S03.E29: Commencement Part 1 / S03.E30: Commencement Part 2

[MissEwa]

Ugh. Was Dylan's so-intense-more-than-he-knew-possible love for Brenda more or less than the blah-blah-soulmates love he has Kelly? Because UGH. 

 

The thing is, I hate him, but I have to give the writers kudos - he's THAT guy. Consistently and completely. With Brenda? Hates Brenda, wants Kelly. With Kelly? Hates Kelly, wants Brenda. Dad's abandoned him? Misses his dad. Dad comes back? Dad's a pain. Mom's in Hawaii? She's terrible. Mom comes back? She's the worst. Money in a trust? Wants his money. Money in his bank account? Wants it in a trust. Jim calls him 'Son'? Don't call me 'son'. Jim tells him he's not welcome in his house? Jim's like a father to him. Wants to go to Berkley. Wants to go to CU. Doesn't want to go to college. Will be miserable and complain a lot either way. He's always miserable and he's determined to always be miserable and he'll be divorced three times and completely broke by 40 because that's mad, bad and dangerous to know, remember? But in the meantime he will always have some girl madly in love with him and thinking that she - SHE - is the one that will FINALLY make him happy and she will for about five minutes before he gets bored and it's TOO INTENSE and she EXPECTS TOO MUCH and blah blah shut up Dylan. UGH.

[Halo]

Nothing says 1993 like white shoes.

Except maybe over-the-knee white socks. 

[SoylentGreen]

I have spent the afternoon thinking that after Brandon's generous offer to help Nana with her speech, his advice was "Needs more braying"

[SoupThrower]

Nana Zuckerman's Yale adventures with a theme song like a TGIF 80's lineup show. 

Edited April 20, 2016 by SoupThrower

[Earmuffs Mom]

I graduated in 1993 also. I will confess I wore my mortarboard tilted back to accommodate my ginormous bangs. Do I get a pass for being valedictorian and giving a better speech than Nana's?

[Dave in Chicago]

Speaking as someone who is only discovering this show via the AWT podcast: I consider myself an Ahndrea fan.  But I also see why she would never in a million years get a spin-off.

 

I had my mental timeline all wrong - did not realize we still had another season with Brenda and Andrea before they depart.  I'm here for it.  

[TeeVee329]

Two more seasons of Andrea, actually, she's around for the first Valerie year.

[benteen]

Two more seasons of Andrea, actually, she's around for the first Valerie year.

 

She was around for Valerie but she didn't have much interaction with her, did she?  Her character was pretty much in her own little world at that point.

[TeeVee329]

I don't remember too much interaction between them; my point was just that Andrea is still a regular cast member in S5.

Edited April 20, 2016 by TeeVee329

[kimbrchick]

My sister graduated in 1993 and I graduated 3 years later. I still have a little box of jewelry from her room from that era. It contains an ankh necklace, a choker, and a rose quartz crystal necklace.

[txhorns79]

She was around for Valerie but she didn't have much interaction with her, did she?  Her character was pretty much in her own little world at that point.

 

It's bizarre to think that out of all the characters, Andrea is married with a kid barely a year after her high school graduation. 

[Petunia13]

Team Valerie, always and forever. I mean, except for when she's blackmailing How Do You Talk To A Pruit into throwing her the D, but even that's more pitiable than evil.

I love Valerie! She was complex, funny, sexy, and she had legit realistic reasons for being bitchy and tough. It pissed me off when Princess Kelly slut shamed her...but not the guys. She was great with David. It's also a bit hilarious she ran a club but was like 20.

[Racj82]

See, that is why I liked it as both a season finale and a potential series finale (or at least, one of 2 good jumping off points for the show). I guess I'm in the minority, but I did like the episode. And any episode with Iris in it always gets bonus points from me as well.

I didn't like it because it was boring as all hell. The episodes were stretched too thin and not much of any substance happened. And there was zero chance this going to be a series finale so I don't need it to play that way. I don't need a huge jaw dropping cliffhanger but dang. Give me something. Clips shows in general are also time waisters. A season finale shouldn't be a time waister.

It's bizarre to think that out of all the characters, Andrea is married with a kid barely a year after her high school graduation.

she's also the most mom like so it fits.

[bilgistic]

Y'all. I MADE myself an ankh pendant out of that weird art clay stuff that hardened in the oven. Does anyone remember that?

I also made myself a black satin ribbon choker--with a cameo-style button--to wear to my senior prom with my $50 black satin-with-black-lace-overlay spaghetti-strap short dress I got at Macy's in Atlanta back when Macy's was A Thing. Don't even tell me.

I also wore black pantyhose with seams up the back of the legs. In retrospect, I might have looked like a French whore.

Edited April 21, 2016 by bilgistic

[txhorns79]

She was great with David. It's also a bit hilarious she ran a club but was like 20.

 

Val was amusing and very frustrating.  I remember when Dylan gave her a lot of money for helping him get his fortune back, and she blows through most of it almost immediately by moving into a hotel and buying the PPAD (she did buy it, didn't she?).

 

 

The episodes were stretched too thin and not much of any substance happened. And there was zero chance this going to be a series finale so I don't need it to play that way. I don't need a huge jaw dropping cliffhanger but dang. Give me something. Clips shows in general are also time wasters. A season finale shouldn't be a time waster.

 

I wonder if the network made them do a two hour finale.  You are right that the actual plot takes up like twenty minutes of the episodes and the rest is a clip show. 

[MissEwa]

I didn't like it because it was boring as all hell. The episodes were stretched too thin and not much of any substance happened. And there was zero chance this going to be a series finale so I don't need it to play that way. I don't need a huge jaw dropping cliffhanger but dang. Give me something. Clips shows in general are also time waisters. A season finale shouldn't be a time waister.

she's also the most mom like so it fits.

I agree. It definitely didn't need to be two episodes (especially since it means neither works as a standalone at all and so in reruns it's just a mess - they probably should have broken it up into E29 being a clip show/senior breakfast and E30 being grad - a few days later - and the stupid banner).

But I feel like clip-show as season/series finale was somewhat common in the 80s and 90s? I could be wrong but I have memories of watching daytime reruns of 80s sitcoms and getting a clip show one day and a return to the pilot the next. 

[MissEwa]

Y'all. I MADE myself an ankh pendant out of that weird art clay stuff that hardened in the oven. Does anyone remember that?

Fimo? 

 

[bilgistic]

I have no idea. My mother is a bigtime hobby crafter/sewer/quilter and worked at a fabric/craft shop for years as a second job, so she was always bringing stuff home for us to do. The clay(?) stuff was a short-lived thing, I think, because I don't remember seeing it ever again.

The pendant I made was of some completely shapeable material that cured in the oven to a plastic/resin that was slightly flexible, just because I had made it thin. I had only the one color (white) and just a small amount.

This has been, "Talking About Completely Insignificant Things You Did Over Half Your Life Ago and How It's Only Slightly More Interesting Than Telling People About Your Dreams", with your host, bilgistic.

[AndySmith]

And there was zero chance this going to be a series finale so I don't need it to play that way

 

I didn't meant that it was meant to be one as planned by the producers, just that it worked as a series finale for anyone who wanted to stop watching the series. Like the finale of season 7, it's a good jumping off point for people if they don't want to continue watching. Though for me, jumping off point I'd recommend for people would the season 7 finale (though I imagine for quite a few people their point would be when Brenda leaves).

Edited April 21, 2016 by AndySmith

[Racj82]

I agree. It definitely didn't need to be two episodes (especially since it means neither works as a standalone at all and so in reruns it's just a mess - they probably should have broken it up into E29 being a clip show/senior breakfast and E30 being grad - a few days later - and the stupid banner).

But I feel like clip-show as season/series finale was somewhat common in the 80s and 90s? I could be wrong but I have memories of watching daytime reruns of 80s sitcoms and getting a clip show one day and a return to the pilot the next.

It's not about them being common or not. I would say they were. But, that doesn't make them good. In my opinion obviously. It's literally filling time with recycled footage. There was nothing else here worth the time. I maybe have a few reasons to want to punch Dylan again but that's it.

And I'm not saying that anyone said it could have been a series finale. The discussion was more about being a great note to end a series or this series on. That's fine. But, since it wasn't a series finale, I personally don't care about that. Most high school graduation episodes feel like finales anyway because they are always an end of an era. But, as a finale it was just weak sauce. I give it props for concluding many dangling plot threads. But, it was also very boring. So, yeah, can't mess with this one. I don't recall ever watching a finale where I feel the urge to fast forward every two minutes.

[Halo]

It's bizarre to think that out of all the characters, Andrea is married with a kid barely a year after her high school graduation. 

It didn't hit me as weird, but then the valedictorian of my high school got pregnant during our first year of college. I remember her telling me she was getting married and dropping out as we headed out of chem lab that spring. Unlike Andrea, she didn't have a ton of drama and is still married to a nice guy, has three grown sons, and did go back for a degree.

 

I always hated the Andrea and Jesse (that was his name, right) relationship. She seemed so not into him, and he pretty much worshiped her. I'm getting ahead of myself, I guess. Maybe upon revisiting, I'll realize he was a jerk, too. 

[SoupThrower]

To be fair which character isn't a jerk? 

 

Andrea just has Jesse, Dylan and Brandon to talk to. That was it. Then again she had more plot lines than David that season. 

[kell710]

This was my favorite episode of 90210 for a very long time, so it will always have a special place in my heart. I was very young (too young really) when 90210 ran on its original airing but would watch with my mom and she taped all the episodes, this was one of the few she never taped over so before reruns came on FX and DVD's years later, so this and one or 2 more episodes were all I had to watch of the Brenda years before 2000 and I watched this episode so much I know all the lines.

I get it's kind of a clip show, but it's also their high school graduation episode!

I loved the whole senior breakfast/senior will thing, and the WEST BEV '93. The cast seemed to be having a lot of fun in the group moments too.

Also, per the Melrose Place question, I remember a commercial for the Melrose finale airing during this finale and it was at height of Amanda/Billy/Allison triangle and the finale ended with Amanda buying Melrose Place. So that was right about the time the show was starting to become really popular.

I also love this episode also has all the original music, probably because it was sold as a standalone VHS that I definitely purchased from Blockbuster.

Edited April 21, 2016 by kell710

[DonitsYum]

I've watched all ten season of the show more than I care to admit, but the ones I watched most religiously were seasons 2-6. Val brought a lot to season 5 and Dylan's ill-fated marriage tugged at the heartstrings, but after Dylan leaves and Kelly gets out of rehab, I'm pretty much done.

 

 

There were TEN?!  Wow, I think I bailed around the time Mom & Pop Walsh did. What season was that?

[TeeVee329]

There were TEN?!  Wow, I think I bailed around the time Mom & Pop Walsh did. What season was that?

 

I think they, like Andrea, also leave at the end of S5.  If memory serves, S6 starts with Valerie's friend Ginger (played by the redhead from "Clueless") and them throwing a rager at the Walsh house because they thought it was being sold.

[TimeyWimey52]

Last week we put up two? We're back on our normal schedule so there will be two this week too.

You did? Curse you, iphone podcasts! I just realized that it has not been updating even though I'm a subscriber. I BLAME DYLAN'S HAIR. It's blocking my wi-fi. 

[Corey Ann]

Late to the party but for those who are curious, the original music is on the episodes that were released on VHS [pilot, graduation] because Fox secured the proper licensing at the time.  

I also always wondered after seeing the whole series that when Jack pops up at Graduation if that was really him since he didn't die.  I want to say there's another Not-a-Ghost Jack appearance too?  

[sinnerforhire]

So, every time I listen to this on headphones, Jim's chewing in the office scene with Dylan drives me absolutely nuts. Don't talk with your mouth full, ass.

[Petunia13]

I also always wondered after seeing the whole series that when Jack pops up at Graduation if that was really him since he didn't die. I want to say there's another Not-a-Ghost Jack appearance too?

Maybe ; )

jack DID fake his death and Dylan tracked him down in arizona and he had a new identity and family and son. It was kinda a slap in the face to Dylan "psyche! I'm not exploded LOL... wait ugh how'd you find me?" but also one of grudging respect like "ok dad has a new chance to do it all again and better for someone who's not me." I think Princess Kelly came along because he could only have the strength to go with her moral support RME and she was dating Brandon or something and oh angst.

I don't think I need spoiler bars but one never knows.

[AndySmith]

Brandon had left the show by then.

[Petunia13]

Brandon had left the show by then.

Mall Lawyer?

[chickflick]

This is my problem with every high school TV show:

Why are they picking colleges/getting acceptance letters like 5 minutes before graduation?  We picked colleges in like, February.

[CeeBeeGee]

On 4/18/2016 at 11:55 AM, benteen said:

The Senior Breakfast...the ultimate celebration of narcissism for the gang.  Seriously, this is how the rest of the West Beverly seniors wanted to celebrate their graduation?  By celebrating eight douchebags?

UGH. One incestuous circle jerk of self-congratulatory affirmation.

On 4/18/2016 at 12:50 PM, gpgurl50 said:

I watched the DVD of this episode and the original music was there. Also, in the commentary they mentioned that Kelly's dad was an extra they picked out. They also mentioned at the end they wanted the sign to morph into Beverly Hills 90210 but Aaron Spelling vetoed. Good note.

Fascinating! That's a great bit of luck for an extra. I wonder if he got his SAG card for that? Even more interesting because when I saw his face, I thought it was very plausible he could be Kelly's dad.

[RedbirdNelly]

On 4/18/2016 at 6:03 PM, Halo said:

The styling is very period-appropriate, for sure. At my 1992 high school graduation, so many girls had their caps on the back of their heads to show off their bangs. It looked ridiculous and I made fun of them, even at the time (as a teen, I wasn't very nice or tolerant of my peers, I'm afraid). I wore my hair long with no bangs, and my cap was perched on the top of my head, as intended. 

1990 grad here with the same issue but I had big hair and big bangs. My older sister worked carefully to pin my cap on top of my head but with some bangs showing out in front. I was very proud of it. No board hanging off my head!