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 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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

Angela jeopardizes Chases recovery by telling him about his mother's death. After Maggie confronts Angela, Angela declares that it's time to go for the jugular. When Angela learns that Dr. Lantry augments his income by illegally selling pills, she uses this information to blackmail the doctor into signing an affidavit about Chase's incompetence to manage Falcon Crest. As Lance helps his grandmother in her scheme, his wife, Melissa, is turning to Richard for affection. Back at Falcon Crest, baby Joseph is rushed to the hospital after swallowing the pills that Lance had procured for Angela's blackmail scheme. With hatred and fear in her eyes, Melissa coldly accuses Lance of trying to destroy her baby.