Beverly Hills, 90210 (season 6)

Kelly returns to Beverly Hills from a modeling stint in New York. She brings home an artist boyfriend named Colin, who rents a loft in Los Angeles. Brandon comes home from a summer job at the Boston Herald to discover that Val's obnoxious and equally devious friend Ginger (guest star Elisa Donovan) is staying at the house. Val and Brandon agree that they should not get involved, so Ginger comes on to him. Steve, Brandon and David consider renting a penthouse apartment together. David reveals that he and Clare have broken up. The real estate agent tells Brandon that the buyers plan to tear his house down, so the gang throws a party and trashes the place. She then informs Brandon that the house has fallen out of escrow, meaning that his parents still own it, so the group joins forces to clean up the mess and make the place livable. Donna enjoys her summer with Ray, who has made an effort to make up for his past mistakes. A woman's valuable ring disappears during a party on the Martins' boat, and Felice believes that Ray stole it. Meanwhile, Dylan tells Kelly about his obsession with tracking down his father's killer since it has been over two years since Jack McKay was murdered and no one has yet been arrested or charged with the crime, plus the FBI have been refusing to talk to Dylan about the case. When Dylan and Kelly go to the late Jack McKay's storage locker, they find it broken into and ransacked. Unsure if the FBI or the local Mob broke in to prevent him from finding out any clues to Jack McKay's killing, Dylan is more determined to find any information. Kelly helps him sort through Jack's belongings, but does not approve and wants Dylan to stop and just move on with his life; Dylan refuses. Later, Dylan visits his father's former cellmate at the state prison and finally learns the identity of Jack's murderer: a Mob-connected businessman named Tony Marchette.

The house is fixed up, and Steve decides to move in with Brandon. Donna finds Mrs. Korman's ring in Ray's jacket pocket. Everyone believes that he stole it (although he points out that he would have to be an idiot to leave the ring in his pocket for days, then let Donna discover it). The house's petty cash and Steve's gold watch turn up missing, and Steve blames Ray. Steve and Ray nearly get into a fight, and Donna decides to give up on Ray. Valerie exposes Ginger as the actual thief and orders her to leave town. Val pays off Ginger at the airport; they actually staged the entire incident so that Valerie could prove herself to the rest of the gang. Brandon tries to bring Kelly flowers for her 21st birthday, only to find Colin in her bedroom. Colin angers Kelly by refusing to show for her birthday party; he later reveals that he spent the time creating a special painting for her. Donna gets drunk at the party and tries to throw herself at Ray. Elsewhere, Brandon gives Dylan information about businessman Tony Marchette, his father's killer. The next day, Dylan follows Marchette from his fortress-like home to his business office and into an elevator just to see how close he can get to him, and the answer is "close enough to have shot and killed him". But Dylan is not ready to die at the hands of Marchette's bodyguards and instead decides to further investigate him.

Dylan heads for the C.U. campus in the hopes of striking up a friendship with Marchette's son "Tony" who is a student. Marchette actually has a beautiful daughter, Toni; she agrees to go out with Dylan. Brandon notices that Toni really likes Dylan, and disapproves of his friend's actions. Brandon expresses an interest in a columnist job with the school paper, the Condor. Editor Susan Keats turns him down and seems to loathe him. Brandon writes a sexist column about women as a counterpoint to Susan's similar column about men. They go to the After Dark to "research" behavior of the opposite sex, and Susan decides to hire him. Steve's advisor finally realizes that he cheated on his math placement test as a freshman. He ruins Steve's cushy schedule by forcing him to enroll in remedial math. Steve cannot find any tutor who will do all of his work for a pittance, and ends up hiring Clare when she promises him he'll do all the work himself and pay her a lot of money for teaching him. Kelly feels uncomfortable when she learns that Colin and Valerie once toured Europe together as part of a teen group. Valerie hires Colin to paint a mural at the club. Val confesses to Colin that she had a crush on him, and he fulfills her longtime dream by kissing her. Valerie lashes out at David for arriving at work late, unaware that he was helping his mother move into her own apartment. She apologizes and offers her support. A friend of the Martins, who is president of a record label, agrees to scout Ray. Ray learns that he cannot land a deal unless he impresses the man's young daughter.

Valerie gets herself invited on a road trip with Kelly, Donna and Clare. David thanks Val for helping him through his hard times, and gives her a kiss. During the trip, Donna goads Val into admitting that she slept with Ray. The roommates resolve to stop talking to Valerie. The car breaks down, and the girls spend a silent night at a convent alongside silence-vow nuns, where they all come to terms with their own immoral actions and concede their treatment of Valerie has a level of hypocrisy to it. Donna forgives Valerie, who urges her not to forget about Ray's abusive behavior. Donna dumps Ray. Meanwhile, Steve convinces Brandon to let a director film a movie at the Walsh house, without revealing that it is a porno. Susan is offended by the fiasco, but sleeps with Brandon anyway. Elsewhere, Marchette doesn't show for a dinner engagement with Toni and Dylan. He arrives after Toni leaves the table and warns Dylan to stay away from both him and his daughter (revealing here that goons hired by Marchette broke into the late Jack McKay's storage locker to steal anything that pointed to Marchette's name; who was informed months earlier about Dylan investigating his father's murder by Marchette's associate Tom Rose in Palm Springs back at the end of Season 5). Dylan and Marchette's bodyguard pull guns on each other, but they both back down and Dylan leaves. Marchette then tells Toni that Dylan is using her. She refuses to believe Dylan's claim that her father killed Jack. Also, Kelly meets Colin's art dealer, who seems to have more than business on her mind.

Colin appeases Kelly by ending his affiliation with Claudia and taking a teaching job. A fortune teller sets up shop at the Peach Pit for Halloween. In spite of her questionable credibility, her presence affects many couples. She forces Susan to come clean with Brandon about a past relationship. David buys a love potion to use on Valerie, and the two become closer. Steve and Clare accidentally drink the potion and have a rendezvous in the club's dressing room. Donna spends time at the Halloween party with Joe Bradley, the university's star quarterback. A jealous Ray accosts her, prompting Joe to back off. Ray lurks at Donna's apartment and becomes physical when she refuses to talk to him. Joe returns and comes to Donna's defense; he had reconsidered his decision and wants to date her. Dylan and Toni take in a stray kitten. Toni finds Dylan's gun in the first aid kit and insists that he get rid of it. Toni's father meets her at the Peach Pit in the hopes of ending their rift. He refuses to give Dylan a chance, and Toni gets him to admit that he had Jack killed. Dylan disposes of his gun and vows to let go of his anger. He and Toni plan to move to Hawaii.

Dylan asks Toni to marry him. Kelly is shaken by the news, and angers Dylan with her selfish reaction. She also bristles at David's new relationship with Valerie. Clare comes on strong to Steve. An earthquake rocks the major Los Angeles area, spooking Colin. Brandon and Susan, in Palm Springs for a newspaper conference, get trapped in an elevator with a pregnant woman. They must deliver her child. Donna advances to the finals of the Rose Court selections. She sees her mother in a photograph of the 1969 contestants, but Felice evades the truth and a fed-up Donna refuses to talk to her anymore, leading her parents to admit that they have to tell her the truth about something. Ray begins seeing a therapist and convinces Donna to come to one of his sessions. The doctor warns Donna to stay away from Ray because he's volatile and dangerous right now. Marchette pretends to give Dylan and Toni his blessing, then takes out a hit on Dylan.

The guys kidnap Dylan for his bachelor party at the Walsh house that is a deliberately dull affair involving playing cards and wine tastings, while the girls throw a much wilder time for bride-to-be Toni involving smoking cigars and male strippers at the beach apartment. The two assassins hired by Anthony Marchette plan to kill Dylan but have to adjust their plans when there are other people around. Ray tries to reconcile with Donna and only succeeds in making her loathe him even more. Bruno walks Toni down the aisle at her and Dylan's beautiful ceremony and they're toasted by all their friends. The newlyweds spend the next day or so together in bed, but the cat Toni rescued last week goes missing as a torrential rain begins and she takes Dylan's car to drive out and find her. Bruno learns of his boss' plot and warns Brandon by phone, who drives to Dylan's house and reveals the danger, so they head out to find Toni. Unfortunately, the hitmen think Dylan is driving the car and fire several gunshots into it, leading to Dylan finding Toni's dead body and screaming in pain and horror. The group cannot believe what has happened, as Dylan refuses to talk to the police and denies a broken Mr. Marchette's request that Dylan kill him by saying "My father is gone. Your daughter is gone. We're even now. The killing is done." Dylan packs up his stuff, plus taking his and Toni's cat, turns over his house key to Brandon to close up the residence and rides away on his motorcycle from L.A.

Joe rejects a plea bargain and decides to go to trial. Donna testifies that Ray was physically harming her, and Valerie corroborates this with her eyewitness account of the Palm Springs incident. The Associated Press picks up Brandon's story about the trial for nationwide syndication. Brandon tries to convince Ray to stop hurting Donna and reveal the truth about his fight with Joe. The prosecutor portrays Donna as a liar because she covered for Ray on her medical report. Ray feels guilty; he owns up to the abuse and clears Joe during his testimony. Donna denies the prosecutors' plan to put Ray in jail and tells him that if he stays in therapy and gets well, she won't reconsider her decision. Ray thanks Brandon for setting him straight and decides to leave town to start a music tour. Donna's friend Lisa is selected as Rose Queen. Colin babysits for Erin while Kelly and David are at the trial, as Mel and Jackie have gone away for the weekend. Valerie tells Colin that Kelly spent the night with Brandon. Colin refuses to believe Kelly's denial, but their argument is interrupted when Erin falls into the bathtub. Colin revives her through CPR. Susan becomes angry after Brandon reveals that he felt tempted by Kelly and Kelly tells Valerie off for being a manipulative shrew.

Cindy surprises Brandon by coming to visit for Christmas. Her relationship with Jim is on the rocks, and she is unsure about returning to Hong Kong. Brandon feels devastated, as he fears that his family is falling apart. A special Christmas present from Jim squashes Cindy's doubts about his love, so she returns home. Colin begins using cocaine. Kelly is livid, as he had promised to give up the habit for good, and she holds a blameless and visibly annoyed Valerie responsible for his using. Steve delivers Christmas presents to his boss's mistress and young niece. He gets fired when they receive the wrong gifts (the little girl gets a neglige), making the man's wife aware of his affair. Although someone else had switched the address labels, Rush blames Steve and lights into him. Steve angrily replies that Rush shouldn't worry about him, as they are not really father and son. When Steve meets Rush to apologize, his father makes a shocking revelation: he is Steve's biological father. He had an affair with a waitress, and decided to buy his baby to raise as his own. Steve is initially angry at first, but later expresses happiness and relief at solving the mystery of his parentage. Joe tries to keep an antsy Donna in suspense about her Christmas/21st birthday present.

Clare gets back in town, and is met by the gang, who fill her in on what went down while she was on a trip with her father (where she took some time to have New Year's Eve phone sex with Steve). Brandon is pissed that Susan's ex-boyfriend Jonathan keeps hanging around and things go badly enough that he punches the guy and almost calls it quits with her. Steve is on 'teen patrol' for his father, with his two obnoxious teen half-brothers around; they cause a lot of trouble, but Steve comes to feel some sympathy for them and only punishes them with some housework. Joe's pet bird to Donna's interferes with both Steve and Clare's sex life and David's New Year's plans with Valerie, who's already annoyed because Kelly is wrongly blaming her for Colin's drug issues. Valerie and David get back on good terms, and Valerie shuts Kelly up by handing over Colin's drug stash and saying that it's Kelly's problem to deal with now.

Brandon and Susan spend the weekend at her parents' house. Susan's mother asks Brandon very intrusive questions during dinner. Mrs. Keats expects Brandon to sleep in the guest room, but Susan sneaks him into her room during the night. Mrs. Keats catches Brandon in bed with Susan the next morning. She expresses her disappointment, and Susan shares her frustration at the expectations placed upon her since her sister's death, leading to Susan's parents tearfully telling Brandon how devastated they were when they buried their child. Kelly and Tara become friends and support each other in rehab. Colin and Valerie's new relationship upsets David and Kelly. Val orders David to mind his own business. Colin's old dealer, Danny, tempts him with some cocaine. Colin agrees to drive him to a drug house in Torrance. When the police arrive, a panicked Colin drives off and leads them on a high-speed chase. The gang watches the chase unfold on television, and is shocked to see that Colin is the driver. Joe's older brother Hank comes to town and tries to discourage him from undergoing surgery. Donna suspects that Hank is jealous of Joe's potential to make the pros, as his own football career ended early due to injury, but Hank turns out to be a good guy who ends up supporting his brother in getting treatment for his heart condition.

Kelly tries to coax Tara into moving out, as the hospital has found her a place to live. Tara retrieves some belongings, including her photography equipment, from a friend. Kelly does not realize that Tara has a gun in her suitcase. After Kelly speaks of her hatred for Valerie, Tara sneaks out during the night and keys "Die Val" on the side of Valerie's car. Val believes that Kelly is responsible, while Colin gets into a fight with David (who had earlier given him a lot of attitude). Tara freaks everyone out by copying Kelly's hair style and color. Donna and David film a music video for an up and coming band. Donna must appear in the video after the female star fails to show. Joe is unhappy to see her dancing around in a revealing outfit. The Boston Globe offers Brandon a summer internship and chance at a great post-college job. He rejects the offer because he and Susan had already planned a cross-country trip for the summer. Clare stays with Steve while cramming for the graduate school entry test with Brandon, Susan and Joe. Steve accidentally ruins her beloved shawl--a keepsake of her mother's--in the wash. Clare is devastated but forgives Steve because his intentions were pure.

Tara makes a pass at Brandon and purposely overfeeds Kelly's fish. Kelly orders her to move out. Kelly snoops in Tara's suitcase and discovers that she had lied when she claimed not to know her parents' whereabouts. Kelly enrages Tara by calling her parents. Tara holds Kelly at gunpoint and forces her to go for a drive up the coast. Kelly tries to escape when they pull over, but Tara knocks her out. She ties up Kelly, hooks a hose up to the car, and plans to kill Kelly and herself through carbon monoxide poisoning. Kelly tricks Tara into untying her, then gets the gun away. Tara is admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and her mother thanks Kelly for saving her life. The judge nixes the deal between Colin's lawyer and the district attorney. Citing the fact that he endangered lives with his hazardous driving, he sentences Colin to two years in prison. Carl, a prince and longtime friend of Clare's family, comes for a visit. He makes friends with Steve and tries to prove that he is not the brat that Clare remembers. Joe tries to convince Donna to tone down the racy content of the music video. David bows to Donna's wishes and makes the cuts, but they revert to the original version and obtain a contract to direct three more videos. Joe apologizes to Donna and admits that he is jealous of her relationship with David.

Kelly agrees to help with the search for Colin when Brandon reveals that Nat could fall victim to the bail bondsman through his business ties to Valerie. Kelly gets in touch with Colin after obtaining his beeper number from Danny. She arranges a meeting and contacts the cops, but Colin realizes that something is amiss and sends Danny to the rendezvous. Donna balks when she and David are asked to produce a music video for Ray, who asks for a chance to prove that he has changed. Donna accepts the project after meeting Ray's fiance, Wendy. Joe decides to quit football and take over as coach at his high school in Pennsylvania. He asks Donna to marry him. She turns him down because she fears that she would regret sacrificing her dreams. Clare is drawn toward Carl as they share memories of her mother. Mrs. Arnold believed that Carl would one day marry Clare and make her a princess. While Steve recuperates from his jaw injury, he and Brandon sit around watching Vega$, The Love Boat, and other Spelling Productions shows.