While Maggie is stunned by the return of her supposedly deceased husband Richard, Angela Channing decides to remain in the Tuscany Valley and fight for her family's land. While Richard reveals startling news about The Thirteen, the underground group which had supposedly killed him and which included the son of Peter Stavros, Maggie can't understand why she wasn't allowed to know that Richard was still alive. Meanwhile, Angela launches a new legal attack on Melissa for control of the Falcon Crest vineyards. Melissa's erratic behavior worries those around her. As Emma begins work on an article about an enigmatic mystery writer, Carly decides to leave the Tuscany Valley.

Senator Ryder is intent on killing Richard and kidnapping Maggie. Convinced that Senator Ryder's brother John is responsible for the killing of The Thirteen, Richard discovers the secret method by which Ryder and John contact each other. As Richard waits in a park for John, he doesn't know that the senator has already killed his brother and is at Richard's house.

When Angela offers District Attorney Fields her support for the governorship in exchange for dropping the murder charges against Lance, he indignantly refuses; however, when Richard offers to hire Field's leukemic son to join the staff of The New Globe, Fields agrees to the deal. Lance, on the other hand, is not grateful; he wanted to prove his innocence in court. Although not charged with any crime, Maggie is guilt-ridden by the fact that she killed Senator Ryder, even though she did it in order to save Richard's life. After Nick Agretti is enraptured when he witnesses Pilar swimming nude, Angela informs him that she has learned some information he cannot release, revealing that the price for keeping the secret is Falcon Crest itself.

Mercedes and her husband pressure Pilar to sign papers allowing them to adopt Lisa. Although Pilar realizes that Mercedes is the only mother the child has ever known, the thought of a final, legal adoption is more than Pilar can bear. When Pilar goes to Lance for consolation, she discovers him with an attractive young woman. After Angela is outmaneuvered for the purchase of a bottling company, she is determined to learn who is behind the consortium. After Maggie's newspaper office is mysteriously trashed a few days before the first edition, Emma discovers that Cabot has been lying to her about his true identity.

While undergoing observation in the psychiatric ward, Angela is harassed by other patients. Richard emerges triumphant in winning custody of the children but begins to have qualms about his relationship with Samantha, while Ben becomes increasingly despondent after the death of Anna. Maggie exposes the hospital's negligent treatment of Gabriel, while Nick continues his drive to regain Falcon Crest. Richard dupes Samantha into leaving for Paris. At her judicial review, Angela creates a scene that could prove detrimental to her case.

As Angela's competency hearing proceeds, it becomes obvious that her case is weak, and Maggie's reputation begins to slide because of rumors about her relationship with Tommy. When Frank discovers that the feud between the Agrettis and the Giobertis had begun when the title to Falcon Crest changed hands during a crooked card game, he tries to convince Nick to let sleeping dogs lie. After selling some of her recently acquired Glenbraddoch stock to Lance, Pilar proposes to establish a trauma center in the Ortega name, with her terms including banishment for everyone involved in Gabriel's case. When the court declares Angela mentally incompetent, Angela rocks the court with a startling revelation.

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.