Minnesota natives Brandon and Brenda Walsh begin attending West Beverly Hills High, and experience culture shock when they become exposed to the glamour, wealth, and privilege that their new classmates possess. Following a romantic date, Brandon accidentally spreads a rumor about him sleeping with a notorious party girl. Brenda uses a fake ID to get into a nightclub and passes herself off as a college student when she begins dating a young lawyer. Two freshmen students named David and Scott attempt to navigate their way through the social scene at school.

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Brandon meets and befriends Dylan McKay, a brooding classmate. As they continue to spend time together, Brandon learns that Dylan's bad-boy act masks a hidden life that few people ever see. The beach is the place to be at for the West Bev students and also where Brenda sees Kelly's true colors. Steve's mother convinces him to talk to David after mistakenly thinking that his father is a wealthy TV show producer.

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Brenda goes shopping with Kelly and her wild friend Tiffany and wishes that she had their kind of money. Unbeknownst to her, Tiffany is a shoplifter and when they get arrested, Brenda begins losing her mother's trust. Meanwhile, Brandon gets a job at a trendy restaurant where his boss treats him horribly and pays the minority employees less than minimum wage. Cindy grows uncomfortable when Jim hires a maid.

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Brandon is excited when Sheryl, his ex-girlfriend from Minneapolis visits. When Sheryl meets Dylan, she becomes aroused by his money and glamour, making Brandon jealous and violent. Brenda develops a crush on her algebra teacher and is disappointed to find out that he has a wife and children that she has agreed to babysit. Cindy worries about Brandon losing his virginity and nags Jim to have the sex talk with him.

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When Brandon and Steve try out for the basketball team, Brandon learns that the school recruits minority students from out of the district in order to boost their stats and is forced to make a difficult choice in order to secure a spot on the team and make his father proud. Meanwhile, Brenda decides to take driver’s education again, but fails twice and ends up losing Brandon’s car when trying to pick Kelly up from a bad date.

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An unreasonable history teacher makes his students' lives miserable by using an infamous steep grading curve and when Brandon learns that Steve gets A's by stealing exams before the test, he decides to follow suit. Brenda and Kelly vie for Dylan's attention and when he states that he prefers blondes, Brenda grows insecure and decides to dye her hair but the result is horrifying.

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Brenda takes her mother for granted when she begins idolizing Kelly's cool mother, but unbeknownst to her, inside the Taylor household lies a dark secret as Jackie relapses and starts abusing drugs and alcohol all the while Kelly's pleas for help go unnoticed. Andrea joins Brenda and Cindy in the 15th Annual West Beverly High Fashion Show. David uses his video camera in order to sneak a peek at Kelly in the fashion show dressing room.

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Following their disappointing seventeenth wedding anniversary, Cindy feels like the intimacy is lost between her and Jim and engages in an emotional affair with her old college boyfriend who has moved to town, scaring Brenda into thinking her parents are headed for divorce. Meanwhile, Brenda and Brandon participate in a UCLA study on twins. Also, David wants to be the new school DJ.

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As the students of West Beverly get pumped for Grudge Week against Beverly Hills High, Brenda grows annoyed by her friends' lack of school spirit. She volunteers for a teen crisis hotline and violates the rules when she takes an after-hours call from a date-rape victim, who is still in danger. Meanwhile, Brandon thinks that a sexy older woman named Nina is attracted to him and makes preparations to have sex with her.

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Brenda and Dylan start dating, causing differing opinions in the Walsh house. When sex becomes an option, Brenda learns that he may be too intense for her. Dylan's father arrives back to the hotel and criticizes Dylan. Brenda fell for Dylan a lot more when she learned about how bad his estranged relationship with his father. Dylan found out his father will be indicted for tax and securities fraud. Meanwhile, the gang begins Sex Education in Health Class and Scott has trouble getting his mother to sign the consent form. Steve attempts to hook up with Stacy Sloan, the class' speaker. Later on, everyone attends an AIDS seminar and listens to Stacy's speech based on her own experience and condition.

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The Walsh twins feel pressured by their peers to drink alcohol. Brandon grows tired of being the responsible twin and when the siblings throw a house party, he goes too far and puts himself and the lives of others in danger when he drives drunk and gets into a car accident. Meanwhile, after their last drunken hook-up, Kelly grows annoyed by Steve's advances. David does his best to get closer to Kelly. Jim and Cindy go away to Palm Springs for a retreat and are forced to deal with an annoying couple.

Brandon gets an unexpected taste of fatherhood when he starts dating a scholarly senior with Ivy League ambition named Melissa and then has to baby-sit her infant son while she has a college interview. Brenda and Kelly win a radio contest and get skydiving lessons, but her parents refuse to allow her to go.

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Brenda invites Kelly, Donna, Andrea and Kelly's rude friend, Amanda over for a "night of female bonding", but Amanda causes tension within the group when she forces the girls to reveal their deepest secrets. Meanwhile, Brandon and Steve go out and pick up two girls, who show their true colors when they steal Steve's car. Also, David and Scott sneak into the slumber party in order to take lewd pictures of the girls.

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The Walshes let Carla, their maid’s niece, use their address so that she can attend West Beverly High and Brandon immediately develops an attraction towards her while wondering what she's hiding. Jim hosts a party for his new client, a sportswear designer and Brandon explodes with anger when he finds Carla waitressing and being used as cheap labor. Also, David tries to get MC Hammer to perform at the school dance.

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The students of West Beverly head to Palm Springs for President's Day Weekend and thinking that his grandparents are on a cruise, David invites Steve, Kelly and Donna to stay at their house, but is soon in for a shock when he finds out what is waiting for them. Brenda and Dylan make plans to finally have sex, but Brenda gets lost trying to find Dylan’s hotel and ends up seeing him with another girl. Steve asks Kelly to give their relationship another chance. Back in Beverly Hills, Brandon meets a young boy at the Peach Pit and discovers the reason he hangs around at the restaurant all day.

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Brandon accidentally lands a role on a hit TV show and develops a flirtation with the star, Lydia Leeds. Things go great at first, but he soon realizes that showbiz isn't as glamorous as it appears. Meanwhile, Brenda is jealous of Brandon's sudden fame and gets in over her head when she takes over for him at the Peach Pit.

Brenda feels out of touch with her surroundings and decides to drop out of school and house-sit for her new and mature friend, Sky. She later finds out the adult world isn't what it's cracked up to be. Meanwhile, Brandon runs for junior class president and enlists Andrea and Kelly's help for his campaign.

The West Beverly juniors are panicked by the upcoming SATs, but then everything gets put into perspective when Brenda finds a lump in her breast and faces a test no one can prepare for. Meanwhile, Andrea and Steve decide to study for the upcoming test together and as the night continues, they end up kissing.

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Brandon interviews Roger Azarian (Matthew Perry), the school's tennis star, and when he reads his dark and twisted screenplay, Brandon worries that the events in it might come true. Meanwhile, everyone is thrilled by their SAT results except for Donna, who got low SAT scores and begins acting out, unaware that she has a learning disability.

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When Jim hurts his back, Brandon teams up with Steve to coach his little league baseball team and has trouble disciplining the entitled players. Meanwhile, Brenda develops a bond with a stray dog and makes a desperate plea to convince her family to let her keep him.

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West Beverly prepares for the annual Spring Dance and Kelly, preoccupied with being named Spring Queen and asks Brandon to be her date, which stirs up romantic feelings. Jealous, Steve gets drunk and lashes out at everyone, revealing a deep family secret. Andrea is not going to the dance and is upset when she finds out that Brandon is going with Kelly. Brenda finally loses her virginity to Dylan in their hotel room. David enters a contest to win the first dance with the Spring Queen. Donna has trouble moving in her dress.

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Jim gets a job promotion which means that the Walsh family is moving back to Minneapolis. Saddened by the news, Brandon and Brenda prepare to say goodbye to the friends they've made this past year. Brenda worries that her relationship with Dylan won't survive long distance. Brandon contemplates sleeping with Andrea after she offers herself as a going-away present.

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