend. Melissa is jealous of Katherine's attractiveness, and later Cole and Katherine's working relationship turns romantic. Richard tells his reporter, Blair, that he wants Cole convicted.

Against Maggie's wishes, Cole moves in with his new lover, Katherine Demery. Richard finds out and plasters The Globe with clandestine photographs of Cole and Katherine kissing. Jacqueline Perrault, Chase's mother, arrives from Zurich for a surprise visit and gives Chase money for Cole's legal defense, but Richard uses his contacts in Zurich to force Jacqueline to leave town. Angela buys up expensive stock in The Globe and continues tracking Emma to get her proxy. Lori demands that Lance come out in the open about their relationship. Lance is defiant when Melissa confronts him about his late night trysts. After a sudden complication in Melissa's pregnancy confines her to bed, however, Angela pressures Lance to spend more time with his wife.

Richard schemes to buy a piece of county property earmarked for a park, on which he plans to build a memorial to Douglas Channing on one small part and plant a vineyard on the rest. While Chase vehemently opposes the plan, Richard plants a bomb in Nick's truck and successfully intimidates Nick to vote his way at the board of supervisors meeting. Leaving her prescribed bed rest in order to win Cole back from Katherine Demery, Melissa collapses and is taken to the hospital, where she delivers an unhealthy, premature baby, whom she names Joseph Angelo Cumson, after Lance's great-great-grandfather. After Cole moves out of Katherine Demery's house, he moves back into his parents' house.

Doctors give Melissa's premature baby, Joseph, who suffers from a host of health problems, a twenty percent chance of survival. Richard uses a lucrative job offer to entice Tony into securing Julia's agreement to sell off her interests in Falcon Crest and The New Globe. However, the plan backfires and Julia is devastated; Tony realizes Richard's job offer wasn't real. When Cole goes on the run to avoid facing trial for the murder of Carlo Agretti, Melissa agrees to a second autopsy of her father's body hoping it will help clear Cole. The autopsy reveals that the killer must have been right-handed, whereas Cole is left-handed, and the charges are therefore dropped.

Melissa is grateful when Richard flies a neo-natal specialist in from Europe to keep her baby alive. Maggie travels to Los Angeles to meet with producer Darryl Clayton about her screenplay. After Darryl turns the script down, Angela meets Darryl in secret and agrees to invest in the film if he will keep Maggie occupied in Los Angeles. As a romantic relationship develops between Vickie Gioberti and her father's associate, Nick Hogan, Vickie finds out from Cole that Nick is married. Chase discovers that Angela is using all of Falcon Crest's investment funds to buy up stock in The New Globe. After Chase confides with Nick about his war with Angela and her attempt to take over the newspaper, Richard soon finds out and confronts Angela. As Joseph's condition improves, Cole vows to be a loving father. Richard puts a down payment on a house in Tuscany Valley.

Vicky talks Cole into informing their parents that Cole is the father of Melissa's baby, but the opportunity never comes up. Phillip has a romantic dinner with Amanda Croft, a beautiful woman in her fifties. There is chemistry between them, but Amanda is suspicious of Phillip's relationship with Angela. When Darryl seduces Maggie into a passionate kiss at his Malibu home, Maggie panics and flies back home to Chase. Just as Angela has nearly bought up enough New Globe stock to control the company, Richard announces he is going to issue two million dollars more of stock, which is a strategy that Angela and Phillip hadn't foreseen. However, Angela and Phillip secretly arrange for a Wall Street banker named Kenderson to approach the unwitting Richard. Kenderson proposes to underwrite the new stock issue thereby delaying the offer long enough for Angela to get control of the newspaper. Meanwhile, Chase's mother, Jacqueline, has researched Angela's business dealings in Europe and provides Ch

At the winery, Angela plays Lance and Cole against each other. Chase finds out that Richard is planning to use a false company front to buy up grapes at twice the going rate. Despite the threat from Richard, Jacqueline wants Chase to work with Richard against Angela. When Cole wants to tell Lance that he is the father of Melissa's child, Melissa strongly opposes it. Angela offers Darryl more money to maintain Maggie's hopes of getting her script produced. In spite of bribing Richard's banker, Kenderson, into postponing the new stock issue, Angela still needs Chase's votes on The New Globe board to take over the newspaper. When Chase arrives at Richard's office to deliver a construction injunction on his new winery, Jacqueline surprises both of them with news that she gave Richard up for adoption when he was a baby, which means that Richard and Chase are half-brothers.

Richard rejects Jacqueline's explanation of why she gave him up for adoption. Despite being cleared of charges for Carlo Agretti's murder, Cole is continually harassed by the police and the community. By making an insincere appeal to their brotherly bond, Richard asks Chase to vote against Angela's take-over bid of The New Globe's board. In turn, Chase makes Richard give up construction of his winery, in exchange for his votes. Lance and his date Brenda attend Angela's annual Founder's Day Party at which Angela later becomes furious when she catches them in bed together. Richard and Melissa not only confess their attraction to each other, but Richard also announces to the entire party that he finally has found his mother, Jacqueline. Angela then publicly denounces Jacqueline for ruining her marriage with Douglas.

Angela's Founders' Day Party is in disarray following Richard's announcement that Jacqueline is his mother. When Chase confronts Richard on the veranda, Richard reasons he did not promise to keep Jacqueline's secret, only Chase's. When Angie turns on Jacqueline, Chase suggests taking her home. After Richard calls his mother an adulteress, Chase strikes his half-brother, and subsequently Chase and Maggie whisk Jacqueline away. The next morning, Chase regrets hitting Richard, while Jacqueline believes that the events of the previous night are in the past. She also understands Richard's bitterness, although Chase may never trust Richard again. At Falcon Crest, Melissa overhears Lance making plans to meet Lori. Melissa's attorneys are still evaluating all offers. Nick and Sheila, in their bedroom, share a moment as they dress.

At Chase's office, Sheriff Robbins warns Chase to stop interfering with the Agretti investigation or he will be charged with obstruction of justice. Chase informs him that he intends to keep digging for leads. When Chase relates his run-in to Sheriff Robbins, Maggie pleads with Chase to drop the issue. At Falcon Crest, Angie demands that Lance never mention Joseph's test results again. To Angie, Lance is the child's legal father. Emma has been tracked down somewhere in Texas and her exact location should be verified in about a week. Attempting to avert Angie's anger, Phillip points out that Lance is where Angie wants him, Melissa will soon be forced to sell the Agretti vineyards, Chase is having both personal and political problems (vindicating Cole's complicity), and Jacqueline is finally gone for good. Reconsidering her accomplishments, Angie invites herself to go sailing with Phillip the next day. Later in the lab, Lance complains to his mother about Angie's ignoring Joseph's te

Cole's unconscious body is still limp on the floor as deadly exhaust fumes fill the closed Gioberti garage. Inside the house, Chase, in bed with Maggie, is distracted by a distant sound outside. After ripping open the door, Chase drags Cole out, shouts for Maggie, then desperately administers C.P.R. to his son. After Nick and Vicky make love, he is uncomfortable as he prepares to take her back to their meeting place in town. At Falcon Crest, sirens disrupt the silence of the household. When Nick's Packard instead heads to the Gioberti's to drop Vicky off, vehicles with red lights flashing, whiz past them. Realizing they are headed to the same place, Nick steps on the gas and arrives at the Gioberti's, right behind an ambulance and several vehicles. A team of paramedics revives Cole.

During breakfast, Lance presents the paper for Melissa to see and thinks he is off the hook. However, Melissa knows that Richard printed this because she would not sell him her father's property. When Angie learns that Richard's evidence is from the paternity results that Lance gave him, Angie denounces Lance's inheritance. At home, Cole, referring to the same article, thinks Melissa finally told the truth about Cole's fatherhood to Joseph. Although Cole's murder charges were dropped, Chase knows they will never hear the end of this until Carlo Agretti's murderer is found. At the hospital, Angie visits Elliot McKay, who, although quite ill, defiantly rejects Angie's offer to buy his vineyard. In town, Vickie meets Nick, who professes his love for her. At The Globe, Melissa confronts Richard about the newspaper article and when Richard refuses to print a retraction, Melissa threatens to sue him for libel. Richard welcomes the extra publicity.

At Lori's, Lance tries to delay Lori from getting out of bed. Lori is irritated that Lance keeps procrastinating in looking for work, since it has been a week since Angela threw Lance out of Falcon Crest. Ultimately, Lori gives in, and they make love. At Chase's office, Chase catches heat from Sheriff Robbins about going to the D.A. with Carlo Agretti's letter from Angela. Robbins doesn't believe the letter incriminates Angie in Carlo's murder. In Richard's office, Diana informs Richard that nearly everyone but Angela has accepted the invitation to Richard's housewarming at the McKay place. Richard is confident Angie will be there, since the party will have three of the nation's most respected wine critics. Richard wants his new neighbors to realize that buying the McKay vineyards was just ""the first step of a much longer journey."" At Falcon Crest, Angie not only tells Julia she has decided to go to Richard's party, but that Angie has the ability to be flexible, unlike Lance. Angie thr

Early in the morning at the Gioberti house, Chase is cleaning the garage. Vickie appears with a cup of coffee for him, and suggests that he should go see Maggie, but Chase stubbornly refuses because Maggie was the one who abandoned him. Cole arrives later and tells his father if he wants to quit the investigation, he will understand. However, Chase has no intention of quitting. Later that day, Julia meets Maggie for tea at the Tuscany Inn and tries to convince Maggie to return to Chase and not make the mistake that she did. At the jogging track, Vickie argues with Nick about his dealings with Richard Channing. Back at Falcon Crest, Chase confronts Angie about hiring Bitterman. As Chase storms out, Julia stops him to offer her help in his investigation of Carlo's murder. Because there is an injunction against Chase, he accepts Julia's offer as Angie eavesdrops from inside.

At Julia's overturned car, as Chase, Cole and Sheriff Robbins help the firemen extinguish the flames, they hear a weak voice calling for help. Chase sees Julia, who was apparently thrown from the car into the brush, and rushes to her. Julia informs Chase that the brakes went out. The paramedics arrive and take her away on a stretcher. Chase tells Robbins that this was not an accident, mentioning the threatening letter to Julia. Cole then reminds Chase that they still must meet Melissa at the Agretti's vineyard. Chase tells Cole to get Melissa while he goes to the hospital. However, when Cole arrives at the Agretti's tool shed, he finds Melissa alone, impatiently waiting for Fong. When Cole tells her of Julia's accident, Melissa asserts that the brakes were functioning properly when she borrowed the car the day before. At the hospital, Angie, Lance, and Chase nervously wait while a few minutes later, Vicky and Maggie arrive. In Richard's San Francisco office, Richard tells Phillip to pe

In the morning, Melissa and Lance linger in bed at Falcon Crest. Chao-li enters with breakfast and scolds Lance for wasting time in bed when he should be helping Chase with the inventory. After Chao-li exits, Melissa asks Lance if he has found his father. When Lance answers no, Melissa suggests that they ask Richard Channing to help them. Melissa and Lance also realize that they hold the key, the Agretti Vineyard, to getting written back into Angela's will. Back in Paris, in a sidewalk cafe, as Angie and Phillip enjoy the view, Angie invites him to join her in New York, but will not reveal what her business is there. At the Falcon Crest Winery Lab, Cole argues with Chase about continuing with the investigation because Cole is beginning to think that his mother is right. At a Tuscany café, Darryl and Maggie are arguing about the changes made in Maggie's script. Darryl then insinuates that Maggie's relationship with Chase is not as strong as she led him to believe. Maggie tells Darryl th

In the morning, Chase encounters Sheriff Robbins, who is running out of the county building. Robbins has obtained the forensic report on Henri Denault and wants to ask Richard Channing some questions. Chase explains that he has evidence that Carlo Agretti was blackmailing Richard. Richard is dictating Denault's obituary to Diana for the newspaper when Robbins and Chase arrive at Richard's house. After Robbins informs Richard that there were signs of struggle on Denault's body, Robbins wants to examine Richard's clothing from that day. In response, Richard tells them to get search warrants and slams the door in their faces. Later, Richard decides to give Lance all the information on Tony Cumson. At Falcon Crest, Lance tells Melissa that Diana Hunter called to tell him that Tony is working in San Diego as an offshore consultant for an oil company. Lance tells Melissa that if Julia travels to San Diego, she will never be able to show her face at Falcon Crest again. On the veranda, Angie q

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.