S01.E19: April is the Cruelest Month

[Primetimer]

Brandon's Senior Spotlight profile turns (Kiss Me) deadly when Matthew Perry visits to turn sunny Beverly Hills a little...noir.

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[Primetimer]

Fashion, dyslexia, and patricide meet in the visual aids for Beverly Hills, 90210 S01E19, 'April Is The Cruelest Month.'

Read the story

[AndySmith]

I love how Brenda reacts to Donna smoking. I know on US TV shows women smoking is sometimes shorthand for "OMG nasty slutwhore badgirl whose soul is now owned by SATAN!!!", but chill, Brinduh. Ok, there was the ditching too, but still. It wasn't like they caught her shooting up heroin at an orgy without using protection.

Of course, it was funny how it took Donna 2 seconds to find a new group to hang out with, no? Like she has a few contingency groups ready to join in case things went sour with the main crew...

Edited August 17, 2015 by AndySmith

[StatMom]

Why does Brandon YELL at everyone about everything? When talking to his DAAAD, he was all YOU DON'T KNOW HIM! Shut UP, Brandon. He's right next to you. Geez.

[gpgurl50]

Brenda and Brandon would play love interests in a screenplay reading. I checked imdb to confirm the Twin Peaksy girl is Sharon Case from Y&R, who somehow appears in more than one episode. Weird for this show.

So much love for Matthew Perry's face as he shoots his dad in the dream sequence.

RE: The SAT thing. Most of their scores aren't really great but they aren't terrible either. When I was applying to colleges, the brochures said the minimum SAT score you need to get in given your GPA (obviously the better the school, the higher the standard but still). The higher the GPA, the lower your score needed to be.

Also, when Donna says her grades dropped because she got interested in boys, it seems plausible? I know we got to what her true issues were but I don't know why it was dismissed right away.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

The fact that the psychological chastity belt Felice had designed for Donna at Fort Knox plays a huge role in Donna's character/plots going forward might have something to do with why that explanation seems ludicrous now.

[vendredi3]

Surprisingly, the one character from this episode that we do see again is the Twin Peaksy girl, who Steve (spoiler?) tries to ask to the prom in a few episodes.

[carrier76]

Surprisingly, the one character from this episode that we do see again is the Twin Peaksy girl, who Steve (spoiler?) tries to ask to the prom in a few episodes.

Yes.  She "doesn't do 'vettes."

 

Why is the new replacement music on the DVDs SO LOUD?  That "VERY INTENSE GUITAR" was so loud you could barely hear the dialogue. I have the DVDs and it's very jarring.

[Dave in Chicago]

Aw, Ahndrea's zinger about the script's pacing problems. Bless.

[sinkwriter]

LOL. In that scene where Brandon reads from the script, "This is how I'm going to kill my father..." the end melodrama music is almost X-Filesian. It's pretty funny.

[sinkwriter]

I remember this episode vividly, most especially because of all the Matthew Perry scenes (that final GIF pretty much says it all, that crazed look was REALLY over the top, like you want the director to say: "Matthew, the guy's suicidal, not deranged!").

But I have to say, I'm amazed that all of this (not just this episode but all the stuff you've recapped so far) happened in season 1. That is A LOT going on. Major melodrama. Where's the bingo card for topic tropes when you need it? We've had eating disorders, rape, suicide, near drowning, learning disabilities, drunk driving... what else? LOL.

[StatMom]

..: HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy...

[WhosThatGirl]

Wow, Chandler had some pretty dark thoughts before he met Ross in college, didn't he? Also, Donna subplot! ;) 

 

I think this is the first time I've watched this episode through. I've been trying to watch all the episodes if I don't remember them clearly and since I've only watched via reruns-SOAPNET, I kind of miss you!- I tended to skip some episodes if I didn't like the plot on the guide or if I didn't remember reading how great that episode was, so I feel like I probably started to watch this one and then turned it off halfway through or something. I remember parts of it, like I remember the scenes where Brandon was walking around NotChandlers house and stuff but I feel like everything else was a blur. 

Edited August 17, 2015 by WhosThatGirl

[Pogojoco]

Oh Chandler.....you were so bad here. Never try to out bray Brandon.

I randomly knew about his tennis playing because it came up often in the media when he was dating Jennifer Capriati back in the day.

And Sarah D. Bunting- I also am a baseball nerd because I, too, said, "That's not Vin Scully."

Also, Roger would never be a Dodgers fan. He's white and bougie- he's totally an Angels fan.

[KateeBar]

My god, Matthew Perry's acting was so hammy. How have I forgotten all of this? Why did I replace these memories with lesser thoughts?

What I do recall, very clearly, is wondering why teenaged Dylan McKay had so many wrinkles. Like, how did that ever fly as casting? Though the same could be said of just about everyone, I guess. But his forehead wrinkles are out of control.

Side note - my Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know shirt has arrived. Pretty sure that sucker is heading to Ireland with me in a few weeks. It is a delight. I will find my people wearing that shirt, I just know it.

[adam807]

I realize I come from a place of privilege but so do these kids and I can't believe they're excited over an 1190. Kids at my school would have literally been in tears over that. I scored higher and took them again in the fall. And maybe this is an urban legend I've simply believed for over 20 years but I always thought you really couldn't score below a 200, so maybe Donna really did spell her name wrong?

[Racj82]

Lump the SAT's with other stuff that are made a big deal of on TV that never meant anything to me (and many others I know). Most people I know already knew they couldn't afford to go to college so there was no stressing over SAT's. Even for people trying to get into college, there wasn't all of this stressing about scores and judging peoples scores. I graduated int he year 2000 by the way.

[smrou]

I realize I come from a place of privilege but so do these kids and I can't believe they're excited over an 1190.

I agree. As Sarah I think said on the podcast, that's doesn't seem like something to be so excited about. Now, I took the SATs in 1997 which was after they recentered the scores (which happened after my oldest sister took them and before my I did) so I know that the 90210 kids' scores would have been higher if they'd been my age, but even so the way they at least paint Brandon as a total brain, that does not seem at all impressive.

 

ETA: I was curious so I looked up a score converter so I could better understand these scores (because they'd compare with what I knew in high school) and an 1190 would have been more like a 1260 if they'd taken the test after 1995. 

 

And maybe this is an urban legend I've simply believed for over 20 years but I always thought you really couldn't score below a 200, so maybe Donna really did spell her name wrong?

Donna said she got over 300 on both parts, didn't she?

Edited August 18, 2015 by smrou

[Stephsco]

Brandon is the worst. The more I watch/read these recaps, he's always yelling about some cause he just learned about ten minutes prior. 

 

And I agree that noticing boys is a legit reason Donna could attribute to plummeting grades. She's putting her focus on her social life and needs a tutor. 

[Dave in Chicago]

Just saw that in the press release for the latest issue of "Doctor Who Magazine", they refer to The Master as "Mad, bad, and dangerous to know".  Seen here, in the blurb for "Secret Diary of the Master": http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/dwm-490-best-enemies-75394.htm

 

"Mad, bad, and dangerous to know" is verbal wildfire!

[John Ramos]

I realize I come from a place of privilege but so do these kids and I can't believe they're excited over an 1190. Kids at my school would have literally been in tears over that. I scored higher and took them again in the fall. And maybe this is an urban legend I've simply believed for over 20 years but I always thought you really couldn't score below a 200, so maybe Donna really did spell her name wrong?

 

Agree on all counts; I went to one of the best public high schools in the country, but West Beverly, from the way they talk about it, should be on par. 1190 wasn't even acceptable for the PSATs. And for fictional context, Buffy Summers's surprise great SAT score was a 1430.

[Kim]

Just wanted to note that, like Sarah, I was also in that program where I took the SATs in 7th grade. Nerd power unite!

[MostlyC]

Oh Chandler; you can play tennis, but you can't pull off tortured-potentially-murderous-but-sorry-just-suicidal student.  Stay with Friends.

 

Was there some kind of legal reason that they couldn't say exactly what learning disability Donna had? 

 

The SAT scores were kind of sad.  Yes, they were super important at my school (if you didn't go to an ivy league school you were toast), but the scores Kelly/Brinda/Brandoon got surprised me.  No one cleared 1200?  Or did Andrea get some 1600/2300 score?  Wasn't West Beverly supposed to be the best/hardest high school in CA?

 

I'm overthinking is, aren't I.

[Racj82]

Oh Chandler; you can play tennis, but you can't pull off tortured-potentially-murderous-but-sorry-just-suicidal student. Stay with Friends.

Was there some kind of legal reason that they couldn't say exactly what learning disability Donna had?

The SAT scores were kind of sad. Yes, they were super important at my school (if you didn't go to an ivy league school you were toast), but the scores Kelly/Brinda/Brandoon got surprised me. No one cleared 1200? Or did Andrea get some 1600/2300 score? Wasn't West Beverly supposed to be the best/hardest high school in CA?

I'm overthinking is, aren't I.

Yes. But you aren't the only one doing that. Edited August 19, 2015 by Racj82

[John Ramos]

Oh, since Sarah asked in the podcast, forgot to add two things about Chandler's racquet: First, Borg was known for his own very distinctive wood racquet; it was painted black and had his name on it and was obviously not whatever cheapshit stick the prop master bought in a 99-cent bin. Relatedly, no one used wood racquets past 1983; graphite and other materials proved so superior that Chandler in 1990 wouldn't have been competitive against the best twelve-year-old girls SoCal had to offer.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Thank you. *I* had a graphite racket by 1987 and I was a JV scrapper.

[WhosThatGirl]

. i wouldn't share my scores either if the 90210 gang was my group of friends. They aren't the most supportive bunch.  i do wonder what MP was thinking while shooting this, though, because he is pretty awesome on FRIENDS and he is not awesome at all here. It's.. so bad.

[Racj82]

. i wouldn't share my scores either if the 90210 gang was my group of friends. They aren't the most supportive bunch.  i do wonder what MP was thinking while shooting this, though, because he is pretty awesome on FRIENDS and he is not awesome at all here. It's.. so bad.

Everyone has to start somewhere. Actors do get better and stuff. His biggest role to this point was the alcoholic boyfriend on Growing Pains. Another scenery chewing role. It lead to more roles so I guess he wouldn't see a reason to stop. Plus, I'll say one thing about Perry in this role. Whereas a lot of these one and done characters are forgettable as all hell, Perry was going to make sure you didn't forget him.

[WhosThatGirl]

That's true. I wonder if the casting directors would have changed the sport that the character played had Perry not been good at tennis or whatever. Or maybe the character was always going to play tennis and that was why they were looking for an actor who could. 

[txhorns79]

Everyone has to start somewhere. Actors do get better and stuff. His biggest role to this point was the alcoholic boyfriend on Growing Pains.

 

Just looking at IMDB, he had already been a regular on two different sitcoms (neither show lasted long), and had a fairly decent list of credits aside from his guest shot on Growing Pains by the time he did 90210.  I think his performance in this episode stems more from a weakness in the writing.  His character isn't well defined, so it leaves his performance kind of all over the place.  Also, it's 90210, so I think actors are contractually obligated to ham things up.  If you've ever seen the very old (but awesome) WB show, Grosse Pointe, you will know what I am talking about.   

[Racj82]

Just looking at IMDB, he had already been a regular on two different sitcoms (neither show lasted long), and had a fairly decent list of credits aside from his guest shot on Growing Pains by the time he did 90210.  I think his performance in this episode stems more from a weakness in the writing.  His character isn't well defined, so it leaves his performance kind of all over the place.  Also, it's 90210, so I think actors are contractually obligated to ham things up.  If you've ever seen the very old (but awesome) WB show, Grosse Pointe, you will know what I am talking about.   

The writing is always a issue early on with this show. But, I wasn't trying to say that Perry wasn't a working actor at this point. I'm just saying that his most known roll to this date was another dramatic/showy role. It just happened to be in a sitcom. Working actors land pilots and tv shows all of the time but that doesn't mean anything if the shows don't last. The Friends crew made fun of their pre Friends road to stardom all the time. Perry. Le Blanc and Jennifer in particular had to do a lot of crap before they landed the show. At least Schwimmer and Kudrow (for example)  landed on NYPD Blue and Mad About You among other things (more high quality shows) before Friends. Until Friends, Perry was always fighting for a successful gig. So, I get him giving it everything he got here. He was still relatively young in his career anyway. Perry found his best success basically playing himself. He hadn't found that hook yet.

[carrier76]

MP played "Timothy," the asshole politically-minded prom date of Ami Dolenz in "She's Out of Control," which I watched about 50,000 times. So when he showed up in this ep, I was already very familiar with him. He was convincing as a snooty, cheating asshole.  OH!  Before this, he was also in "Dance 'Til Dawn," a suuuuuuuper cheesy TV movie about the prom that starred all of the teen biggies of the day, including Christina Applegate, Alyssa Milano and Tracey Gold.  Good stuff.

[vmayo]

It's actually not that weird that Cindy is doing the taxes. Just because Jim is an accountant doesn't mean he is a tax accountant. He could be an auditor, or a governmental accountant. Not all accountants do taxes. (vmayo, Accountant Cop.)

[txhorns79]

MP played "Timothy," the asshole politically-minded prom date of Ami Dolenz in "She's Out of Control," which I watched about 50,000 times.

 

Yes, it is truly Tony Danza's best movie work.   

 

It's actually not that weird that Cindy is doing the taxes. Just because Jim is an accountant doesn't mean he is a tax accountant.

 

I think it was weird because it felt like they would have someone to do their taxes, and there was the underlying idea that the plot point existed just to give Cindy something to do.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

And if he's not a tax accountant, why is it his busiest season? I mean, I know why it is. It's just dumb. Make him a lawyer already.

[FozzyBear]

And if he's not a tax accountant, why is it his busiest season? I mean, I know why it is. It's just dumb. Make him a lawyer already.

I think (as I'm sure you're aware. Don't mean to talk down) it's supposed to be a "the cobbler's children have no shoes" joke. Problem is the 90210 writers aren't funny, at least not on purpose. When they're trying to do drama? Hilarious. When they're trying to do comedy? Not so much.

[vmayo]

The concept of "busy season" doesn't really exist unless you do taxes, so I get Sarah's point, and agree that the writers should have made him a vague lawyer type to avoid these issues.

[Lisin]

The concept of "busy season" doesn't really exist unless you do taxes, so I get Sarah's point, and agree that the writers should have made him a vague lawyer type to avoid these issues.

 

Yes to all of this. Even with his Dylan plots later re. being his trustee and stuff... attorneys can do all of that so it wouldn't have even mattered in that way, and an attorney would be just as concerned about possible improprieties that his daughter may be exposed to while dating the son of someone who is in the process of being indicted etc. I have never understood why he wasn't an attorney. Almost all the crap they have him do is stuff a business attorney would do just as much if not more than an accountant. 

[blueroses]

We're supposed to believe that Donna's grades fell off a cliff in 7th grade and no one the vaunted BH school district nor Felice and Doc Martin had her tested for this before the SATs. Or that Steve was the only who took a prep test?

[AndySmith]

Don't forget, Felice 1.0 (or whatever her name was this season) seems much more lax when it comes to Donna's life. Once she gets rebooted Dr. Who style next season, we'll be seeing a huge differnence in Donna's lifestyle.

[Tara Ariano]

This just in from S02E02: Jim is an "executive tax specialist."

[queenbee9b]

We're supposed to believe that Donna's grades fell off a cliff in 7th grade and no one the vaunted BH school district nor Felice and Doc Martin had her tested for this before the SATs. Or that Steve was the only who took a prep test?

I'm slightly younger than the 90210 class (96 v 93) and very few people, even the wealthier kids,  in my district took classes, and 5 years later when I graduated college and it was time for GRE, LSAT, etc. Kaplan and Princeton Review were everywhere.  It was like something exploded and you COULD NOT take a test without having taken a course first. And if you had more money, it was all private tutor and assistance writing essays.  

Edited August 24, 2015 by queenbee9b

[STOPSHOUTING]

Who knew, the only thing that makes Jason Priestly, circa 1990 and age 30, look slightly believable as a high school student, is Matthew Perry, age 35. Helen Mirren showing up at West Bev couldn't make Andrea credible as a teenager.

[STOPSHOUTING]

I was a fellow "gifted" nerdlinger around this time, too. (I even, gasp, skipped a grade in elementary school, making me class of '92, so Sarah would have been able to beat me up. Well, realistically, anyone would have been able to, but ...) I can vaguely remember that my SAT score was, yes, better than the Walshes', but I don't remember the lead-up to taking the test being that big a stressor. I didn't prep, though a few people bought books to do it, or took a one day review class ... But that was about the extent of it, even amongst the grade sluts like myself. I lived in the Northern half of the country, and was one of the few people in my class that actually took the ACT, too, because I was applying to a couple Southern schools that preferred it. My score actually ended up being more impressive there, even though I knew diddly squat about the test going in. Today, I live in the south, and most kids here don't even take the SAT, though the PSAT is still big due to its qualifier for National Merit Scholarships, which, PS, I'm hella pissed are now a big deal because, back when I got one, I only got a certificate at my high school honors night. Now, colleges boast about who has the most Merit Scholars in attendance (it's part of their ranking stats), so they actually scout them like athletes and offer full scholarships. I. Was. So. Ripped. Off.

[STOPSHOUTING]

Oh and, 1190 wouldn't have been Harvard material, but it would have been a very good SAT score in 1990. This was out of 1600 -- test changed later in the '90s, after I took it, to a 2400 scale; adding an additional 800 points for the essay portion. That would be equivalent to an 1800-1850 score today, which would be 87th percentile. Not outstanding, but still quite respectable.

[Cekrypton1]

Donna: "Do I need to spell it out for you?"

Me: "CAN you?

[CeeBeeGee]

On 8/17/2015 at 11:52 AM, gpgurl50 said:

Brenda and Brandon would play love interests in a screenplay reading. I checked imdb to confirm the Twin Peaksy girl is Sharon Case from Y&R, who somehow appears in more than one episode. Weird for this show.

At some point you have to wonder if the writers were doing this intentionally. SO much sexual tension between them!

Also that TPy actress strongly resembles Evan Rachel Wood ca. Thirteen.

On 8/17/2015 at 6:21 PM, Pogojoco said:

Oh Chandler.....you were so bad here. Never try to out bray Brandon.

I randomly knew about his tennis playing because it came up often in the media when he was dating Jennifer Capriati back in the day.

Oh man, I feel awful because I was critiquing his form, watching this. Like I'm thinking "OBVIOUSLY they used a double to place those shots." Then I looked it up and he was actually a ranked junior player! I guess it doesn't matter if your form isn't that great, as long as you can put the ball where it counts.

On 8/18/2015 at 9:43 AM, adam807 said:

I realize I come from a place of privilege but so do these kids and I can't believe they're excited over an 1190. Kids at my school would have literally been in tears over that. I scored higher and took them again in the fall. And maybe this is an urban legend I've simply believed for over 20 years but I always thought you really couldn't score below a 200, so maybe Donna really did spell her name wrong?

Yeah, I remember 1200 as being the minimum "good" score, the score you had to get if you even wanted to be considered for a competitive school like the Ivies or the Seven Sisters. And I was applying to colleges during a demographic drought (mid-'80s)!

On 8/18/2015 at 6:08 PM, MostlyC said:

The SAT scores were kind of sad.  Yes, they were super important at my school (if you didn't go to an ivy league school you were toast), but the scores Kelly/Brinda/Brandoon got surprised me.  No one cleared 1200?  Or did Andrea get some 1600/2300 score?  Wasn't West Beverly supposed to be the best/hardest high school in CA?

Andrea had to have cleared at least 1300 since...doesn't she end up at Yale?

I did like that Brandon got the higher verbal score and Brenda, the higher math score. The stereotype is usually the other way around (of course, Brandon is the writer).

On 8/18/2015 at 10:28 PM, John Ramos said:

Oh, since Sarah asked in the podcast, forgot to add two things about Chandler's racquet: First, Borg was known for his own very distinctive wood racquet; it was painted black and had his name on it and was obviously not whatever cheapshit stick the prop master bought in a 99-cent bin. Relatedly, no one used wood racquets past 1983; graphite and other materials proved so superior that Chandler in 1990 wouldn't have been competitive against the best twelve-year-old girls SoCal had to offer.

Oh God! I think that's why I was dragging his form, that ancient racquet threw me off. And that tiny head! It looked like the racquets my grandmother played with in the '70s.

On 8/18/2015 at 10:47 PM, WhosThatGirl said:

 i do wonder what MP was thinking while shooting this, though, because he is pretty awesome on FRIENDS and he is not awesome at all here. It's.. so bad.

Some actors are great at comedy, not so much with the drama. Kim Fields (Tootie in The Facts of Life) is one example--she was naturally hilarious as Tootie but really inept with the more dramatic episodes. (The one where she flips out and demands to go to the...Jermaine Jackson concert is especially mortifying to watch.) But I don't think that's the issue here, since Perry was great not only with the comedy of Chandler but also the more sincere, serious moments. I think the problem here is the writing and the direction. The director really should've reined him in.

[Sara2009]

On 8/18/2015 at 8:43 AM, adam807 said:

I realize I come from a place of privilege but so do these kids and I can't believe they're excited over an 1190. Kids at my school would have literally been in tears over that. I scored higher and took them again in the fall. And maybe this is an urban legend I've simply believed for over 20 years but I always thought you really couldn't score below a 200, so maybe Donna really did spell her name wrong?

I would’ve been, but I was absolutely awful on standardized tests. I got really good grades, but you’d never know it from my test scores. Just sharing a different perspective.

[RedDelicious]

15 hours ago, Sara2009 said:

I would’ve been, but I was absolutely awful on standardized tests. I got really good grades, but you’d never know it from my test scores. Just sharing a different perspective.

Same - I got 890 on the SAT my first time around. By the time I took the GREs, the day after my last day of winter finals senior year of college (it's a miracle I even got into college), I blew them out of the water. 4 years of college taught me how to study and I did a self-guided prep course that was really more about strategy than actual knowledge. Plus I was really good on the essay portion.

[Sara2009]

10 hours ago, RedDelicious said:

Same - I got 890 on the SAT my first time around. By the time I took the GREs, the day after my last day of winter finals senior year of college (it's a miracle I even got into college), I blew them out of the water. 4 years of college taught me how to study and I did a self-guided prep course that was really more about strategy than actual knowledge. Plus I was really good on the essay portion.

I definitely would have benefitted from a prep course. Luckily I got accepted to the college I wanted anyway, but I still have some regrets.