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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Michael frantically races against time to stop Dr. Lantry from operating on Chase, which could leave Chase paralyzed for life. Angela then sets a court date to have Chase declared legally incompetent to manage Falcon Crest. Chase regains some feeling in his legs, and through physical therapy, begins to recover. At the hearing, just as the judge appears ready to rule in Angela's favor, Chase hobbles in on crutches, and the judge denies her petition. While Julia is declared not to be criminally insane, jail inmates continually torment her. At the Gioberti's house, Maggie convinces Michael to take a staff position at the hospital, but is shocked when he tells her he's the executor of Jacqueline's estate.

Angela desperately protects herself when she discovers that Chase and Michael's investigation into Dr. Lantry's underhanded past points to her. After Angela reveals to Lance that Melissa and Richard Channing are having an affair, Lance, boiling with anger, sets out to find them. Melissa covers by telling Lance that she's trying to maintain Richard as an ally, while Richard has his eyes set on Pamela. Linda's father refuses to acknowledge Cole as part of his family, while the newlyweds start a custody battle for baby Joseph with Melissa and Lance. Maggie's sister Terry seeks her fortune in Tuscany Valley by manipulating her way into the Gioberti's home.

Railroaded by Angela, Dr. Lantry is jailed, but now he poses a bigger threat to the wine baroness who fears he will turn the state's evidence against her in court, implicating her in the attempted murder of Chase. Philip arranges Lantry's bail and plans to have him sent out of the county, but Chase and Michael are determined to prove that Lantry is allied with Angela. Angela investigates Terry's dark past with plans of using her to destroy the Gioberti family. After discovering that Terry had been a prostitute in New York, Angela uses this fact to force her into stopping Cole's custody suit. Meanwhile, Terry, scheming to gain wealth, plans to overtly flirt with the men of Falcon Crest. At the same time Richard is incensed to learn that the cartel demands 100 percent control of his racetrack and will stop at nothing to get it.

Lance betrays Angela by revealing to Chase where Dr. Lantry is hiding. Chase accuses Angela of having arranged Lantry's bail and tells her that he found out from Lance. Angela denies everything but can barely control her fury over Lance's betrayal. Chase locates Lantry, who confesses that Angela had blackmailed him into signing the affidavit concerning Chase's incompetency. Before Chase can stop him, Lantry injects himself with a lethal dose of morphine. When Osborne's dead body is found on Richard's property, this not only further tarnishes his already scandalous reputation, but poses a threat to Richard's own life. Meanwhile, Michael warns Richard that his inheritance is in jeopardy, and Philip is exposed as the publisher's business associate.

As Dr. Lantry nears death, Chase realizes that he may lose his only opportunity to see Angela behind bars. Lance boldly threatens Angela and Melissa with blackmail, and at the same time, Angela works with Philip to admit Julia into a mental institution. Terry slithers her way into Michael's heart, while Angela blackmails her for devotion. Vince Caproni, bitter about Linda's marriage to Cole, tells Linda that Angela's cruelty to migrant workers caused Linda's mother's death. Angela forces Terry to spy on the Giobertis, or else Angela will reveal Terry's seedy past. Chase discovers a clause in his grandfather's will that gives him the legal right to oust Angela from Falcon Crest.

Chase fights a vicious public battle against Richard Channing, who is trying to build a racetrack that could destroy the wine industry, however, the final decision rests with the valley residents who are about to vote after the men's muckraking campaigns. Angela vows that she will not allow Chase to run Falcon Crest without her and thwarts his efforts to obtain the accounting records. Vince Caproni becomes seriously ill after Lance threatens him over Joseph's paternity suit. Angela makes a fiery attack on her nephew to strip him of his Falcon Crest powers. Meanwhile, Terry moves in with Michael, despite the Giobertis' warning that she is treacherous.

Richard has won the election to build his racetrack while Chase is madly driven to stop him, which results in an explosive disaster. In the mental institution, Julia becomes hysterical when Richard malevolently tells her Melissa's baby is his, thus pushing her into a catatonic state. Angela promises Lance that they will be kicked out of Falcon Crest if they lose Joseph's custody suit to Cole. However, when Melissa is grilled on Lance's affair with Terry while giving her deposition to Cole's attorney, she explodes and admits that their marriage is a farce. Angela attempts to stop Chase's plans to market a line of champagne by buying up the grape harvest he needs.

Michael Ranson must face his fears from a dark past and perform surgery on Sheriff Robbins to save his life. In the operating room, Michael is unable to perform the surgery and later confesses to Terry about the guilt he's felt ever since his wife died. The floodgates open as Michael tells Terry how his wife was in an accident and died when Michael had attempted to operate on her. Meanwhile, Terry spies on Maggie for Angela and at the same time, makes plans to marry Michael. A cartel gangster attacks Richard Channing while Angela plans to crush Chase with the help of Calvin Kleeger, the Falcon Crest wine distributor. Kleeger informs Chase that with Angela out of Falcon Crest, he will no longer serve as distributor unless Chase offers the winery as collateral.

Melissa loses control over her wicked power game when Philip intervenes and forces her to sell the Agretti harvest to him. Richard is nearly run down by a hit man as the cartel becomes even more determined to take over his racetrack. When Maggie interviews Sister Jeanette, an old acquaintance of Chase's mother, she overhears the startling news that Jacqueline had an affair with the head of the Nazi Gestapo in Paris, Johann Riebmann. When Cole returns home to find Melissa waiting for him seductively posed in his bed, he throws her out, but not before Linda enters, who witnesses the ugly scene.

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.

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,

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

Pamela is surprised to discover that Richard's attacker is Padgett who pulls back the covers to find only pillows where Richard's body should have been. Padgett tries to flee the town, and Gustav is furious that Richard Channing has not been eliminated properly. At The Globe, Lance becomes publisher to the dismay of many of his new employees. The Board of Supervisors removes Chase as head of the airport authority. Joel McCarthy, out of money and desperate to support his drug habit, mugs Maggie at Tuscany Downs. She never sees her attacker, and later, Cole unwittingly hires Joel as the new transportation foreman for the vineyards. Emma hears Julia call out to her in the vineyards, but when Angela arrives, Julia disappears again.

Angela is horrified when she learns that Francesca has evidence that she is Angela's half-sister and legal heir to one third of Falcon Crest. Angela then uses it to her advantage by making a deal with her to buy Francesca's third in order to control more of Falcon Crest than Chase. At Lucas Crosby's home, Julia tells him she is tired of running and being afraid someone will recognize her. However, when she goes to the police to turn herself in, they do not believe she is really Julia Cumson. Emma helps Chase obtain evidence that Buzz Whitehead was bribed into lying to the F.A.A. investigator, and Senator Silverlake was pressured into suspending Chase's license. Cole revives his love for Melissa, maintaining that they will have an open relationship, but Greg promises to destroy their relationship.

Julia has been taken to Reibmann's estate, where she is confined in what resembles a hospital room. When she comes to, the nurse informs her that Lucas has been arrested for harboring a criminal, and then turns on the TV to a newscast, which covers the arrest of Julia Cumson! How did they find out she was alive? Julia wants to know. Angela found out about her phone calls to Emma, the doctor explains, as Julia becomes hysterical. ""How could you do this to me?"" Julia cries. Things are working perfectly, Reibmann comments, watching from behind a two-way mirror. He's staged the whole scenario! Meanwhile, Angela has enough troubles of her own-both Francesca and the agreement have disappeared. As if that weren't enough, Chase turns over his notes to the U.S. Attorney's office to bring a case against her for libel, perjury, and whatever else she may have done to frame him with the FAA. Chase, too, is preoccupied with Francesca and her agreement with Angela. Melissa takes advantage to score a

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.

Lance calls Falcon Crest to get bailed out, but Angela grabs the phone and tells him that he can rot in jail. Ralph Delaney arrives and says that The New Globe will pay Lance's bail. Richard wants Maggie to do a story on Lance and exploit his situation. When Lorraine hears this, she is furious and accuses Richard of slanting the news. Chase tightens security at home and purchases a gun. He learns from Herb Boutilier in Washington, D.C. that Ben never worked for the government and receives a phone call warning him to stop looking for Ben. Charlotte and her old gambling partner meet and begin to lose money at the track. Richard sends Joel to a drug rehabilitation center in order to get him away from Terry. Although Lance insists he was framed, Angela refuses to believe him, and he is again disinherited. Lance moves in with Lorraine at the Tuscany Inn.

Lance stands trial for the attempted murder of Angela, but his real court battle is against Richard Channing, who has secretly bribed the judge. Richard discovers that Greg and the prosecutor, Caroline Earle, have agreed to a deal that would considerably lighten his Lance's sentence. He passes this information to Judge Holder, who, on instruction, rejects such an arrangement. Cole and Melissa consider hiring a surrogate mother to bear them a child. Chase decides to hire Connie to help Cole with their champagne production. Cassandra and Damon come closer to an opportunity for revenge on Angela. Cassandra must keep their identity and plan hidden from Richard, who finds Cassandra intriguing. Melissa's cousin, Robin, arrives at the Gioberti household for an extended visit and hungrily sets her sights on Cole and the mansion.

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.

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.