Mr. Bradley gives the girls an assignment having to do with their family trees. However, Natalie is reluctant to show hers in class do to the fact that the family that raised her is her adopted family. This prompts Blair to help Natalie find the name of her real mother by using her mother's clout to cut through some red tape and sealed records.
Blair and Sue Ann kid each other about their weight and Sue Ann takes Blair's comments a little too seriously. However, when Blair sets Sue Ann up on a blind date which will involve going swimming, Sue Ann goes on a starvation diet leading to a collapse. Meanwhile, Mrs. Garrett also jumps on the dieting wagon, trying to fit in a size 12 dress.
Blair is so caught up with her latest boyfriend that she forgets about an English assignment in which she has to write a poem. So, at the last minute she plagiarizes a poem by Emily Dickinson and turns it in as her own. Things get worse when she's the only one who gets an A and Mr. Bradley enters her poem in a contest.
The series opens with the Drummonds (from Diff'rent Strokes) visiting Eastland to see Mrs. Garrett (their ex-housekeeper). They arrive right in the middle of the Harvest Queen competition and Blair is sure she's going to win. So when Cindy considers running, Blair makes some snide comments about Cindy's femininity.