Tara Ariano - A Very Special 90210 Book: 93 Absolutely Essential Episodes from TVs Most Notorious Zip Code

For Luke Perry

Editor: Samantha Weiner
Designer: Julie Kane
Production Manager: Rachael Marks

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020931297

ISBN: 978-1-4197-4746-5
eISBN: 978-1-64700-010-3

Text copyright 2020 Tara Ariano and Sarah D. Bunting
Illustrations copyright 2020 Abrams

Cover 2020 Abrams

Published in 2020 by Abrams Image, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

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The first character we meet in the pilot, Brandon (Jason Priestley) is the shows moral center. As a recent transplant from Minneapolisaccording to the writing, the middle of nowhere, at least compared to Beverly HillsBrandon is sometimes shocked by the social and sexual mores of his new city, but seldom does his self-esteem suffer. (Even a DUI only rattles him for about 15 minutes.) Sporty, confident, cute enough to get cast, briefly, on a show-within-a-show teen drama, Brandons sports-editor aspirations and job at local diner the Peach Pit put him at the center of a lot of issues plots. And by that, we mean he only has to have heard about an issue five minutes prior in order to feel empowered to bray about it self-righteously. Brandon may hope his rigidly gelled hair and sideburns make him look taller; they do not.

Brandons twin sister, Brenda (Shannen Doherty), is (of course) also newly arrived in Beverly Hills from Minneapolis. Though both twins are anxious about fitting in with their bewilderingly glamorous new classmatesinasmuch as thats possible when such accessories as cellular phones and portable computers are definitely out of their financial reachBrenda is more open in her attempts at social climbing, and more distressed by her mall-chain wardrobe and embarrassingly attentive parents. Brendas innate talent for personal drama lends itself to an interest in the performing arts, and its to her credit that she sticks with it despite the extremely real risk of getting shunned by her peers for being dorky enough to care about something. Shes also supposed to be great at math? Were not sure we buy it.

Kelly (Jennie Garth) is the quintessential L.A. girl, with all that implies: shes blonde; shes spoiled; shes jaded from livingin an 80s modern mansion with lots of glass bricksthrough her mothers many divorces. Kellys also described as being boy-crazy much more often than shes actually portrayed going on dates, never mind macking on anyone. Kelly did formerly date Steve, before the events of the series, for which reason their social interactions in the early seasons can be somewhat tense. Then again, Kelly starts out as West Beverlys reigning bitch queen; most of her social interactions tend to be unpleasant.

If you felt like something was missing in the two-hour series premiere, you arent alone: Dylan (Luke Perry) arrives in the second-aired episode... but then, randomly, is entirely absent from several others in the shows first season, presumably because they didnt air in the same order they were shot. Anyway: as the shows female lead, Brenda needed a love interest, and clearly neither David nor Steve was a believable prospect. The Green Room, Dylans debut episode, pretty much exists just to define him as a characterrich, cool, defender of nerdy freshmenand even though his contact with Brenda is extremely minimal, we absolutely buy that someone with her romantic proclivities would find him irresistible.

Not every student at West Beverly High School is a rich jerk! Andrea (Gabrielle Carteris), star student and editor of the West Beverly Blaze, actually lives in Van Nuysthe Valley!!!and has registered using her grandmothers in-district address. This scandalous secret, which Brandon accidentally discovers in the series premiere, is what initially bonds the two of them; soon, though, most of their plotlines revolve around Andreas unrequited crush on Brandon and the producers inconsistent portrayal of how aware Brandon is of her feelings.

Steve (Ian Ziering) is Kellys Los Angeleno counterpart in boy form: also blond, also spoiled. Steve one-ups her by having two showbiz professionals for parentsan actress mother and a producer father, both of whom well meet later on in the series run. Steves function, particularly in the very early going, is to take the wrong position on an issue (cheating, racism) so that Brandon can be seen chafing against it and thus proving himself Steves superior.

No character undergoes a bigger evolution from the series premiere than Donna (Tori Spelling). Initially, shes presented as Kellys vapid shadow, who also enjoys such illicit activities as scamming on guys and throwing boozy parties when her parents are out of town, yet rarely gets more than ten lines of dialogue per episode. It takes until the first seasons almost over for producers to give Donna a unique character trait: she has a learning disability! Her Catholicism and commitment to remain celibate until marriage come later still. (As it were.)