S02.E15: U4EA

[Primetimer]

Those underground clubs are dangerous and they're in horrible neighborhoods. Let's go!

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[Primetimer]

You don't want to check out the Visual Aids? What if someone dropped them in your drink and you didn't have a choice?

Read the story

[AndySmith]

Who knew 2 iconic episodes of this show (well, maybe not iconic so much as fan referenced) were back to back?

[Tooch]

I haven't listened yet, so maybe you get into this. But that car is RUINED and in the very next episode it's back good as new. Do you know how much it would cost to restore that thing? What the HELL!? Who paid for that!?

Also this is the second time in one year that Brandon has used the old "someone spiked my drink!" excuse. Granted, in this instance it's true. Actually it was mostly true in the last instance too. What's with this guy? He better never hang out with anyone from The Hangover or he's screwed.

[Tooch]

I haven't listened yet, so maybe you get into this. But Brandon's car is RUINED and in the very next episode it's back good as new. Do you know how much it would cost to restore that thing? What the HELL!? Who paid for that!?

Also this is the second time in one year that Brandon has used the old "someone spiked my drink!" excuse. Granted, in this instance it's true. Actually it was mostly true in the last instance too. What's with this guy? He better never hang out with anyone from The Hangover or he's screwed.

[fireice13]

What I didn't get in this episode is why Jackie didn't call the other parents or at least tell Mel who she was going out with that his kid is at an illegal rave!? If I were a parent and found out my kid wanted to go to one of these, I'd the call the other parents!

 

I know there's a little more follow-up with Emily, but in my mind her relationship with Brandon was more detailed and lasted longer than it really did. 

[KateeBar]

Man, DeadScott and U4EA...I've been waiting for these episodes! Given how much I've revised my opinions of Brandon and Steve on re-watch, I wondered if Emily would be better than I remembered. Nope, still super condescending and annoying. My memory hasn't totally failed me. Though I did also think their relationship had a longer arc, but maybe that's because I was ready to be done with her in her first five minutes.

[KateeBar]

Those crackheads made me laugh out loud. Camel coats indeed. Apparently crack addiction makes you look consumptive. I know better from my years of watching Intervention.

[gesundheit]

Man, DeadScott and U4EA...I've been waiting for these episodes! Given how much I've revised my opinions of Brandon and Steve on re-watch, I wondered if Emily would be better than I remembered. Nope, still super condescending and annoying. My memory hasn't totally failed me. Though I did also think their relationship had a longer arc, but maybe that's because I was ready to be done with her in her first five minutes.

I actually really liked her in her introductory episode, but she got horrible quickly. And this was somehow the great love of his life that he could never really get past? Ha.

[Hollysdower]

This is your brain with a side of bacon and toast.

 

And this is brainos rancheros.

 

When Kelly thought the drug dealer in the club looked hot, I was like "WHAT?!"  That guy looked terrifying!  Like Tony Montana and Danny Trejo had spawned!  Spawned a scary drug pusher child!

 

I like how Steve and Andrea sort-of went as each other's dates. Nice callback to a sweet moment in Down and Out of District.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Hollyhox

[sinkwriter]

Regarding Jim's shirt... it's bad, but I've seen MUCH worse. LOL.

Can't wait to listen to this one! I remember really hating Emily in these episodes, and I'm dying to hear what you say about it all.

[sinkwriter]

Is that a thing, to share a locker? I really don't remember anyone doing that in my school. Maybe because we as girls brought so much shit to school that there's no way we could have shared a locker with anyone. Get your own real estate, buddy! ;)

[Hollysdower]

 

Is that a thing, to share a locker?

 

We shared lockers in high school, but it wasn't necessarily a romantic thing. If you ended up with a locker out in BFE, that you could never get to in the 5 minutes between classes, you'd team up with a friend with a better locker location, and stash your coats in the BFE locker.

[Lisin]

Kelly unbuttoning her pants in frustration is everything. I was so happy y'all giffed that! It was just such an incredibly true thing to me. 

[sinkwriter]

Emily's the worst in this episode. Though I can't wait to see what you say about her fatal attraction breakdown in the upcoming episode. Whoo!

[Picture It. Sicily]

An entire episode of Steve, Andrea, with a Nana Rose cameo would have rocked! Turn Brandon and Emily into the B plot.

[Petunia13]

Yes I think some schools that were big and overpopulated people shared lockers. That was a premise in Christopher Pike's trilogy Final Friends Michael and Jessica shared a locker after her school closed which was how they met. My 1st 2 yrs of HS I had my own locker. Then I transferred to Lake Forest and had no locker. They had no bells or hall monitors either so most students had time to put their shit in their car before heading to next class or grabbing what they needed.

[Ames]

I treasure that gif of Brandon standing up on the car.

[queenbee9b]

This is your brain with a side of bacon and toast.

 

And this is brainos rancheros.

 

When Kelly thought the drug dealer in the club looked hot, I was like "WHAT?!"  That guy looked terrifying!  Like Tony Montana and Danny Trejo had spawned!  Spawned a scary drug pusher child!

 

I like how Steve and Andrea sort-of went as each other's dates. Nice callback to a sweet moment in Down and Out of District.

Steve and Andrea have really great friend chemistry.   I like the one where they briefly hook up before the SATs too.  

[scarynikki12]

I really enjoyed Sarah's rage blackout and I look forward to the next one.

[vendredi3]

We shared lockers in high school, but it wasn't necessarily a romantic thing.

Same experience here. My high school had north and south sections, and while my locker was in north one year, most of my classes were in south. My best friend's locker was in south, so he let me stow my books there.

[WhosThatGirl]

Sharing lockers wasn't a thing in my high-school for couples, I did have a few friends who used my locker for their history books because that's where that class was for them. I was lucky my locker was in the main hallway and theirs was all the way over by the gym,  and during my high-school years from freshmen to 12th, we had the same lockers each year. So I was lucky enough that I at least had chances to go to my locker since it was close by.. 

 

Anyways. I love this episode. My favorite scene will be when Dyan is telling Brenda they should just leave Brandon to settle down, and Brendon stands up on his car with his shirt open and just stands on the hood of his car, I can'[t not laugh. 

 

"This place is NEVER AGAIN!" I need to add this to my list of awesome things I need to say that 90210 taught me - the list includes, "cumin", "mad, bad, dangerous to know" "I heard you like videotape", and now "this place never again!"

[AndySmith]

Regarding Jim's shirt... it's bad, but I've seen MUCH worse

 

See: almost every other Steve has worn, especially during season 1

[FozzyBear]

An entire episode of Steve, Andrea, with a Nana Rose cameo would have rocked! Turn Brandon and Emily into the B plot.

Oh my god, I love Steve and Andrea together so much! One of the main reasons I always look forward to the episode is the adventures of Steve and Andrea. GC and IZ really had a nice chemistry together and a real ability to bring out the best in each other as actors. Pretty much the only time I think GC comes anywhere within 100 miles of acting teenage is when she's working with IZ. I would have loved a Steve/Andrea romance.

Sooooooooo, Christine Ellis is really not good. We're all in agreement on this, right? I don't remember her being so much worse than anyone else, but man. She sounds like she's reading cue cards half the time.

[FozzyBear]

I treasure that gif of Brandon standing up on the car.

It's like watching a gargoyle come to life. A tiny, braying, shirtless gargoyle.

[Petunia13]

Steve later on again shows how much he connects with the smart and kinda prickly/sarcastic girl when he hooks up with Claire and Janet. Deep down he had a "type".

[Cekrypton1]

Good episode for laid-back funny Dylan. I was surprised with how sheltered the gang came off. Remember when the rap on 90201 was that this was going to be a show about rich kids from fast-living LA? The pearl-clutching shock at the idea, let alone presence, of drugs was really strange.

[mommalib]

David had me laughing this episode.

[txhorns79]

Steve later on again shows how much he connects with the smart and kinda prickly/sarcastic girl when he hooks up with Claire and Janet. Deep down he had a "type".

 

Claire was kind of a bitch to Steve half the time.  Janet was much nicer. 

 

And I completely forgot that Emily sold Brenda down the river to Jim and Cindy by making it seem like Brenda did something wrong in taking Brandon's keys.  How Brenda was able to restrain herself from punching Emily in that situation, I will never know. 

[desertflower]

The timeline of that morning is so weird. Those kids know how to pack a lot in before the early shift at the diner!

It took me a few times of seeing the episode to notice, but I think Brandon is actually wearing Emily's jacket when they are making out on the car. It looks like the one she was wearing earlier at the Pit. It still doesn't explain what happened to his shirt, but it makes it funnier to think when he is standing up glaring at Dylan and Brenda he is doing so in his girlfriend's lady-coat.

This is my favorite version of Dylan. I know he must have his tortured, misunderstood side or he wouldn't be Dylan, but there are a handful of episodes where he is funny, cool, relaxed and in control. I love that Dylan.

I've always loved Kelly's "this place is never again", and I also must give a shout out to her calling David a "pukemeister." Hee hee.

[Petunia13]

Claire was kind of a bitch to Steve half the time. Janet was much nicer.

"Kind of" ? Ha I would say she was very demanding and mean.

But my point was he clicked best with smart girls who could be snarky and a touch bitchy. Like Ahhhhhndrea, Claire, and Janet. Steve is actually the most consistent throughout the series run when it comes to behavior and personality.

[DonitsYum]

I should have known that my high school boyfriend was gay when we went shopping and he bought a mesh shirt and parachute pants.

[jbeans]

You guys were curious about what Jim and Cindy could have been watching that was more important to them than knowing where their children were going... They're just watching All About Eve. A little bit of the dialog can be heard at the beginning of the scene, and it's the point in the movie just before Bette Davis says, "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night."

[WoodyCee]

Can we get a "This place is never again" tshirt?

[SoupThrower]

Am I the only one to notice Brenda tickling David's nose in the Peach Pit. Also I love drunk David and Stoned Brandon. 

[bilgistic]

Back in the day, I never understood Brandon dating Emily. I still don't. She was a skank. I guess it was an "opposites attract" thing?

[Petunia13]

Mesh shirts always remind me (besides Pride Fest) of the episode of Girls when Hannah does coke for a paid blog article.

"You're a great dancer."

"Thanks. I KNOW!"

"Wanna trade shirts?"

"Yea."

She wears it the rest of the night and goes shopping at cvs in it with her gay, ex-bf Elijah; before he admits he had flaccid sex with her female best pal Marnie.

[AndySmith]

Girls really is a horrible show.

[FozzyBear]

"Kind of" ? Ha I would say she was very demanding and mean.

But my point was he clicked best with smart girls who could be snarky and a touch bitchy. Like Ahhhhhndrea, Claire, and Janet. Steve is actually the most consistent throughout the series run when it comes to behavior and personality.

Yup. Steve had a consistent Yes Ma'am thing for smarty bossy girls. Steve and Janet ended up being my favorite couple on the show. And I always wished they'd just put Andrea behind a desk and forgone the entire pregnancy and Jessie "he be gone, he be out of here" Vasquez story for a Steve and Andrea romance. Plus I hated Claire.

[WhosThatGirl]

Back in the day, I never understood Brandon dating Emily. I still don't. She was a skank. I guess it was an "opposites attract" thing?

Maybe Brandon liked the idea that he could get the "bad girl" for once? She did try for Dylan first but Dylan was still sort of pining for Brenda so. I never really got the vibe that they liked each other all that much. I mean, sort of from Brandon that he was into Emily sometimes but I think Emily just sort of put with him. I think she liked more to throw in Andrea's face anytime she could because like everyone in this show knew Andrea loved Brandon expect Brandon. Nat probably knew too!

[AndySmith]

And I always wished they'd just put Andrea behind a desk and forgone the entire pregnancy

 

Amen. It did ruin Andrea as far as plot development on this show. I get that they might have wanted to do a story about getting pregnant while in college, but I think they should have saved it for junior or senior year of college.

 

I liked Claire, especially when she was with David. She and Steve started out ok, but as they went on...ugh.

 

Um, topic? As for Brandon and Emily...I hate to admit it, but there is a certain cuteness to the couple, but that probably gets by more on the chemistry between the 2 actors than whats on paper. There will be far, far worse couples on the show to come.

[SoupThrower]

Clare was cool with David. She was quirky and funny. She lost all of that in Season 6. 

 

The only girl other than Janet I liked with Steve was Celeste aka the girl Chandler had to fire in Friends. 

 

I agree with the notion that Brandon and Emily weren't bad. Brandon had been with worse and there were several worse relationships yet to come. So yeah agree with the above statement. 

 

I wish we had more drunk David Silver in the episode. 

[Halo]

I love this podcast for reminding me that International Male was A Thing. In high school, my (gay) guy friends did shop from that catalog (it was ye olde late 80s/early 90s) for club wear. I have distinct memories of mesh shirts tucked into pleated pleather pants. 

 

This show is making me revise my opinion of Steve. Dare I say he is charming and kind of awesome, though occasionally a little racist. So confusing! 

[FozzyBear]

I love this podcast for reminding me that International Male was A Thing. In high school, my (gay) guy friends did shop from that catalog (it was ye olde late 80s/early 90s) for club wear. I have distinct memories of mesh shirts tucked into pleated pleather pants.

This show is making me revise my opinion of Steve. Dare I say he is charming and kind of awesome, though occasionally a little racist. So confusing!

Steve brings out the confusing feels in us all. I think it's IZ. Not that he's a great actor (I stay consistent in my opinion that nobody on the show was actually very good), but he had a charm that JP and LP lacked. So while Steve is kind of an obnoxious jerk on paper, in performance he does have a certain boyish thing going on. It's hard to fully resist.

BTW, a friend of mine meet IZ in person at a work event and said he's very nice and charming in real life.

[PupCulture]

Can we get a "This place is never again" tshirt?

 

With an illustration of the sad crack couple?

[MyAimIsTrue]

BTW, a friend of mine meet IZ in person at a work event and said he's very nice and charming in real life.

 

I met Ian in 1992 when 90210 mania was at its height and he was very nice and charming, and surprisingly down to earth.

[heshy]

The best part of that mesh shirt is that it clearly had sleeves and someone decided to put their mark on it and cut/tear the sleeves off.

[shouldbedancing]

This is one of my fave episodes, probably top ten. I've watched it sooooooo many times. It's /for/ you, and /for/ me. Gimme a hint! Brandon is so dumb.

 

All my fave parts were clipped except when Kelly calls David a pukemeister when she's driving him home. Kelly has a lot of great words and phrases in her vocabulary. As you guys were describing if I could see Brandon rising in the background on the roof of his car, puffing up and spreading his arms like a human chicken.

 

I think one of the things this podcast highlighted was what a two face bitka Emily was. Like her snarky comments really are mean and the way she throws Brenda under the bus is like whoa. A Brenda rage out would have been justified then. Emily. Stop now. Don't paint the float in Brandon's favorite jersey. Don't!

 

But Brandon was really open ended in his break up. This episode brings out the Steve/ohhhhhhndrea shipper in me. It also highlights how horrifying life was before cellphones. Shudder.

[CeeBeeGee]

On 10/19/2015 at 1:49 PM, Hollysdower said:

I like how Steve and Andrea sort-of went as each other's dates. Nice callback to a sweet moment in Down and Out of District.

 

On 10/20/2015 at 2:36 AM, FozzyBear said:

Oh my god, I love Steve and Andrea together so much! One of the main reasons I always look forward to the episode is the adventures of Steve and Andrea. GC and IZ really had a nice chemistry together and a real ability to bring out the best in each other as actors. Pretty much the only time I think GC comes anywhere within 100 miles of acting teenage is when she's working with IZ. I would have loved a Steve/Andrea romance.

Sooooooooo, Christine Ellis is really not good. We're all in agreement on this, right? I don't remember her being so much worse than anyone else, but man. She sounds like she's reading cue cards half the time.

The show really, really dropped the ball when they didn't hook up Ohhnnndrea and Steve as a couple. Whyyyyyy did they dangle that possibility in the SAT episode and then just forget about it? They had crazy chemistry together and the characters would've brought out the best in each other. Ohhhnnndrea would've inspired Steve to be the best he could be instead of just partying, and Steve would've encourage Ohhhndrea to let down her hair once in a while. Tragic.

Oh--and yes, the actress playing Emily is just not good. I hate attacking actors--I'm one myself--but her affect is so. flat. I see nothing on her face. no subtext, no beats, nothing. People criticize Tori Spelling but she had energy and you could tell she was up there trying. (And she got better--she was terrific in Death of a Cheerleader.) Honestly I think the Emily actress was cast for her hair. (That is a thing. A cool look plus an overconfident director ("I can MAKE her give a good performance!") can seal the deal.)

On 10/22/2015 at 2:34 PM, FozzyBear said:

Steve brings out the confusing feels in us all. I think it's IZ. Not that he's a great actor (I stay consistent in my opinion that nobody on the show was actually very good), but he had a charm that JP and LP lacked. So while Steve is kind of an obnoxious jerk on paper, in performance he does have a certain boyish thing going on. It's hard to fully resist.

I love Steve. He is what he is and is not in denial, and is very charming about winning you around to his way of thinking. I don't like that he cheats and I don't like his veiled racism in the S1 basketball episode but he is a lot more likable than Brandon, because one thing Steve never is is self-righteous.

Edited August 4, 2020 by CeeBeeGee

[doodlebug]

On 8/4/2020 at 1:37 AM, CeeBeeGee said:

 

The show really, really dropped the ball when they didn't hook up Ohhnnndrea and Steve as a couple. Whyyyyyy did they dangle that possibility in the SAT episode and then just forget about it? They had crazy chemistry together and the characters would've brought out the best in each other. Ohhhnnndrea would've inspired Steve to be the best he could be instead of just partying, and Steve would've encourage Ohhhndrea to let down her hair once in a while. Tragic.

Oh--and yes, the actress playing Emily is just not good. I hate attacking actors--I'm one myself--but her affect is so. flat. I see nothing on her face. no subtext, no beats, nothing. People criticize Tori Spelling but she had energy and you could tell she was up there trying. (And she got better--she was terrific in Death of a Cheerleader.) Honestly I think the Emily actress was cast for her hair. (That is a thing. A cool look plus an overconfident director ("I can MAKE her give a good performance!") can seal the deal.)

I love Steve. He is what he is and is not in denial, and is very charming about winning you around to his way of thinking. I don't like that he cheats and I don't like his veiled racism in the S1 basketball episode but he is a lot more likable than Brandon, because one thing Steve never is is self-righteous.

Christine Elise (Emily) had a guest arc on ER where she was similarly deadpan, I agree, she's no great talent.  Of course, she began dating Jason Priestley after her first appearance on 90210 and the relationship lasted for around 5 years, so that might've been part of the reason that Emily kept coming back for more appearances on the show.