DylanFanboy

“Yvonne” happening to show up at the moment Steve gets into a fist fight was an underrated funny moment. Yet, they decide to cut relatively soon and not briefly zoom on Mrs. Teasley’s look of incredulity.

I don’t plan on being Dylan’s Jacob Wohl so I won’t defend everything. I agree that Dylan’s insensitivity towards Denise is not fitting with his character. Although it’s not an analogous situation, when Brenda slut-shamed Kelly for nearly getting date-raped at that Halloween party, Dylan was adamant that Kelly was not to blame. Even if in this case he was primarily concerned with helping his acquaintance (or soon-to-be and always-has-been best friend), his approach should have been a bit more nuanced and not “my friend is innocent because he’s a nice guy who is also a DJ.” Also Dylan is supposed to be a bit more cynical and not just believe that David has to be innocent because he knows him. At the same time, Dylan, despite being troubled, is often the one who has to help the others with their problems: Taking Brandon to AA after he was arrested for drinking and driving Saving Steve from a game of chicken at the drag races Helping David when he was addicted to meth Rescuing Kelly from the cult (as a Dylan fan, I loved that Brandon had to go beg Dylan for his help) Being a friend to Andrea during her affair just so she’d have someone to talk to if needed (presumably because he knew she couldn’t tell the others) And we shouldn’t forget how the Walsh parents depended on Dylan when he wasn’t actually dating their daughter. We could probably also include them soliciting his help when they were worried about Val. Granted a lot of the above storylines require a huge suspension of disbelief but it was another compelling trait to the character of Dylan McKay. Yet he also wasn’t in denial that Steve was a bonehead with the drag racing or David was a drug addict whereas here his adamant defense of David is rooted in his tribalism of his fellow high school gang member more than anything else. With all that said, I like the idea of Dylan going overboard to help out his friend and re-establish that although he can be a dick and has a chip on his shoulder, he is the one who is often needed to help the others. It’s a huge paradox since he’s the troubled one but that makes him even more intriguing. And while it breaks the boundaries of normalcy, I loved Dylan responding with “but you don’t” after Noah says he feels like he already knows him, calling Mrs. Teasly “Yvonne,” and going to Denise’s parents house. Although I don’t like how it was done, I thought it was a nice touch to briefly acknowledge that he’s still traumatized by his wife’s death but to not give us too much information just yet.

I respectfully disagree. Dylan and Kelly had strong ties — as friends or otherwise — since kindergarten and it’s been three years since they’ve seen each other. Steve, David, and Donna are showering him with hugs and Kelly (whom he’s the closest with) is just standing there like a jackass. He never came off as someone trying to get some cheap thrills. I also happen to think Dylan was pretty smooth in that scene.

I might be alone but I thought Dylan looked pretty slick when he showed up at the Walsh house. And from what I remember so did a lot of girls in my dormitory when this aired in 1998.

Not to be “that guy,” but that’s season 3 Kelly.

Am I the only one who actually thought the tension between Dylan and Kelly was intriguing? Of course the writers will fuck it all up in the next few episodes but this was still a cool moment. As a viewer, I had so many questions: - How’s Dylan handling that whole dead wife thing? - Is he still holding a candle for Kelly? - Why is Dylan drinking again? (Okay, apparently I have more questions than his friends do.) - How will Dylan cope without his surrogate family in L.A.? - And how do we find out that Dylan has been apart from Brenda without making him looking an ass? (The show has a lot of flaws but I feel Dylan’s character was previously well-protected as to not make us hate him whenever he does something questionable.) As to why Kelly was a being bitch, I thought she was conflicted: - Even after Luke Perry left the show, she always made it known that she only ever truly loved two people (Brandon & Dylan). At the very least she still has strong feelings and unlike when Brandon left, Kelly didn’t really get any closure. - When Brandon left town, Kelly felt some relief and freedom to move on with Matt. Now that Dylan is back, her newly cemented relationship with Matt isn’t going to be happening so smoothly. - I (obviously) think Dylan was a great character but he was always troubled. So Kelly knows that with Dylan in town, even if everything is platonic, she will be worrying about him constantly. - As we saw throughout season 5 and then again when he got married in season 6, she never totally got over Dylan. Also looking forward to hearing Sarah and Tara lose their minds over the retcons we learn about in the next episode.

I’ve been listening to the podcast for years — and only once posted here — but now I’m motivated to contribute some unapologetic defensive posts about Dylan McKay and/or Luke Perry. I have to respectfully disagree with Sara and Tara’s assertion that Luke Perry was phoning it in during this episode. I think for the first few episodes after his return, he was motivated (unlike any of his co-stars). I actually thought his appearance at the end of this episode was dashing and left us wanting to know more. Obviously there were some continuity issues and other things that made the last scene awkward: - Dylan drinking again (even at Dylan’s bachelor party, Steve knew to serve his buddy iced tea). - Presumably Dylan is expecting to see some Walshes in the Walsh house. Sure, he knows Brenda is in London and he must be aware that Mama and Papa Walsh are in Hong Kong, but what about Brandon? - Not only are there no Walshes, but half the people in the house are people he doesn’t even know. Janet, Noah (aka poor man’s Dylan), and Gina (poor man’s Valerie) are standing there like dipshits. Couldn’t Noah go to bed and the other two leave early? It would make sense to have Nat there (for once) since Nat and Dylan were pretty close. With that said, Dylan’s staredown with Kelly was tremendous. Although Brandon was the closest with Dylan, I totally buy Steve, David, and Donna being psyched to see their friend from high school. As a fan of the show in general and Dylan in particular, I was so excited to find out what happened to this character since his wife died in front of him.

Long time listener but never commented here. I love the podcast but I was a Dylan fanboy as a kid and I still get emotional about his storylines -- even if the show itself is poorly written. I'm a few minutes into the podcast and I can already tell Tara and Sarah are not going to be as moved as I am. Okay fine, I'm a 36 year old male and I still cry like a baby every time I see this episode and especially the scene where Dylan finds Toni dead. Please tell me I'm not alone. Wrinkled foreheads and sideburns forever!!!!!