Season 4

Kimberly sets off her bombs, destroying half of the building. MacKenzie suffers a fatal heart attack. Billy breaks down Alison's door and pulls her to safety, although she is blinded by the blast. Peter saves Kimberly from drowning after the impact knocks her into the pool. Kimberly is placed in the psychiatric ward, and is unable to recall the events of the past week. Billy storms out when Hayley calls him to task for not immediately taking Brooke on their honeymoon. Brooke later moves out of the mansion and into Billy's apartment. Jess is killed in the fall from the construction site, while Jake suffers only minor injuries. He shuns a guilt-ridden Jo. The jailed Matt is enraged when his parents seem to suspect that he is guilty of murder. They win back his trust when they put up their mortgage to bail him out of jail.

Jane, Sydney and Jo get temporary roommates while the building is repaired. Jake goes on a drinking binge in the aftermath of his brother's death. Amanda invites Alison to return to D&D. Peter encourages Kimberly to pretend to be insane to get a lighter sentence, but she refuses. Kimberly attacks a doctor during a psychiatric evaluation, and threatens to jump off the roof. Peter is able to talk her down with a love declaration (although he isn't sincere). Michael and Peter decide to establish their own practice. Brooke is distressed when an inheritance isn't all that she expected. Sydney quits Shooters because of Jake's self-destructive behavior, and is hired as Michael and Peter's receptionist. Matt gets into a fist fight with Paul at the hospital. He later punches out Jake after taking exception to his treatment of Jo. Jake finally breaks down and turns to Jo for comfort. Jane undermines Richard's authority at work.

Alison regains her sight during a client party. Jane convinces her to keep the news to herself, as Brooke is only allowing her near Billy out of pity. Brooke snoops in Amanda's office and discovers a Florida driver's license for Amanda Parezi. Matt's lawyer, Alycia, resigns when he insists on trying to coax a confession from Paul on his own. Paul believes that Matt has an incriminating letter from Carol, and asks him to come to his house. Paul holds Matt at gunpoint and plans to kill him. Fortunately, Jo has called Alycia, who arrives with the police. Paul is mortally wounded in a shootout and confesses to his wife's murder before dying. Matt returns to work, only to be fired by Dr. Hobbs. Peter again asks Kimberly to plead insanity. He is impressed when she lunges for Michael and Sydney in the courtroom, until he realizes that her behavior is not an act. Richard objects when Jane hires Jo without consulting him. Jake and Jo finally get back together. Jake receives a surprise visit fro

Brooke flies to Miami to investigate Amanda's past. She learns from an old newspaper article that Amanda was presumed dead years ago. She also visits the house of Amanda's ex-husband, Jack, claiming that her car has broken down. Brooke blackmails Amanda into giving her a promotion. Jack, who had swiped one of Brooke's business cards, arrives in Los Angeles. Billy learns that Alison has regained her sight. Michael pretends to have reconciled with Sydney in the hopes of driving Kimberly over the edge. Peter reveals to Syd that his concern for Kimberly stems from memories of a deceased sister who suffered a similar plight. Jane and Richard get engaged. Richard fires Jane after she publicly dishonors MacKenzie's memory, but is later forced to make her a partner. Jo is wary when Jake hires Shelly and allows her to stay at his apartment. Dr. Hobbs makes a homophobic remark about Matt to Michael. Michael encourages Matt to sue for wrongful dismissal.

Kimberly reveals that she is being goaded into violent acts by visions of a man named Henry. When Kimberly's mother learns of her daughter's plight, she plans to ship her back to Cleveland. Peter convinces Mrs. Shaw to tell the truth about Henry. She reveals that Henry was a gardener that eight-year-old Kimberly killed when he tried to rape her mother. Peter tells Kimberly that this revelation may lead to her release, as she can now be treated. Brooke tries to keep Jack away from Amanda. Jack stops Amanda from leaving town and asks for a divorce. Jo and Jake bicker over the amount of time he spends with Shelly. Alison refuses to help Hayley break up Billy and Brooke, but later joins him for a romantic dinner. Jo talks to Jane on Richard's behalf, and learns that Jane doesn't love him.

Jane and Richard announce that their engagement is back on. Jo is distressed when Jane reiterates the fact that she doesn't love Richard. Jo gets very drunk at the engagement party, argues with Jane, and tells Richard the truth. Jack seeks to settle his divorce with Amanda so that he can re-marry. Amanda is angry when Jack makes the final payment on the apartment building repairs. Amanda reveals to Billy that Jack used to beat her. She faked her own death because Jack had threatened her father when she tried to escape. Brooke becomes jealous of Alison's budding relationship with Hayley. Kimberly is released into Peter's custody. Michael and Sydney plot to find a Henry-lookalike to drive Kimberly back to insanity. Matt wins his case when his lawyer goads Dr. Hobbs into admitting his homophobia.

Amanda is incensed when Brooke secures Jack's cable company as a client for D&D. Michael hires a waiter and aspiring actor named Mark Paul to impersonate Henry. Amanda holds a ""We Survived the Blast of '95"" party in the courtyard. Kimberly receives permission to drop by the party with Peter to apologize for her actions. Amanda agrees to forgive her. Mark Paul hides in the laundry room and startles Kimberly. Jane declares war on Jo over the broken engagement. Shelly throws herself at Jake during the party, as Jo is working late with Richard. Alison sleeps with Hayley. Brooke tries to convince Alison that Hayley is a womanizing pig. Matt's parents suggest that he use his settlement to return to medical school. Matt's father dies of congestive heart disease. When Amanda goes to Jack's house for dinner, she learns that his fiancée does not exist. He declares that he will never let go of Amanda.

Amanda gets into a scuffle with Jack as she struggles to escape. Jack trips over Amanda while pursuing her, and tumbles over the top of the staircase. Amanda calls Peter for help, as she fears the police would not believe her story. Peter claims that he stopped by the house and found that Jack had suffered an accident. Michael realizes that Peter's diagnosis is incorrect, but backs off after Amanda shares her history with Jack. Kimberly discovers that Mark Paul is a real person, and bullies him into admitting he was hired to scare her. Michael and Kimberly take their feud to national radio. Kimberly is furious when Peter neglects her in favor of Amanda. Alison agrees to move in with Hayley. Jake and Jo try to overcome their jealousy and stubbornness.

Jack remains in a coma. A frightened Amanda gets plastered at the Shooters Halloween party and sleeps with Peter. Jack wakes up and pretends to apologize to Amanda, then tries to strangle her. When Amanda slaps him, his breathing apparatus is dislodged. Sydney witnesses the exchange. Richard asks Jo to join Jane and him for a photo shoot in Hawaii, then has Jane called out of town. Jane makes Jake believe that Jo is cheating on him. Jo refuses to go on the trip after learning Richard's intentions, but catches a drunken Jake making out with Shelly at Shooters. Hayley explodes after finding Alison snooping in a locked room that belonged to his late wife. He apologizes and explains that he feels guilty that he married for money. Matt barely fails the medical school boards, but Michael changes his results so that he can gain entry. Kimberly violates her parole to take a job as a radio talk show host. Brooke discovers that she is pregnant.

Jack dies following his tussle with Amanda. Sydney blackmails Amanda and Peter, demanding half of Amanda's share of the estate. Amanda sells her share for a dollar in exchange for the sealing of the autopsy records. Kimberly grows tired of living under Peter's roof. Amanda and Peter realize that Sydney is more interested in Michael than any money. Amanda leases Sydney's apartment to Kimberly, and sends Syd off to live at the beach house. Hayley proposes to Alison. Alison goes on a business trip with Billy. Their plane is forced to land in the desert, and Alison tries to share her feelings as they await repairs. Billy interrupts with the news of Brooke's pregnancy. Alison and Hayley are married in Mexico. Jo follows Richard to Hawaii and quickly sleeps with him. Matt learns that Michael altered his test results.

Alison and Hayley honeymoon at a luxurious hotel/resort in Cancun, which he owns. Alison overhears Hayley arguing with the hotel manager over finances. She is further distressed when Hayley tells Brooke that he and Alison will not have children. Amanda pushes Peter away. Jack's father orders his other son, Bobby, to ""take care of"" Amanda. Michael is pleased when Sydney throws him a surprise birthday party, but threatens to cut her loose when he learns she is blackmailing Peter. Jane decks Jo after she overhears her making a catty remark to Richard. Jane decides to begin dating Michael to make Richard jealous. A lonely Kimberly has a fling with the pool boy. Matt and Jake discover that bookkeeper Shelly hasn't given Jake the password to Shooters' computer records. Meanwhile, Shelly fills a safe deposit box with cash.

Kimberly's bed-hopping puts her life in danger when her latest conquest turns out to be Vic, a psychotic man who has made threatening calls to her radio show. He ties her up and holds her hostage in a condemned building. Shelly tries to cover her tracks, but Jake eventually learns that she has been embezzling from Shooters. She tries to stab Jake when he confronts her. Peter convinces Amanda to open up to him. She tells him that she loved a man before she met Jack, and was deeply hurt when he left her. Bobby follows Amanda for a few days before finally coming to her apartment. She is angry at first, but then embraces him. Jane creates problems between Richard and Jo after she begins dating Michael. Hayley suddenly decides to sell his house. He wakes Alison in the middle of the night and says they are taking a second honeymoon. Billy and Brooke move into Alison's old apartment.

Hayley takes Alison away on a cruise. He reveals that he has serious financial problems, and throws his records into the ocean. Hayley plans to flee to Mexico, and Alison agrees to join him. A drunken Hayley falls overboard in the middle of the night. The Coast Guard later recovers his body. Kimberly manages to knock Vic unconscious and free herself. She hauls Vic into the police station. Kimberly tells Peter that she is giving up her radio career to become a psychiatrist. Amanda suspects that Bobby is going to kill her, but he says he came to Los Angeles to protect her from his family. Peter is furious when Amanda has dinner with Bobby, especially after he learns Bobby is the ""first love"" Amanda had described to him. Syd confronts Jane about her intentions toward Michael. Jake is frustrated by the police investigation of Shelly. He finds that most of his money is already gone.

Brooke blames Alison for Hayley's death, and arranges for Alison to be taken in for questioning. The death is ruled an accident. The bulk of Hayley's estate is left to Brooke's unborn child. Hayley left nothing to Alison, as he had actually secretly divorced her a week before his death. Brooke quits her job. Alison insists on making a presentation at a software convention, but fails to show for a lunch meeting. Billy drives to the hotel and finds that Alison has been drinking. Bobby seeks Peter's help in rehabilitating his family's image. Amanda sees Bobby in a new light after the FBI harasses him. Sydney reluctantly turns to Kimberly for counseling about Jane's involvement with Michael. She suggests Syd push the two together to get it out of Michael's system, but the plan backfires. Jake turns to a loan shark friend to cope with Shooters' crisis. Matt befriends Alan Ross, an actor who was treated for a broken arm.

Billy makes the presentation in Alison's place. When Brooke arrives, Billy claims that he slept with Alison (in order to prevent Brooke from finding out that she is off the wagon). Brooke learns that she is not really pregnant, but doesn't share the truth with Billy. Kimberly suggests that Sydney organize the hospital Christmas party to boost Michael's career. Bobby agrees to host the event. When Jane monopolizes Michael's time, Sydney slips tranquilizers into her drink. Jane and Michael head upstairs. As Michael is called to the podium to give the keynote address, he runs out of a bedroom in his underwear and says that Jane collapsed. Richard and Jo plan to force Jane from the business, but Jo has a change of heart when Jane extends an olive branch. Matt and Alan get closer.

Jane has suffered a stroke, and is left paralyzed on one side. Sydney insists that she did not realize the pills would cause this reaction. Kimberly suggests that Syd dodge suspicion by becoming Jane's caretaker. Jane moves into the beach house. Brooke asks Billy to meet her at the hospital, and says that she has suffered a miscarriage. She pushes Billy to get her pregnant ""again,"" as she can only gain access to Hayley's money through a child. Billy learns the truth from Brooke's doctor, and declares that the marriage is over. Bobby convinces Amanda, Peter and Alison to join him for a weekend in Palm Springs. Billy drives down to talk with Alison, who decides to leave early. Bobby declares his love for Amanda. They kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve, as Peter secretly looks on. Bobby settles a malpractice suit for Peter. Matt stops Alan from moving to New York by asking him to move in with him. Billy arrives home to discover that Brooke has slashed her wrists.

Brooke survives her suicide attempt. A guilt-ridden Billy returns to her side and demands that Amanda rehire her. Peter gives Bobby an ultimatum. Bobby stops by Amanda's apartment to tell her that he is bowing out, but she sleeps with him. Kimberly suggests that Sydney incriminate someone else in Jane's accident. She slips some pills into Richard's desk, where Jo finds them. Jo turns to Jake for advice, but he has nothing to say to her. Michael moves out after Sydney accosts him for trying to take advantage of Jane. Monty asks Jake to collect from another of his ""customers"" to pay off his interest, but Jake cannot go through with it. Alan shies away from Matt after Kimberly shares the sordid details of his past relationships.

Alison tries to show some sensitivity toward Brooke, who responds by trashing Alison's apartment. When Billy confronts Brooke, she goes ballistic and throws dishes and pasta across the room. A fed-up Billy walks out on her. Amanda breaks up with Peter to pursue a relationship with Bobby. Peter flirts with Bobby's lawyer, Alycia (who defended Matt against the murder charge). Alycia tells Jake that her (unidentified) client has bought his loan from Monty. Michael agrees to come home from Peter's if Sydney can get Jane out of the beach house. Syd tries to dump her off at a cheap convalescent home, but Jane refuses to go. Sydney leaves Jane on the beach while she has dinner with Michael. Jake saves Jane from drowning. Jo believes Richard's claims of innocence regarding the pills. Alan wins a role on a soap opera.

Vince is furious when he learns that Bobby did not kill Amanda. He shows up at their hotel during a weekend getaway and holds them at gunpoint. Billy files for divorce. Michael injects Kimberly with truth serum and gets her to admit that Sydney drugged Jane. She also tells Michael that she loves him. Michael throws Sydney out, and Kimberly asks her to stay at her apartment. Peter begins dating Alycia. Jane regains the use of her legs. She announces that she is quitting Hart-Mancini to concentrate on her own work. Matt is wary when Alan gains an on-screen reputation as a ladies' man.

Amanda tells Vince that Jack was not the loving son that he remembers. Vince is outraged, but decides to let Amanda and Bobby go. He sells his shares in Bobby's cable company, leaving the business in jeopardy. Amanda agrees to help Bobby. Peter pays Syd to accompany him to a party and try to win Bobby away from Amanda. A financially strapped Brooke is thrown out of her hotel room. Alison convinces Billy not to have Amanda fire Brooke. Brooke tries to win back her ex-fiancé, but he laughs at her. Kimberly receives a call from Vic. When she visits him in prison, he vows that he will get out. Jane decides to start a business in Jake's garage. Jane's relationship with Jake is strained when she makes vicious comments to Jo. Matt accuses Alan of trying to keep their relationship under wraps.

Michael learns that Vic has been mistakenly released from prison. Vic hides in the back seat of Kimberly's car and kidnaps her at knifepoint. Michael steals a car and chases them. Kimberly's car crashes through a fence and into a semi. Michael pulls her to safety before the car explodes. Kimberly wants to just be Michael's friend, but later changes her mind during an especially friendly Scrabble game. Matt is furious when Alan conducts a TV interview in their apartment and says that they are ""roommates."" Alan apologizes and joins Matt at a dance-a-thon, but is livid when they are photographed together. Sydney warns Bobby that Peter is out to destroy his relationship with Amanda. Alison learns that Brooke is living in her car, and invites her to move in. Billy pushes her to end this arrangement. Brooke is fired for mouthing off to Amanda.

Alison and Billy pull Brooke from the pool, but she is already dead. Billy is haunted by nightmares about Brooke. Michael goes to great lengths to convince Kimberly to move back in with him. Alycia threatens to quit when Bobby warns her to stay away from Peter. She catches Peter going through her files. Jane and Richard resort to underhanded tactics as they fight over a potential client. Matt is wary of Alan's relationship with his leading lady, until he learns she is a lesbian. She warns that the show's producer destroyed her relationship, and could do the same to Matt and Alan.

Kimberly is hurt when she receives divorce papers, although they had been filed months before her reconciliation with Michael. He suggests that they have a real wedding at the beach house and renew their vows. Michael fires Sydney at Kimberly's request. Sydney sues Michael and Peter for sexual harassment, and they are forced to appoint her office manager. Peter stifles Alycia's suspicions by claiming that his father was destroyed by the Parezis. They launch a plan to ruin Bobby's image by making it appear that he is bribing a senator. Jo accidentally takes Jane's sketch pad, and the designs are included in Richard's new line. Alison is outraged when Billy embarrasses her in front of a client to set up his own pitch. They later sleep together, and Billy tries to bully Alison into moving in with him. Alan tells Matt that the show's producer has decided that he and his co-star, Valerie, should marry as a publicity stunt.

Alison is put off by Billy's obnoxious behavior, and pushes him away. Amanda agrees to give Billy a raise if he can win a prestigious airline account. He sleeps with a rival executive to get her to reveal their strategy, then uses it to undermine them. Amanda turns to Peter for comfort after the bribery allegations against Bobby become public. An incensed Alycia threatens to reveal Peter's scam unless he stays away from Amanda. Jane has to cancel her fashion show because Richard has taken her designs. She sabotages Richard's show by using a tiki torch (part of the show's theme) to trigger the sprinkler system. Kimberly begins suffering migraines.

Billy continues to irritate Alison with his win-at-all-costs attitude and boorish behavior. He befriends the chauvinistic president of a vodka company, and usurps one of Amanda's accounts. Alan's parents come to town for the ""wedding,"" and are unaware that their son is gay. They reveal that they have purchased a house for Alan and Valerie. A distraught Matt gets drunk and sleeps with his friend Dave. Matt walks out during the wedding, and Alan refuses to go after him. Jo discovers that Jane is responsible for the mishap at Richard's show. She blackmails her into hiring Richard as a consultant. Kimberly develops an alternate personality--a prudish, controlling woman named Betsy Jones. Amanda rejects Bobby, and he breaks down her apartment door. Peter is later knocked unconscious following a scuffle with Bobby.

Bobby is arrested for assaulting Peter, but Sydney later convinces Amanda to have the charges dropped. Peter makes a deal with Billy's client so that he can pay off Alycia and escape her influence. Alycia takes over Bobby's company. ""Betsy"" throws the couch off the deck and sets it on fire, and later tries to maim Michael. Jake is furious to learn that Jane sabotaged Richard's show. He gets drunk during a fashion convention and sleeps with a stranger. The woman is later hired as Jane's new assistant. Alan outs himself to a tabloid because he can no longer live a lie. Matt is hesitant to take him back.

Billy uses underhanded means to steal the keynote speech at an ad convention away from Alison. He makes an emotional speech about lying, and reveals that he has sold his soul to become a star in the industry. After Billy is a hit at the convention, Amanda sleeps with him. Alison quits her job and learns that Amanda is using Billy to help her career. Kimberly develops another personality, a cool biker chick named Rita. She refuses Peter's medical advice. Sydney blackmails Alycia into rehiring Bobby, but he instead seeks honest work as a mechanic. Sydney offers to let the homeless Bobby stay at her apartment. Claire has been hired by Richard to break up Jake and Jane. She tells Jane that she is having an affair with Jake. Jane fires Claire and breaks up with Jake. Jake rejects a reconciliation attempt by Jo and crawls back to Jane.

Alison takes a job as a waitress at Shooters. Amanda uses Billy's status to her advantage in her contract negotiations. Kimberly asks Peter to take Michael out of town for a few days so that she can have time to herself. Michael and Peter head to Palm Springs, where they are judges in a teen beauty pageant. Teri Carson, the pushy mother of one of the contestants, tries to convince Peter to vote for her daughter. Her daughter, Brandi, seduces Michael. She does not win the pageant. Amanda dumps Billy to go back to Peter. She rejects Peter after Teri shows up on his doorstep and says that she is suing him for sleeping with her underage daughter. Sydney tries to bond with Bobby by getting him drunk and getting tattoos together. Sydney's friend Laurie comes to town with her young son Tyler. Jo takes them in because Sydney has no room for them. While babysitting, Jo discovers bruises on the boy's back. Matt laments the fact that Alan has moved to New York.

Teri threatens to expose Michael's actions to Kimberly unless he lets Peter take the fall for sleeping with Brandi. Amanda apologizes for doubting Peter. He refuses to meet Teri's settlement demands. Kimberly begs Peter for help with her illness. Before he can treat her, he is arrested for statutory rape. Amanda learns that Michael was the one who slept with Brandi. Kimberly argues with ""Betsy,"" who conks Michael on the head with a hammer. Matt asks one of his medical school professors, pediatrician Dr. Dominick O'Malley, to look at Tyler. He finds no evidence of abuse. Laurie tells Jo to mind her own business. Billy's string of success with ad campaigns comes to an end. He decides that he must put his obsession with Brooke behind him and move on. Richard rapes Jane during a business trip to New York. She pushes Jake away and doesn't tell anyone what has happened. Sydney inadvertently becomes a porno producer when she invests money with an old acquaintance of Bobby's.

Amanda persuades Teri to drop the charges against Peter by making Brandi the spokesperson for a cosmetics company. ""Betsy"" throws a knife at Michael after he reveals that he slept with Brandi. When he returns, Kimberly begs him to stay away for his own good. She turns to Peter for help, but vanishes before he can aid her. Bobby's friend Jimmy tells Sydney that Alycia and Peter conspired to take Bobby down. Syd shares this news with Bobby, who sets up a confrontation with Alycia. When he tries to attack her, she knocks him out a high-rise building to his death. As Peter is about to be questioned about Bobby's death, Alycia calls from her car and confesses. She agrees to turn herself in, but loses control of the car while picking up her phone, and has a head-on collision with a semi. Dominick gets Matt to set him up on a date with Jo. She convinces him to see Tyler again, and Laurie reveals that the boy was abused by her ex-boyfriend.

Peter learns that Alycia is dead. Amanda punches him for setting up Bobby, but later forgives him. Kimberly resurfaces and agrees to serve as Peter's alibi. However, she has turned into Betsy again. She injects Peter with a paralyzing drug and has him committed to a mental hospital that she is temporarily running. Alison stops Jake from killing Richard. Jane tries to file rape charges, but learns that she has no case. Jake and Alison are stunned when Jane says that she is continuing her partnership with Richard. Jane is actually planning revenge, and begins hanging around the shooting range. Billy asks Jake to help him win back Alison. Matt is accidentally injected with tainted blood during a struggle with a street kid at the hospital.

Michael and Amanda hit the road in search of Peter and Kimberly. Peter befriends a nurse, but she turns against him when he uses her as part of a plot to escape. As Michael and Amanda try to infilitrate the mental hospital, ""Betsy"" prepares to give Peter a lobotomy. Matt develops spinal meningitis as the result of his accident with the street kid (who has died of the disease). Jo is angry when Dominick behaves insensitively toward Matt. Michael blurts out that Sydney was responsible for Jane's stroke. Jane blackmails Sydney into participating in her plot to murder Richard. Jane considers a new business proposition when a salesgirl named Samantha Reilly tells her that the store where she works is for sale. Billy and Alison have a disastrous date. Alison is furious to learn that Jake had aided Billy's pursuit of her.

Peter is saved from the lobotomy when Michael and Amanda break into the hospital, but ""Betsy"" captures them and locks them in the boiler room. Nurse Benson realizes that Kimberly is crazy, and tries to release the trio. ""Betsy"" stops them from escaping, but Michael is able to talk Kimberly back to reality. An orderly suspects that Michael has brainwashed Kimberly, and tries to attack him. Kimberly rescues Michael, but falls off a twenty-foot platform in the scuffle. Syd tries to dissuade Jane from continuing her murder plot. Jane offers Samantha a job and apartment in exchange for information on other offers on the store. Jane embezzles money from Richard to buy the space. Matt begins to recover from his illness. Jo is stunned when Dominick proposes. Jake tries to push Alison away when she expresses a romantic interest in him.

Peter is arrested for Bobby's murder. His alibi, Kimberly, drifts into a coma. Amanda marries Peter in a jailhouse ceremony so that she won't have to testify against him. A detective reveals to Amanda that Peter is lying about his identity. Dominick prepares to leave for a yearlong relief mission in Bosnia. He asks Jo to come with him, but she is torn. Matt struggles to catch up with his studies after he is released from the hospital. A classmate gives him amphetamines to help him stay awake, and he becomes addicted. Jake pushes Alison to give Billy another chance. She sleeps with Jake, while Billy is left alone in the rooftop restaurant he had rented for their date. Jane attempts to shoot Richard in his garage, but Syd has removed the bullets. Richard tries to rape Jane, but Sydney conks him in the head with a shovel. After discovering that Richard does not have a pulse, the sisters drive off and bury the body along a hill. As they drive away, Richard's hand shoots up from the dirt.