The editor-in-chief of two of the country's most widely read tabloid magazines, controls the fates of the celebrities lining the pages.
Lucy plans to put Kira Klay's casket photo on the cover of Dirt, but this causes some consternation from a higher-up; Prince finds Don in order to lean on him; Willa is desperate to get some information about the lovechild of It couple Blair and Logan, aptly named "Blogan"; Holt reaches out to Julia but she still can't remember the car accident.
With the launch of "Dirt Now" on the horizon, Lucy desires to learn the cause of a Christian pop star's illness and use it as their launch cover story. Meanwhile, Holt tries to help Julia who is having trouble on the set of her sitcom; Lucy's brother finds a lover; and, Prince continues to stalk Don.
Lucy blackmails Prince into helping her find a missing rapper; Lucy's mother announces wedding plans on the anniversary of her father's suicide; Julia seeks comfort in the arms of a drug dealer after Hoyt is forced to abandon her to shoot his latest movie; Willa steps up her game to get a story.
Lucy convinces her brother Leo to get in good with Jack Dawson -- an action movie star who likes men on the down low -- in order to procure compromising pictures for Dirt's latest cover; Brent is met by some toughs who want to know how Lucy found Aundre G's head; Julia's descent into drugs and depression causes her to further damage her messed up relationship with Holt and fall into the arms of a preying woman.
Lucy clashes with one of her investigators, a man who was once her mentor. Meanwhile, Julia's depression leads to more drug abuse and more time spent with her drug dealer, Garbo, who very clearly wants to seduce and take advantage of her. And, Lucy and Holt can't resist their mutual urge to jump each other.
Jack Dawson wants to sue the magazine from releasing pictures of him with Lucy's brother, creating problems in their relationship. Meanwhile, Willa convinces Chuck to interview the preacher's daughter by herself, but when she gets there, the girl recants her story that she had anything to do with the murder her father's been charged with; and, Don gets a date with a waitress.
Lucy develops a wicked case of insomnia when her father's suicide begins to haunt her; Willa works with Don to find out about a super secret celebrity wedding, but she finds herself having to fight him off her the whole time; Julia tries to find her way in rehab; Holt has to manage his career on his own. And, Lucy finds solace with Don.
Former child TV star Sammy Winter takes the entire Dirt Now office hostage in order to force them into putting out an issue entirely about him. As the staff struggles to meet his demands, Sammy becomes increasingly frustrated and winds up shooting and killing Kenny, before, ultimately, surrendering himself. And, Julia returns from rehab.
Lucy designs her own form of grief counseling for the magazine staff following the hostage crisis: they're going to release a wall-to-wall celebrity sex issue; Brent and Willa's sex life ropes them a third member -- a young girl -- whose father shows up with her in the office the next day, declaring that she's underage.
Don grapples with some hoodlums who have decided to become paparazzi. But a young fan of his offers to help him defeat the photo bullies. Meanwhile, Julia senses that she and Holt are drifting apart; Holt desperately wants to hide his affair with Lucy; Brent resists Willa's efforts to draw boundaries between their work and romantic relationships.
The Julia-Johnny Gage sex tape gets leaked onto the Internet, causing a media frenzy. But since the tape's been leaked, Lucy's cover story needs to top it, or else she faces the axe. Meanwhile, Don gets a picture lead from Marqui, meaning he can't help Julia get her big cover.
Lucy feels threatened when an old rival of hers resurfaces; Willa tries to figure out the details of a model's deathin order to impress Lucy; Don's insanity gets the best of him, when the people in his head try to convince him to kill Lucy; Lucy's stalker is revealed: it's her brother, Leo; Holt and Lucy are nearly found out; Lucy's rival, Tina, gets Julia to herself and shows her pictures of Holt