During the summer, Pacey and Audrey rocked Los Angeles and spent time with her next door neighbors, the Osbournes, and Jack Osbourne even tags along with them to interview at Worthington. Jen spent her time in New York and got ecstatic to learn her parents are separating. Jack got dumped by Eric, but got over it. Joey spent her summer in Capeside doing a lot of reading, working and romancing. On their first week back at Boston Bay College, Jen is shocked to run into find that Grams Ryan has decided to go back to school. At Worthington, Joey experiences nothing but bad luck when she decides to enroll in an intermediate writing class taught by the liberal, but manipulative and cynical, Professor Greg Heston who does not hesitate to ridicule and embarrass Joey in front of the class with her lack of knowledge of the current book topic. Pacey and Jack move out of Grams' house and Pacey tries to get the perfect apartment, owned by a feisty, punk rock British woman, named Emma Jones, who works as a waitress in the local bar Hell's Kitchen. Also, Dawson is working on a new movie, a horror film titled "Wicked Dead" with him as the assistant director and the hack Todd Carr as director. When he finally gets together with Joey, he is the only one to have remembered her 20th birthday.

　　Joey begins her first day at Worthington University where she is struggling in her beginners writing class taught by Professor David Wilder who criticizes her first essay about her and Dawson. Audrey Liddell, Joey's brash new roommate from Beverly Hills, proves to be more of an annoyance than a friend with her wild and crazy personality. Dawson, who's continuing his studies at USC with an internship in Hollywood, begins his job on a shaky start when he meets Todd Carr, an arrogant, egocentric, hack film director who gives Dawson a hard time. Meanwhile, Jen pays Pacey a visit, who's lying low as he docks his yacht in Boston Harbor after sailing away the summer. At nearby Boston Bay College, Jen and Jack are invited to their first fraternity party. They persuade Joey to come along with Audrey who seems to get along with Jen and Jack, much to Joey's surprise. Also, Jen meets Charlie, a bass player. She is rude to him, insulting him away, but deep inside feels strongly attracted to him.

　　十七世紀三十年代，為了躲避勢力日益強大的準噶爾部的威脅，蒙古土爾扈特人西遷至俄國境內(nèi)伏爾加河流域游牧。伏爾加草原土肥水美，遠離戰(zhàn)爭，使飽經(jīng)戰(zhàn)火洗禮的牧民們終于找到了安靜和平之地。
　　但誰也沒料到他們很快又墜入俄國沙皇的恐怖統(tǒng)治之下，因為此時正值俄國歷史上的橫征暴斂的女沙皇葉卡特琳娜二世當權的年代，她推翻丈夫彼得三世沙皇上臺，對外大肆
　　侵略擴張，最后女沙皇竟然強迫土爾扈特部落的牧民們參加侵略土耳其的戰(zhàn)爭。
　　然而這時一個注定未來引領土爾扈特牧民們逃出沙皇魔掌的英雄人物--渥巴錫誕生了。1761年，土爾扈特部首領敦羅卜喇什去世，他的這位19歲的兒子渥巴錫繼承汗位。10年間，沙俄更變本加厲地奴役和控制土爾扈特人，縮小他們的牧場，征調(diào)大批土爾扈特兵與土耳其人進行戰(zhàn)爭，使數(shù)萬土爾扈特人喪生戰(zhàn)場。俄國沙皇不僅迫使他們稱臣，還直接干預其內(nèi)部事務，在部落內(nèi)推行東正教，禁信佛教。
　　苦難深重的土爾扈特人民熱切盼望早日擺脫沙皇的統(tǒng)治，在這民族生死存亡之秋， 年輕勇敢的渥巴錫決心率領全民族人民起義抗俄，回歸祖國。在前有各部落人馬堵截，后有俄軍窮追不舍的嚴重形勢下，渥巴錫率領了17萬土爾扈特同胞，長途跋涉，歷經(jīng)種種磨難，進行了人類歷史上一次偉大的長征……

講述了隱藏身份的財閥之女找尋愛情和金錢的價值的故事