Twins Brandon and Brenda begin school at trendy West Beverly High after moving from Minnesota. Brandon joins the newspaper and meets Andrea Zuckerman, the intelligent and devoted editor. Brenda is befriended by snobbish Kelly, who picks her as a chemistry lab partner to avoid being paired with a fat girl

Brandon meets Dylan McKay, a mysterious loner who stops some jocks from harassing Scott in tech class. Dylan takes Brandon surfing and introduces him to his friends, including a troubled young woman named Sarah

Brenda goes on several shopping trips with Kelly and Tiffany, Kelly's best friend from junior high school. Brenda cannot afford the merchandise, and considers stealing because she is envious of her classmates' wardrobes

Sheryl, Brandon's old girlfriend from Minneapolis, stays with the Walshes for the weekend. A concerned Cindy asks Jim to have a talk with Brandon. Before he gets around to it, Sheryl spends the night in Brandon's room

Jim encourages Brandon to try out for the basketball team. Steve, unaware that he is terrible, is bitter about being cut from the team. He tells Brandon that several of the players are ringers brought in from out of district to help the team win a championship

Brandon is getting a C in American History because of the teacher's unreasonable grade curve, in which 80 percent of the students receive C's regardless of their marks. Steve scores an A on every test because he obtains copies of the exams beforehand. Feeling pressure from Jim about his grades, Brandon cheats on a quiz

Brenda is mesmerized by Kelly's hip and glamorous mother Jackie, a former model. Kelly insists that her mother is not all that she appears to be. Jackie is a recovering addict, and begins hitting the bottle again after her boyfriend dumps her

The Walshes celebrate their seventeenth anniversary, but Cindy feels dissatisfied because Jim is neglecting her for his work. She has a chance meeting with old flame Glen, a talented artist. The two spend a lot of time together, and share a kiss after Glen's opening

Brenda becomes a trainee for a teen crisis hotline, although Andrea questions her devotion. Brenda violates the rules by taking a call after hours. The caller is a date rape victim, who suffers the same fate on three consecutive nights

Brenda and Dylan continue their flirtation, and she accidentally catches him in the shower. They go out alone when Brandon has to stay home sick. Dylan loses his cool after a confrontation with his father

Brenda goads Brandon into taking her to a party at Donna's house. He voices his objections to alcohol, but Steve spikes his drink. He decides to go along with it so that he won't appear ""uncool

Brandon meets senior Melissa Coolidge on the school lawn during lunch. He makes a date with her, and learns that she is the mother of an infant son, Joey. Brandon is forced into emergency babysitting duty while Melissa has an interview with Harvard

Brenda invites Kelly, Donna and Andrea over for a ""night of female bonding."" They are having a good time until Kelly's friend Amanda shows up. She insults everyone and decides to turn the girls against each other

The Walshes agree to let their maid's extremely intelligent ""niece,"" Carla, use their address to enroll at West Beverly. Brandon falls hard for her, but doesn't understand why everyone seems opposed to their relationship. Carla reveals that she witnessed a drive-by shooting that claimed the life of a four-year-old; she had moved in with Anna while waiting to testify, with protection from the D

David invites Steve, Kelly and Donna to his grandparents' luxurious Palm Springs home for President's Day weekend. He is embarrassed to find that his grandparents, who he believed were on a cruise, are actually at home. David meets a strange girl at a gas station and asks her over to the house

Brandon is rollerblading in the park while the television show Keep It Together is filming an episode. The producers seek him out as an emergency replacement for one of the extras. He hits it off with the star, Lydia Leeds, and is considered for a recurring role

Andrea persuades Brandon to run for class president. Kelly seizes control of the campaign and encourages Brandon to capitalize on his looks and image. She even agrees to a date with David in exchange for his help producing a campaign video

Everyone but Dylan is driven into a frenzy by the upcoming SATs. A completely panicked Andrea seeks help from Steve, who attended an expensive SAT prep course. During their study session, they end up kissing, and avoid each other for days

Brandon gets assigned to a story on West Beverly's star tennis player, Richard Azarian, who is initially resistant but finally allows Brandon to interview him. He finds a screenplay that Richard wrote, and it's autobiographical contents lead Brandon to worry that the tennis star may be considering patricide. Meanwhile, the gang learn their SAT scores, and Donna's low scores convince her that hanging out with the school's loser quotient is the only future she has

A dog follows Brenda home from a jog. She tries desperately to find the animal a home so that she won't have to take it to a shelter. Brandon and Steve must take over Jim's little league team after he injures his back during infield practice

Brenda tries to convince Andrea to ask Brandon to the spring dance, but Kelly beats her to it. Steve reluctantly takes Donna, who wears an elaborate gown that impedes sitting or dancing

Jim is offered a promotion that requires a move back to Minneapolis. He initially decides to respect his family's wishes and decline the job, but changes his mind when the boss offers to double his salary. Steve pushes Brandon away, and Brenda feels that Kelly and Donna are ignoring her