Kennedy High. Brooke sits in class re-reading Sam's note from the end of last week's episode. "I'm very sorry for the church debacle and I hope everyone can forgive me . . ." The class is reading Crime and Punishment. Miss Ross is talking about how Raskolnikov thought that he was extraordinary and therefore exempt from punishment. Miss Ross asks the class what they thought of Raskolnikov's subsequent incarceration. Nicole suggests that Raskolnikov was weak, and that if he'd just held out longer he'd be blissfully happy and hanging out with that hooker. Speaking of crime, I guess that hairdresser is still mad at Nicole. Her rat-do has grown out a bit, but now she looks like she's playing Grizabella in a New Rochelle community-theater production of Cats. Miss Ross tries to ignore what Nicole has just said and goes on to talk about the concept of one lie leading to another until the burden of so many lies becomes too much to bear. "Nothing in life goes unpunished, babies," says Miss Ross. Hey, if the motif of tonight's episode is going to be Crime and Punishment, how come I didn't see any spoilers about anyone being chopped up with an ax?

Class ends and everyone collects their books and leaves the classroom. Brooke walks up to Lily and Carmen and asks them where Sam is. They don't know. Brooke at first thinks they're covering for Sam, but soon realizes that they are just as out of the loop as she is. Lily and Carmen do not ever make a move in this episode without being at each other's side. For that reason, I am simply going to refer to them as the Lilmen. The Lilmen are shocked that Sam has run away. Lily got a nice perm for that "wig" she's been wearing since the mohawk episode. It sticks out cutely from under her blue skull cap.

San Francisco. And just in case we can't tell that it's San Francisco by all the landmarks like The Golden Gate Bridge, Nob Hill and cable cars, the song "San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie is playing. Sam "Love is a battlefield" McPherson walks into a photo gallery dressed like the runaway that she's been for the last four hours: rat's nest hair, Gap backpack, sweater tied around her waist, and one of those big long coats that incest survivors wear to hide their bodies. Sam, you're running away to stop a wedding. This is not Go Ask Alice. Put on a clean outfit and comb your hair. She goes up to the woman who runs the gallery: "Are you the mother of Brooke McQueen?" The woman who may be Brooke's mother is played by Peggy Lipton. And just in case you can't remember who Peggy Lipton is, the Twin Peaks theme plays. Ooh, looks like Peggy Lipton's starting to look really old. I swear she looks like she might be 29 or 30. No wonder Quincy Jones left her for Nastassia Kinski.