Beverly Hills 90210
Plot: The book consists of the written version of the episodes from Season 1 (The Pilot). Twins Brandon and Brenda begin school at trendy West Beverly High after moving from Minnesota. Brandon joins the newspaper staff and meets Andrea Zuckerman the intelligent and hard-nosed editor. Brenda is befriended by snobbish Kelly who picks her as a chemistry lab partner to avoid being paired with an odd girl. Brenda discovers that she doesn't have the right look to fit in at this school and plans a drastic change. Marianne, a rich but reclusive girl uses skywriting to invite the entire school (minus freshman of course) to a party at her mansion. Freshman David and Scott crash the party and drunken Steve insist that David drive him home. After delivering Steve to his door the unlicensed David accidentally damages the car, prompting a now sober Steve to begin a frantic search for the culprit. Meanwhile, Brandon connects with the withdrawn but beautiful hostess Marianne and asks her for a date. Used to dating wealthy rich brats she is struck by his boyish good looks and undemanding nature. Brandon breaks through her jaded exterior and they share a lovely evening riding her father's motorcycle and hot tubbing under the stars. The romance fades however when Brandon accidentally insinuates that they slept together. Rumors fly through West Beverly/ Marianne is devastated that her "nice" guy was no different than any of the other social climbers that used her to gain status. Andrea is disappointed in him too and Brandon confesses on the school radio station that he lied about his night with Marianne. His apology stuns the girl and she finally decides to forgive him. They decide to just be friends. Later he follows Andrea home to explain himself and discovers that she lives out of the district. Brandon promises to keep it quiet about her residence. Brenda is desperately trying to keep up with the wealthy and popular Kelly. Kelly gets Brenda a fake ID and they head out to a popular hot spot but only Brenda gets entry. There she meets Jason a twenty-something-year-old lawyer who develops an interest in her. Her grades begin to drop and she considers losing her virginity to him. Ultimately she does tell him her real age. His smooth manner disappears and he shows what a jerk he is. He drops her off at home and she is in tears. Meanwhile, David is dodging Steve who is furious about his ruined Corvette. He begins to breathe a little easier than Steve doesn't remember him until he realizes he left Scott's hat in the car. While trying to get the hat the car alarm sounds. Steve races to the scene catches David. David swears to have it repaired.
(Season 1 Ep 3 The Green Room) Brandon meets Dylan McKay a mysterious loner who stops some jocks from harassing Scott in tech class. Dylan takes Brandon surfing and introduces him to his friends including a troubled young woman named Sarah. Brandon becomes disturbed by the behavior of Dylan's friends who treat Sarah like a possession. Brandon gets mad at Dylan's bad boy act after he raids a hotel room. Dylan reveals that he lives in the hotel and only pretends to break in to preserve his reputation. Sarah nearly drowns while surfing drunk but Brandon and Brenda save her life. Brenda is teed at Kelly after she leaves her stranded at the beach. Steve's mother an aging actress encourages him to be nice to David because she mistakes David's father for a producer. But he's really a dentist.
(Season 1 Ep 4 Every Dream Has A Price Tag) Brenda goes on several shopping trips with Kelly and her old best friend Tiffany from junior high school. Brenda can't afford the merchandise and considers stealing because she is envious of her classmates’ wardrobes. She does not realize Tiffany is a shop lifter. Tiffany slashes clothes in Brenda's bedroom and the two are later arrested. Cindy (Ms. Walsh) begins to lose faith in her daughter until Tiffany clears Brenda's name. Brandon begins to work at a trendy restaurant where his boss treats him shabby. He quits after learning that she also pays the minority employees less than minimum wage. He gets a waiter job at a diner called the Peach Pitt. Dylan is friends with the owner Matt. The Walshes hire a maid.
(Season 1 Ep 5 The First Time) Brandon is excited to see his old girlfriend Sheryl who surprises him with a weekend visit. The two are catching up on old times when Cindy mentions to Jim that he should have a talk with Brandon about safe sex. Later that evening Sheryl pretends to sleep in Brenda's room but slips into Brandon's room at night. Brandon is pleased to share his first time with his girlfriend. He assumes Sheryl is too. After their night together Sheryl begins distancing herself from Brandon. She seems to be taking interest in Dylan which infuriates Brandon who believes that it is Dylan who is pursuing her. As things, progress Brandon gets fed up and punches Dylan in the face. Back at Walsh's house, Cindy receives a disturbing phone call from Sheryl's mother. It seems that Sheryl has run away. She ran away from home after a fight with her stepfather. Brandon and Sheryl make up and she returns home. Brenda develops a big crush on her algebra teacher. He asks her to babysit while he and his wife go out. She agrees. Kelly and Donna come over. Brenda's crush is crushed when she sees how he is belittled by his wife. That girls find a family album. Brenda's little infatuation is over by the end of the night. Brandon is depressed. He thought he had a better understanding of who he slept with. After a talk with Brenda, they both feel better.
(Season 1 Ep 6 One on One) Jim encourages Brandon to try out for the basketball team. Steve, unaware that he isn't a strong player, is bitter about being cut from the team. He tells Brandon that several of the players are ringers brought in from out of district to help the team win a championship. Journalistic Andrea decides to investigate and discovers that the player competing against Brandon for the last spot on the roster is from another district. Brandon is ashamed of himself when he learns that the player came to West Beverly to get a good education; his father is a city employee, making him eligible for admission. Brenda enrolls in driver's education, despite the fact that she failed three times in Minneapolis. Kelly is stranded after a concert and begs for a ride, so Brenda takes Brandon's car without permission. She runs out of gas and manages to lose the car.
My Thoughts: Reading this book and watching these episodes was a fun trip down memory lane. As my best friend put it Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place were *the* soap operas of the ’90s. really liked that! Because this book mimics the episodes exactly unless you’re just one of those people that would rather read it because sometimes book versions *do* have more details (but not in this case) you could just watch the episode. It’s really all the same.
As far as the episodes went
Watching this episode (The Green Room) where Brandon is introduced to Dylan for the first time. Wow! This was a good introduction to Dylan Mckay (the bad boy with the sensitive side) It’s amazingly sad to read this book and watch these episodes and know that Luke Perry is no longer with us. I can’t believe it took me so long to realize he was Fred Andrews in Riverdale. It was touching how Shannon Doherty was the driver that Fred tried to save in the end. That made a nice throwback! It touched on alcoholism briefly and this is something that in later years, I’d become all too acquainted with watching it rear its ugly head in my own family.. Not as easily solved as in this episode with Sarah getting into a program (agreeably).
(Every Dream Has A Price Tag) just makes me realize how blessed I’ve been. I was the kid that got all the toys that came out first. And as a teen, I don’t remember wanting the clothes that the popular girls so I didn’t feel peer pressured. I also didn’t hang around people who shoplifted because it made them feel “alive” or for any other reason. I really was very fortunate, that I didn’t really want for much.
(First Time) I didn’t particularly like how Cheryl showed up, slept with Brandon, tried to hit on Dylan, then blame Brandon for her family problems (that he knew nothing about), and then walk away only to leave him with his was an amazing lover. I honestly would never wanna see this chick again. But Brandon wasn’t particularly in the right either for just leaving her with an “I don’t do long-distance” Considering Brandon is supposed to be the “good guy” character of the group, I expected more from him than that.
(One on One) Hmm.. Now while I'm not at all athletic, I will say this and leave it there. Brandon had NO RIGHT WHAT SO EVER to get in Jame's business and confront him about getting "special treatment." SERIOUSLY! Because we just get "sooo" many breaks. Brandon's noisy butt should have just left that alone.
Rating: 7