Summary: Donna and Kelly are working hard on Donna’s new men’s line, which already has buyers lined up. They have two days to finish everything. Also, the store isn’t currently making money. Steve accompanies Dylan to CU, talking about penguins and their method of childcare. Dylan tells him to stop watching Animal Planet and talk to Janet about their baby. He tries to register for classes but learns that his application for readmission was denied – his essay was deemed ridiculous. So much for his deal with Lucy.
Kelly and Donna meet with Pia, the publicist they worked with before, to plan another reopening party at the boutique. Because the last one went so well? Steve takes Janet a stuffed penguin as a way of telling her that he wants to raise the baby with her. Janet’s relieved and happy to hear this. David has Donna record sound effects for the radio station, which is probably only something the writers cooked up so Donna and Noah would run into each other.
Kelly takes Matt lunch at his office, complimenting him for making changes to things he didn’t like in his life. He’s now exactly where he wants to be. She admits that she feels trapped at the boutique. Matt thinks she should do exactly what she just praised him for doing, and make changes to things she doesn’t like. Kelly wants to make sure that her uneasiness is about doing something new. When Gina arrives, Matt forces the two women to call a truce so they can hang out at the office at the same time.
Steve goes to an OB appointment with Janet, who has apparently been talking him up to her doctor. They hear the baby’s heartbeat together, and Steve starts freaking out. Later, Janet tells Donna and Kelly how great she thinks Steve will be as a father. Meanwhile, Steve tells the guys that this is going to be a disaster. Dylan advises him to call his own father. Steve worries that he’ll sound like he’s begging for help.
As part of the truce, Gina relays a message from Kelly to Matt, then asks about their personal lives. Matt sends her to the boutique to help out. Pia puts her to work stuffing invitations for the reopening. Gina asks for help getting connections so she can return to personal training, but Pia won’t give out personal information. She compliments Kelly on thinking like a publicist, and that plus Kelly’s message to Matt about wanting to discuss her future makes Gina hint that Kelly wants to leave the boutique.
Kelly leaves with Pia, who tells Gina to put Christian Sutton’s invitation on top of the stack. He’s a fashion critic who will be a VIP at the party. Donna arrives, unhappy to see Gina. Gina tells her that Kelly was just talking to Matt about quitting, and Pia just offered her a job. Kelly visits David at the radio booth, where he’s using his new sound effects to pass judgment on his callers’ decisions. Then he passes judgment on Dylan for wasting his time trying to go back to school, and wasting Kelly’s time by asking her for a college recommendation. Dylan overhears, but David won’t apologize.
Cherise wants to take a road trip with Noah, who assures her that they’re not moving too fast. Donna arrives at the club to ask Kelly if Gina was right about her quitting the boutique. Kelly thinks the conversation should wait until after the reopening. Steve and Janet go out to dinner, where dessert is ruined for Steve by the presence of a crying baby. Janet’s no longer bothered by noisy kids. Steve tries hard not to freak out again.
Gina finishes up the invitations, burning Christian’s. She accidentally lights a bucket of sterno cans on fire. The flames spread to Donna’s men’s clothes, and though Gina puts them out, the burns combined with the output from the fire extinguisher pretty well ruin them. Kelly and Donna arrive moments later, and Gina blames the fire on the twinkle lights Pia put up. When Noah hears about the fire, he asks Cherise to postpone their road-trip departure by half an hour so he can help clean up “Kelly’s boutique.”
Rush calls Steve, who makes Janet lie that he’s not there. She calls Steve on not telling his father that he’s going to be a grandfather. Steve points out that Janet hasn’t told her parents yet either. He admits to being scared that he’s not ready to be a father. Janet won’t let him be scared, reminding him that he made a commitment. This is why she waited to tell him – she was afraid that he would disappear. She needs him to get on board 100 percent.
Dylan turns in a new application at CU, but he’s missed the admission cutoff, so he’ll have to wait until next year. At the boutique, Pia tries to spin the fire as a positive – rock stars would love burned clothes. The rest of the gang comes by to help get everything back in order. Gina tries to hide Christian’s half-burned invitation, but Matt can tell she’s up to something. He pulls her aside to call bull on her story that the twinkle lights caused the fire. She claims that the fire was an accident. Matt orders her to work as hard as everyone else, and to hand-deliver Christian’s invitation.
There’s an empty space across the courtyard from the boutique that’s just perfect for David’s sound equipment. What a coincidence! Dylan tells David that he was right about how he was wasting his time trying to go back to school. David pulls his application out of the trash and takes a look at it. Donna puts the gang (plus Pia and Cherise) to work, which leads to a music montage of people trying to cut and sew outfits. I don’t know who would buy clothes made by people who don’t know what they’re doing, but okay.
Everyone’s pleased, but not for long – Pia learns that the models are all stuck in traffic. The guys quickly volunteer to model the clothes themselves. Cherise isn’t happy. Gina, to her credit, has found Christian and gotten him to the show. The guys do a runway show, which seems to go well. Cherise ruins the mood again by telling Noah they’re done – he’s obviously still in love with Donna. Steve’s proud of the way they all made things work. He’s inspired to apply the experience to parenting. He also wants to get married. Janet confirms that he’s sure, then accepts his proposal.
The next day, Kelly and Donna make up before heading out to get a paper and reading Christian’s review. Janet shares her good news about her engagement. When they call her “Mrs. Sanders,” she’s suddenly not so happy. David goes to CU to tell the admissions counselor how Dylan helped him get through his first year in college. Dylan used to hate quitters, but he’s now turned into one. David wants the admissions counselor to help him get back on track.
Donna’s clothes get a great review, and she and Kelly are praised for being good businesswomen. Pia offers Kelly a job as a publicist, but Kelly has decided she’s happy at the boutique. Pia can’t find her book of contacts, but I’m sure Gina didn’t take it! Matt comes by to congratulate Kelly and shows us that their relationship is back to the way it used to be. Pia runs into Gina and wishes her luck with her “little fitness venture.” Gina doesn’t need luck, since she has Pia’s contact book.
Janet tells Steve that she’s changed her mind – she won’t marry him. She feels like he wants to get married because he feels obligated. She only accepted because she wants something stable. Steve says that she may be confused, but he isn’t. Janet won’t budge, so they’re not engaged anymore. This is dumb.
Donna runs into Noah at the Peach Pit and tells him that the New York buyers turned her down. Now that he’s single again, he can give her some company. Dylan’s back in at CU, and he knows it’s because of David. David doesn’t want any thanks. He reads Dylan’s essay back to him; it’s about how he’s always skated by and is now out of options. David encourages him to prove that he really wants to accomplish something.
Thoughts: Okay, Janet. Now that you’re showing, you need to tell your parents about the baby. They’re already mad at you, so what’s one more piece of news they’ll see as bad?
Steve claims he can’t sew, but we know he can.
I love that after just a few hours’ work by amateurs, all the clothes are flawlessly tailored and fit all the guys perfectly, even though they weren’t the original models.
I’m disappointed that Dylan runs the lights intead of modeling. Then again, most of the clothes are ridiculous, so it’s probably for the best.
Please don’t get back together, Noah and Donna. Please, please, please.
'90s Flashback 
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