Jake and Jo are forced to submit to AIDS tests after his ex-girlfriend Peri reveals that she is HIV positive. Billy uses an embellished resume to win a job at Escapade Magazine.

Billy and Alison's new relationship is threatened by news from Amanda, and Jo's nights out partying with Karen come to an end.

Billy and Alison try to get Jake and Jo back together, while Michael and Jane's divorce is finalized. Katya presents Matt with a proposition.

Alison has to miss Thanksgiving dinner to go to San Francisco for work. The FBI orders Jake to assist them with a sting on Palmer and Jane offers Sydney a holiday truce. Kimberly's mother makes a decision.

Amanda is furious when Jake skips work to hold a bedside vigil for Jo. Jo is not seriously injured, and learns that her baby was unharmed. Billy warns Alison to keep quiet about Amanda's rendezvous with Chas. Jake tracks down Hank at a pool hall and beats him up. He shows up late for dinner with Amanda, sporting a black eye, and storms out when she lambastes him for defending Jo. Michael throws Billy a bachelor party at a strip club, unaware that Sydney is the entertainment. When she sees Michael, she runs out of the club and is fired. A drunken Billy accidentally tells Jake about Amanda and Chas. Jake breaks up with Amanda, who fires Chas and vows to destroy Alison. Jake admits his feelings for Jo, and she agrees to take him back. Kimberly alters the chart of one of Michael's patients, prompting him to unwittingly commit an error that nearly kills the man. He is stripped of the chief resident position. Kimberly bullies Jane into turning over the $5000 in profits she had kept from Mich

Chris warns that his company will have to cancel his deal with Jane's firm if Michael does not sign off on it. Sydney calls Matt from the mental hospital and pleads with him to investigate Kimberly. Jane and Matt visit the beach house, where she bonds with Michael while Matt snoops. He discovers that Kimberly owns several wigs, then rips off her wig during a confrontation at the hospital. Sydney accepts a plea bargain after a scummy staff member propositions her, and is released into Jane's custody. Kimberly vows revenge against Matt. Palmer and Brittany continue their plot against Jake. Palmer turns up on Amanda's doorstep. Billy and Alison break up after she learns that he took a job at D&D without consulting her. Jo receives a surprise visit from Reed's parents. She reluctantly admits that Reed is the father of her child, and is shocked when the Carters sue her for custody.

Jo and Amanda argue over who is to blame for Jake's departure. Jake meets his biological father, Vince Connors. After they resolve some of their differences, Vince convinces Jake to return to Melrose. Jake apologizes for abandoning Jo, then learns from the FBI that he is to receive a large reward for assisting with the capture of Brittany. Chris continually makes unwanted advances toward Sydney, but Jane believes her sister is just trying to cause trouble. Alison gets her new secretary fired, and picks up a guy at Shooters. She seeks revenge after he leads her to believe he wants a relationship, when he was actually just looking for a one-night stand. Peter Burns, the hospital's new chief of staff, lays down the law to Michael and Kimberly.