Greetings,
I've made mention of the fact that there are a few shows that can be divided within themselves. Whether it's because of cast changes, venue changes, whatever, some programs have a distinct Part One and Part Two, at least. I've even covered a couple of them here, with Mama's Family and CSI. And now, today, I will discuss another show wherein there is a distinct difference between one set of episodes and those that follow. That show would be Beverly Hills, 90210, the original.
I don't want to put aside all of the great people who were on this show during its decade long run, because there were a lot of talented actors and actresses in the mix. Still, I think we can all agree that, as soon as Brenda left, the show became very different. Not better or worse, just different, and a lot of the fans considered that something of a line drawn in the sand between early 90210 and later 90210.
For those of you who don't know, after the fourth season, Shannen Doherty left the show and her character, Brenda Walsh, was written off. Now, I could get into all the hoopla of what did or did not go on behind the scenes, and why she was no longer on the show, but who cares? Bottom line, I always thought Shannen Doherty was a very good actress, certainly one of the best here. That never changed during her stint. Her character, on the other hand, did have some changes. Long story short, people really started to dislike Brenda Walsh. And with good reason, since whoever was writing this character, started to make her unlikable. Let me stress the fact that I certainly do not blame Shannen for this. Whatever Brenda was doing or saying, Shannen was still acting it out very well. Again, I don't know what she may or may not have been doing in real life at this time, but, remember, she was in her early twenties. If she made some questionable decisions, who cares? We all make mistakes. I really like Shannen Doherty, and she was and still is a fine actress. Moving on.
Whatever your feelings about that whole situation are, we divide up Beverly Hills, 90210 between Brenda's Here seasons and Brenda's Not Here seasons. Today, I'm going to talk about my favorite episodes during the Brenda years. And like with my CSI, the Grissom Years post, not all of these episodes center around Brenda, but she is there, so it counts. Oh, and this is one of those lists that is mostly for the fans, because, spoilers, I guess. Anyway, let's begin.
#10. "A Presumption of Innocence" (Season 3) - Beverly Hills, 90210 was never a show that shied away from tackling touchy topics. In this episode, it deals with a teacher maybe getting too close with a student. I like this one because it's practically a mystery, wherein you truly do not know who to trust. The two characters involved were both new to the show, so we didn't now who to side with. Our regulars weren't helping either, since they were all on opposite sides. Still, it's a pretty gripping episode that, in the end, when secrets are revealed, ends up being heartbreaking.
#9. "Slumber Party" (Season 1) - Ah, yes, the proverbial slumber party episode that every show with teenagers (well, "teenagers") needs to have. Here, our regular cast girls get together to have some fun, but it's ruined by this other friend that Kelly brought. She is super mean and makes them play a game called "Skeletons in the Closet" or something. It's like Truth or Dare without the Dare part. Needless to say, secrets start pouring out and fights are had. Will the girls relationships recover by the end of the episode? Really? You're really asking that? Still a great episode and a good way for us to get to know the characters even better.
#8. "The Next Fifty Years" (Season 2) - This episode was very hyped up because they told us that one of the main cast was going to die. And as soon as I saw the picture in the TV Guide, I knew who it was going to be - Scott Scanlon. Don't remember him? I'm not surprised. Okay, this character was never a main main character, not like your Brandon or Brenda or Dylan. In the first season, he was there as David's best friend, and in the second season, he was there, but barely. It was their way of offing a cast member, but not one that was too popular. However, I commend them for this one. It was extremely emotional, well-acted and beautifully written. They really did capture how it is for young people to go through things like death, something they don't expect to have to deal with until they're older. They're upset, angry and confused about everything. What started off as something that might have been a ratings gimmick ended up being one of their best.
#7. "The Child is Father to the Man" (Season 3) - Okay, so after months on end of us dealing with the whole Brenda/Dylan/Kelly fiasco, I welcomed this emotional mallet to my very existence. This one takes place immediately after the episode which ended with Dylan witnessing his father (played by the wonderful Josh Taylor, by the way) die in a car explosion. And may I say that Luke Perry's acting in those final moments was kind of brilliant. So much so, that it carried over into this episode, just more in depth. This makes the list solely based on Luke's performance. I know some people like to dismiss the quality of a show like Beverly Hills, 90210, but it is moments like these that could prove the critics wrong.
#6. "April is the Cruelest Month" (Season 1) - So, I think I mentioned before that, despite his stardom arising through comedic means, Mathew Perry is actually a fine dramatic actor. And here is where that all began. That's right. We get baby Chandler Bing playing a very rich, but very messed up kid who has, let's say, issues with his father. We find this out, because Brandon is nosy. Hey, he works for the school paper which is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD!! To the kids who work on this particular school paper anyway. Whatever. Matthew Perry was fantastic, and I hope all casting directors will watch this episode and give him a nice part in solid production. Just do it, already.
#5. "Things To Do on a Rainy Day" (Season 2) - In this episode, Donna finds out that her mother is having an affair. How devastating. But who cares?! This is the Color Me Badd episode! That's right, kids. Somewhere between the tail end of the New Kids on the Block and way before the Backstreet Boys and 'NSync, we had...this! Another boy band that had "Fifteen Minutes" written all over them. Now I was never a fan of this particular "musical" act, and I'm not lying about that. I just never saw the appeal. Can't say that about the overwhelming amounts of girls and others screaming for them outside the Bel Age Hotel. Yeah, a lot of crap went down at the Bel Age on this show, just for the record. I'm not trying to undermine the serious subject that they were, otherwise, trying to deal with, but when you put one of the cheesiest groups of the nineties on your show, you earned this one. But it is that cheesetastic-ness that makes this episode one of my favorites.
#4. "Truth and Consequences" (Season 4) - During the later years of Beverly Hills, 90210, they turned into a straight-up soap opera and said 'so long' to being episodic. But even in these earlier shows, we got a few sequences of episodes that could have been classified as two or three parters. In this case, it would be considered the last entry in a three episode arc. So, back story. Brenda wants to be an actress, and she really wants to star in the production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. But so does this other girl, Laura, played amazingly by Tracey Middendorf. They audition for the director who is played by some guy who should portray British Dracula, if that is ever needed. I'm not kidding. He was good, but just seemed both charming and menacing all at once. Anyway, there is a little bit of competition between the two girls, and it...escalates. Yeah, that's a way too tame word to use. Anyway, the whole story culminates in this final episode, and it is seriously tense. A few of our regulars are closely involved, like Shannen as Brenda, obviously, but also Ian Ziering as Steve. The two of them and Tracy, as well, do an excellent job.
#3. "Perfect Mom" (Season 1) - When Beverly Hills, 90210 began, I think a lot of people may have thought that it was going to be some generic high school show, filled with all the cliche characters you could ask for. I'd say this is one of the first episodes that showed everyone how they were not going in that direction. From the beginning, we saw Kelly Taylor as this pretty, blonde, vapid, spoiled, bimbo-ish popular Beverly Hills girl. What? She kind of was. And Brenda from Minnesota wanted to be just like her, of course. Turns out, though, that Kelly's perfect life is not so perfect, because of her mom's secret substance abuse problems. Kelly always hid it away, but one night, everyone finds out, and she's crushed. Now, the same way they could have made her character cliche, they also could have done it with this episode's story. But it was actually really well done. Clearly, this is where we knew that, at some point, the people running this show decided that they were not going to have a cast full of stereotypical, one-dimensional characters. Their characters were going to have some depth, and they proved it here. Also, major props to Jennie Garth for a spectacular acting performance.
#2. "My Desperate Valentine" (Season 2) - Here is another end point for an ongoing story line. At the start of season 2, we got a new girl at West Beverly High, Emily Valentine. I think that to the audience, this character was, at best, polarizing, at worst, hated. When she first got there, she pretty much dated her way through our regular cast of guys, within the first episode, mind you. But she settled on Brandon. They dated for a while, they broke up, she went crazy. For real. All the good stalker stuff? Oh, yeah, she did it. Well, all the stuff you could do in the nineties, before even folks in Beverly Hills had caller ID. Apparently. Look, this is episode is pure, over the top entertainment, and I LOVE IT!
#1. "The Time Has Come Today" (Season 4) - So, I was really into the sixties ... in the nineties. We all were. So what would be better than an episode of one of my favorite nineties shows taking place in the sixties? Nothing, that's what! Let me explain. Brenda, home alone and feeling alienated from her friends, discovers an old diary in the window seat written by a teenage girl in the late sixties. She should count her blessings that that's all she found. Remember what happened to poor Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace? Anyway, she starts to read it, as you do, and begins putting herself and her friends in the places of the people in the diary. And we get to witness it all. That's right. Everyone is a hippie, and it might be the best hour of television I've ever witnessed. Actually, I love this episode a lot because I've always had the desire to find someone else's diary or letters or something and read them. Because being able to legally invade a stranger's privacy is the best gift that can be bestowed upon a person. I'm not kidding. Thank you, 90210 and Brenda Walsh, for letting me live vicariously through you.
And there you have it. Look, say what you will about Beverly Hills, 90210, but I think it was a great show. And it certainly deserves more acclaim than it got. Were some years better than others? Sure, but for the most part, it had good acting and writing and stories. What more do you want from a show?
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
