Just as Michael and Dr. Heller remove the last of Maggie's tumor, her heart stops. Working quickly, Michael and Dr. Heller manage to get a weak pulse, but Maggie is left in a coma. As Michael humbly admits that Maggie's fate is up to God, Angela prays for Maggie, Julia and Falcon Crest, and reunites with Philip, whom she believes she will be able to trust again some day. Meanwhile, Richard is crazed when he learns that Chase has turned over Jacqueline's fifty million dollar trust fund to St. Martha's convent in Paris at a time when Richard desperately needs the money. On top of this, the cartel's plot against Richard threatens Pamela's life. After Pamela is abducted by the cartel, Richard realizes that though he may have retained control of the racetrack, the cartel has the one thing he cares most about: Pamela.

When the cartel begins to carry out its plans to make a public spectacle of Richard's assassination at the grand opening of the racetrack, Richard, making a switch with the bomb, causes the cartel to explode its own limousine. Eager to please Angela, Lance promises that he and Melissa will produce a grandchild. Melissa learns, however, that she can no longer have children because of injuries sustained from the car accident. While the Giobertis believe that Michael and Terry are traveling to Mexico, they are surprised when the two announce their marriage. At Falcon Crest, Angela agrees to marry Philip. As detectives discover Julia's hideout, Lucas discovers Julia's true identity and murderous acts as she heads for Tuscany. Meanwhile, Lance secretly executes his plan for power using The Globe as his tool.

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

At first light, Melissa and Cole wait at the rescue base as the helicopters arrive with the survivors of the crashed plane. Angela disembarks, relaying the news that Philip Erikson is dead. The co-pilot and Michael Ranson were also killed in the crash. Richard insists that the cartel was responsible for the crash, while Chase maintains it was sabotage. Angela blames Chase and swears she will make him pay. At the hospital, Angela comforts Emma, and Cole watches over Linda, who is in critical condition. They talk of Joseph and their future together. As Linda professes her love to Cole, she dies in his arms. Terry, although distraught, realizes that she has received a sizable inheritance upon Michael Ranson's death. As members of the cartel meet in Buenos Aires, Johann, disappointed that the crash was not a total success, reveals that their ultimate goal is to reclaim a valuable Third Reich treasure, which lies buried in Falcon Crest property.

Chase still has nightmares about the crash and worries that he should have done more to land safely. Angela surprises Greg Reardon at his stables and offers him the lawyer position left vacant by Philip's death. She promises to launch his political career in one year if he takes it. Cole and Maggie pack Linda's belongings. As Richard climbs into his limousine, Spheeris levels a pistol at him. The cartel members want him to acquire some property for them, but Richard flatly refuses. Angela, Lance and Alan Caldwell of the F.A.A. plan a fuel leak story that will place the blame for the crash on Chase. Cole and Melissa begin a friendly relationship again. In Buenos Aires, as Johann steps into his limousine, it instantly explodes while Gustav stands by, mercilessly watching his father die.

Angela and Lance team up against Chase in the FAA's investigation of the crash. Angela bribes Buzz Whitehead, the airplane mechanic, to lie and claim that Chase had been drinking prior to the flight and had ignored the fuel leak warning. Chase is determined to discover who sabotaged the plane and swears that if the cartel was involved, Richard will pay. Gustav arrives in Tuscany Valley to obtain the Falcon Crest secret. Angela, Lance and Greg plot to take The Globe from Richard. Maggie's father, Paul Hartford, arrives for a visit. The Giobertis throw a party to introduce their new champagne, but the celebration turns into a nightmare for Maggie when Angela reveals that Maggie is adopted and her father is unable to deny the painful truth.

The cartel gives Angela a falcon statue containing a listening device, which the cartel uses to eavesdrop on her discussions about The New Globe. Terry receives an unwelcome visit from her ex-husband Joel McCarthy, who claims that they were never divorced. He demands $25,000 to keep their marital status a secret, but Terry refuses to support his drug habit. Angela reports evidence to the plane crash investigators implicating Chase, then calls in a favor with Senator Silverlake to put her spin on the F.A.A.'s report. The F.A.A. releases its report on the plane accident, and Chase learns that he's suspected to be responsible and his license has been suspended. Emma gives her stock in The New Globe to Angela, helping her take over the newspaper.

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.