S04.E11: Take Back The Night

[Primetimer]

CU tries to take back the night, but everyone's grasp on what consent actually means is...questionable.

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[Primetimer]

This is, sadly, just about the only issue of consent that's even a little bit clear in the show's Take Back The Night episode.

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[Tooch]

Isn't "Take Back the Night" an actual event that happened in the 90s? Or was it a fake event created for the show?

UGHGH with Andrea and her "women need to take responsibility for their own rapes" point of view. Between her and Dylan's "crew cut" comment this episode may as well have been sponsored by MRAs of America. Bleh!

[AndySmith]

It's an actual event that still takes place at many college campuses.

[TeeVee329]

Wait, I thought we do see Celeste again.  Doesn't she show up in the season finale dating John Sears?

[EAG46]

Frat boys shouting rude comments at a "Take Back the Night" rally? Sadly I can see that happening in real life today. And poor D'Shawn. He should have turned Braying Brandon into a pretzel.

[CicelyAlaska]

Frat boys shouting rude comments at a "Take Back the Night" rally? Sadly I can see that happening in real life today. And poor D'Shawn. He should have turned Braying Brandon into a pretzel.

It can and it does, sadly.

[Lisin]

23 minutes ago, EAG46 said:

 

Frat boys shouting rude comments at a "Take Back the Night" rally? Sadly I can see that happening in real life today. And poor D'Shawn. He should have turned Braying Brandon into a pretzel.

 

Yup. I have seen it fairly recently. People suck. 

[AndySmith]

Yes. And her bra, too.

[jenrising]

Just listening now, but after seeing the visual aids: "Jesus H. MacKinnon" I am dead. Just dead. 

[Tooch]

A Donna/Brenda/Celeste simultaneous flash of 90's era Victoria's Secret Second Skin Satin bras in every shade! (I had about 40 of those things, they were terrible bras, but I was a teen and had no idea). 

It may have been the only time on the show Brenda actually wore a bra though, so kudos for that.

[Lisin]

41 minutes ago, Tooch said:

90's era Victoria's Secret Second Skin Satin bras in every shade! (I had about 40 of those things, they were terrible bras, but I was a teen and had no idea). 

HA! I couldn't remember the line of bras. I also had them and knew they were VS but I couldn't remember Second Skin Satin and it was killing me! Thank you! 

[WoodyCee]

We see Celeste again next season and she's dating John Sears. Steve and John fight over her over a mud pit I believe...

[AndySmith]

No, Celeste shows up dating Sears in the season finale of this season...

[DanMSchro]

I just wanted to mention that my high school brought in a speaker who talked to our 9th grade health class about his being HIV+. It was uncomfortable.

Looks like the Georgia public school system took 90210 too seriously.

[John Ramos]

The depths of Brandon's character deficiencies probably will never be sufficiently explored, but I could not believe, given his unerring self-righteousness, how easily he lied to D'Shawn about him and Lucinda being a thing. THE WORRRRRRRST

[Petunia13]

9 hours ago, AndySmith said:

It's an actual event that still takes place at many college campuses.

I don't know if my school had it - I graduated in the 2007, but know it was big in the 90's. Also it was an inspiration for Veronica Mars college mystery and a critical story arc in SVU (not the tv show about sex assault investigation... the college era books about Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield which was excellent). 

[Tara Ariano]

11 hours ago, Tooch said:

Isn't "Take Back the Night" an actual event that happened in the 90s? Or was it a fake event created for the show?

It's real, but "Take Back The Night WEEK" is a stupid name. "Night Week"? Let's pick a duration of time and go with it.

10 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Wait, I thought we do see Celeste again.  Doesn't she show up in the season finale dating John Sears?

That's right! I forgot.

[MissEwa]

This episode is so terrible. So. Terrible. Like Sarah said, it so could have been a bit of a nuanced exploration of consent but instead it's just an offensive and awful pile of terrible. 

It's weird though, because even when they're at the Peach Pit and it's just the two of them, Laura's all 'when you pressured me into sleeping with you', which makes it sound like the truth *IS* somewhere between his and her version, but of course can't be, because Steve Is A Good Guy Who Rescued Kelly From A Rapist Therefore He Can't Be A Rapist Himself. 

It's like... that doesn't mean shit? The idea that rapists are these monsters in the shadows of a big city or obvious skeevs is so, so wrong and false. I don't know what it is in the US but in Australia it's 1/3? of women will be victims of sexual assault in their lives? It's not creepy guys with shifty eyes lurking in the shadows doing that. Ugh. This bothered me with the Jill thing too but the whole idea that Steve could not possibly do this because he rescued Kelly years ago? Nope. 

Also, I wish someone had actually bothered to explain to Andrea that 'got drunk, slept with a guy and regretted it in the morning' is not what date rape is? There are all sorts of issues around consent and the ability to consent and taking advantage, but date rape can (and does) happen when people are sober? So many things this show could have actually explored but even Dan was just like 'well, men do rape women' and not 'WTF are you talking about?'

Kill with fire. So bad. 

ETA there was also the Bonnie storyline. So four. All of them awful in their own special way.

Edited May 28, 2016 by MissEwa

[Nanna]

So if Laura had really been forced or pressured into having sex against her wishes - are we sure that the best way to handle that is to PRESSURE HER into telling her story in public? Isn't that exactly what is happening? "Hey, you know what would make our Bake Back the Night Week Month really neat? If somebody were to name a rapist, so you should really do that regardless of your feelings." Way to listen to and respect her feelings. Christ. Also, it's interesting that she says "you pressured me into having sex with you" the moment he dumps her. Are we supposed to think she is crazy enough as to make up a story on the spot, or are we meant to think that perhaps he did pressure her a little to much?
A historical note: this episode was actually the first time my friends and I heard the phrase date rape (which strangely enough doesn't really have a name in my language, we actually use the english words), and I think it did make us realize that this was a thing that existed. So that's something, I guess, although it was so badly handled by the show.

[benteen]

Quote

It's like... that doesn't mean shit? The idea that rapists are these monsters in the shadows of a big city or obvious skeevs is so, so wrong and false. I don't know what it is in the US but in Australia it's 1/3? of women will be victims of sexual assault in their lives? It's not creepy guys with shifty eyes lurking in the shadows doing that. Ugh. This bothered me with the Jill thing too but the whole idea that Steve could not possibly do this because he rescued Kelly years ago? Nope. 
 

Yes, it reminded me of that episode where Brenda on the teen help line where the girl was calling her about being raped by her boyfriend.  When we finally meet the boyfriend and his friend (after saying hi to Steve I think), they are so over-the-top obvious that they might as well be walking around with signs above them saying RAPIST.  I always thought they did the topic a disservice because often rapists aren't these easily spotted monsters but can be the guy who seems like he's perfectly nice or normal.  Predators unfortunately can be a lot better at hiding their true nature to others.  That's one of the things that makes it so frightening.  90210 didn't exactly handle this issue or others well.

Edited May 28, 2016 by benteen

[AndySmith]

Quote

makes it sound like the truth *IS* somewhere between his and her version, but of course can't be, because Steve Is A Good Guy Who Rescued Kelly From A Rapist Therefore He Can't Be A Rapist Himself. 

Actually, it's because Steve is main character, who isn't leaving the show any time soon, so of course he won't end up being a rapist.

Also, this show is way past the point of having any nuance when it comes to special issues. Just sit back, enjoy the soapy fun, and have a glass of wine or 3 handy whenever they are dealing with special issues.

Edited May 28, 2016 by AndySmith

[Petunia13]

You guys nailed it that the cheating and grade fraud by student athletes and faculty complicity is an interesting story that's still relevant today. And they had an attractive, talented actor in Cress Williams to play the beats, but instead they turned it into another chance to prop Brandon as the moral center of the community and make it all about his integrity and penis. 

[scarynikki12]

It's so hard to choose between the different offensive scenes and character behaviors but I think Andrea's tops my list.  The feminist point of view is not making women accept responsibility for getting raped while drunk, it's recognizing that getting raped, no matter the circumstance, IS NOT THE WOMAN'S FAULT.  It doesn't matter that she was drunk, was currently dating the guy, wore an outfit that showed off some skin, walked home by herself on an empty street, etc.  What matters is that she did not consent.  That's it.  And that ANDREA, who has been consistently feminist (for this show) previously, would argue otherwise pisses me off.  If they wanted to start laying the groundwork for her getting rid of Dan, they should have given those lines to him.  We didn't know him well enough to know if it would be out of character (like with Andrea) and he still could have fast talked his way into not getting dumped like he did.  Or, if they really wanted a female character to say it, give it to Kelly or Brenda.  Kelly could say it before her realization about John Sears and Brenda's slut shamed in the past so it would make much more sense coming from either.  I guess Donna could work too, if they presented it as her naivete talking.  But Andrea never made sense to me among the female characters. 

Brandon would have made the most sense of all the characters (even John!) but he was too busy flirting with Lucinda and planning to pick up rape victims to have that conversation.

[marny]

To me, the "Bake Back the Night" booth was the most offensive part.  Gee, you know what would make a date rape rally super-fun? A good pun about pie. 

 

Oh, also Dan, I know it's a much smaller number, but women do rape men. 

[Petunia13]

I think the actress who played Tracey looks a lot like Julie Benz (Rita on Dexter, Darla on Angel). 

Brandon's comment about picking up chicks at an anti-rape rally is so disgusting. 

The thought of Dylan taking on John Sears in a fight is humorous. Dylan's waist is about the size of his bicep. I can picture Sears kicking sand in his face then giving him a wedgie. LOL

[penguinnj]

Yes to the picking up babes in inappropriate places (I mean not "yes" as in that is "great woo-hoo" but as in "I do recall that") - I remember that It's Always Sunny and then that made me remember that it also happens with Jay and Silent Bob in Dogma.

[Petunia13]

Brandon  "You hate rape, I hate rape, let's go hate rape to-"

Girl "excuse me I cut my foot earlier and now there's blood filling my shoe" exits

Edited May 29, 2016 by Petunia13

[MuuMuuChainsmoker]

Every time I hear the argument about "girls should know better not to get so drunk in front of horny boys" I wonder if any of those people would feel the same way if a dude got drunk and some other dudes raped him.  Cause if those guys don't have enough common sense to protect themselves, then they deserve it, right?  

[txhorns79]

Quote

Every time I hear the argument about "girls should know better not to get so drunk in front of horny boys" I wonder if any of those people would feel the same way if a dude got drunk and some other dudes raped him.  

I view it more like everyone is responsible for themselves.  For either men or women, you should know better than to drink yourself into oblivion in a given situation.    And I really hated the idea the episode gave that rape was only something men could to do women.  Women can sexually assault or rape men.  Women can rape women.  Men can rape men.  However, if you were watching the episode, you'd think none of that was possible. 

[STOPSHOUTING]

Umm, how could you not put a trigger warning on that clip where Lucinda talks about seeing Brandon being "hard" ... I mean, I was eating lunch. Brlughh.

Also, so you've got Cress and Brandon seated at the table in front of you and you chose to mack on Lord Brayington? Yeah, seems kosher.

And, yes, Take Back the Night was an actual '90s thing. We had it at my college (not for a week, though) and I remember my dorm mates getting dolled up and hoping the cute guys would come. So, yeah ... Maybe not as effective as they'd hoped.

Edited June 1, 2016 by STOPSHOUTING

[STOPSHOUTING]

Why is a PROFESSOR serving WINE TO ostensibly underage actually 40-year-old STUDENTS? And it's not even a plot point. It's just a set dressing. This show is going to give me a brain aneurysm.

Being complicit in grade fraud for an athletic star? Credible, as it could happen. A professor serving students, and a prominent athlete, wine with dinner just for the hey of it and therefore risking his job and the athlete's career? No. Fucking. Way.

Also, umm, how good a player could DeShawn be if the coach is willing to drop him? The show does know that colleges only cheat for the starters, correct?

[CurlyATX]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 9:02 AM, Tooch said:

Isn't "Take Back the Night" an actual event that happened in the 90s? Or was it a fake event created for the show?

UGHGH with Andrea and her "women need to take responsibility for their own rapes" point of view. Between her and Dylan's "crew cut" comment this episode may as well have been sponsored by MRAs of America. Bleh!

We had Take Back the NIGHT (night).  Sadly I never marched, but towards my junior year I worked at the Women's Resource Center and they along with the Women's Studies Department put it on. 

Not sure if any of you watch "Switched at Birth" but they had an interesting rape/consent story line involving two people who had dated but never had had sex.  After a drunken night they do have sex and you see that both parties have very different feelings.  It's a "you didn't say no, but I didn't say yes" type.

On a side note- Brandon is such a dork! How could ANYONE want a geeky bray-ey freshman like him. ewww...

[Uncle JUICE]

1 hour ago, STOPSHOUTING said:

Also, umm, how good a player could DeShawn be if the coach is willing to drop him? The show does know that colleges only cheat for the starters, correct?

Couldn't agree more here. The way it sounds, Deshawn is basically a bench player. If he were a guy they were willing to cheat the system to make sure he played, wouldn't they get someone they KNEW would play ball for him, as it were, academically? If he were so big time a prospect, he wouldn't give a fuck about any of this as he's on his way out of school by the end of his freshman year. Also, why is he taking Sociology? They should have an entire program of cupcake classes for big time athletes who are an academic risk.

The thing that bothers me most of all is that Brandon never once says "If you say anything to the professor, you will lose more than your academic eligibility, you lose the scholarship entirely, you have far more to lose than I do. If they investigate me fucking my professor's wife, a woman' whose class I don't even take, my worst case scenario is likely they refund the money for those credits and I go on my merry way, and I can probably leverage THAT into credit for a A in the class to keep my mouth shut. They will do it to keep me from suing them as a university and the professor personally, for gross misconduct, as he'd have me failing me without supporting grades to do so. Why? Simply for fucking, with her consent, a fellow adult woman with no apparent relation to Randall in the first place. I will be fine. If YOU say something, the NCAA will get involved, and you'll be on the outs with big college programs, so I hope that as a bench player with your 11 minutes a game in dump time, you have enough cache to be a third round draft pick. Otherwise, I hope you speak Hebrew, because you're going to play someplace in Europe. That's YOUR best case. So shut the fucking TV off, stop pulling my fucking dick over this lady, and let's get through this, dude." 

[dmc]

OMG I remember this one. I was proud of Kelly for telling off John, her character had come so far and I was proud of Steve for choosing Kelly's friendship over loser John. Neither Steve or Kelly are perfect but both are trying to change. Ironically Brandon started off the good person and took a nose dive.

[FozzyBear]

On May 28, 2016 at 0:33 PM, scarynikki12 said:

It's so hard to choose between the different offensive scenes and character behaviors but I think Andrea's tops my list.  The feminist point of view is not making women accept responsibility for getting raped while drunk, it's recognizing that getting raped, no matter the circumstance, IS NOT THE WOMAN'S FAULT.  It doesn't matter that she was drunk, was currently dating the guy, wore an outfit that showed off some skin, walked home by herself on an empty street, etc.  What matters is that she did not consent.  That's it.  And that ANDREA, who has been consistently feminist (for this show) previously, would argue otherwise pisses me off.  If they wanted to start laying the groundwork for her getting rid of Dan, they should have given those lines to him.  We didn't know him well enough to know if it would be out of character (like with Andrea) and he still could have fast talked his way into not getting dumped like he did.  Or, if they really wanted a female character to say it, give it to Kelly or Brenda.  Kelly could say it before her realization about John Sears and Brenda's slut shamed in the past so it would make much more sense coming from either.  I guess Donna could work too, if they presented it as her naivete talking.  But Andrea never made sense to me among the female characters. 

Brandon would have made the most sense of all the characters (even John!) but he was too busy flirting with Lucinda and planning to pick up rape victims to have that conversation.

I agree with everything you're saying, but....the show doesn't seem to understand what consent is either! Kelly has that line about date rape being a weekend ritual in High School. Huh? Is she talking in a general sense like it happens to more people that anyone talks about, or in a specific sense like it happened to her every weekend? Because no, it did not. I'll buy that the whole "He didn't even bring a blanket" first time was supposed to be date rape, but Kelly slept with people after that because she wanted to. She may have had fucked up reasons to want to, but she did give consent. Right? That was the established character beat, correct? There's a lot of gray around sex and why people enter into sexual relationships, but date rape kinda isn't one. It's when someone you know rapes you. It really, truly isn't when you willingly go to bed with someone for bad reasons. There is a whole really interesting discussion to be had about those issues, but it isn't date rape. Date rape isn't miscommunication. People aren't accidentally date raped. I don't know, the whole episode was so clunky and confused about what they were trying to say. This sort of stuff is why I'm happy to never go back to the 1990s.

[AndySmith]

Quote

but Kelly slept with people after that because she wanted to

Much like Dylan, Kelly's "wild years" took place before the Walsh's moved to BH, so...

[MissEwa]

2 hours ago, FozzyBear said:

I agree with everything you're saying, but....the show doesn't seem to understand what consent is either! Kelly has that line about date rape being a weekend ritual in High School. Huh? Is she talking in a general sense like it happens to more people that anyone talks about, or in a specific sense like it happened to her every weekend? Because no, it did not. I'll buy that the whole "He didn't even bring a blanket" first time was supposed to be date rape, but Kelly slept with people after that because she wanted to. She may have had fucked up reasons to want to, but she did give consent. Right? That was the established character beat, correct? There's a lot of gray around sex and why people enter into sexual relationships, but date rape kinda isn't one. It's when someone you know rapes you. It really, truly isn't when you willingly go to bed with someone for bad reasons. There is a whole really interesting discussion to be had about those issues, but it isn't date rape. Date rape isn't miscommunication. People aren't accidentally date raped. I don't know, the whole episode was so clunky and confused about what they were trying to say. This sort of stuff is why I'm happy to never go back to the 1990s.

This said what was bothering me about Andrea's comment so much better than I could. Her whole 'why is it the guys fault if a girl gets drunk, has sex and then regrets it?' thing as being at all relevant to date rape was just weird. Date rape isn't when you regret it afterwards, it's when you don't, or can't, consent to it in the first place. I do think like Sarah said they could have -- especially with someone like Steve, who isn't the most aware guy -- explored a more grey storyline. Like they were both drunk and he wasn't reading the signs and thought she was into it, but it's a tricky line to walk and I wouldn't trust 90210 to do it any better than they did this. 

I still don't get the no-blanket thing. I remember watching it years ago thinking she made it sound like date rape but listening her story again in the AWT episode it seemed, again, less like date rape and more just like crappy sex that she wished she hadn't done. I could give the writers credit and say it's meant to be a bit ambiguous but that would involve giving the writers credit. 

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Quote

I could give the writers credit and say it's meant to be a bit ambiguous but that would involve giving the writers credit. 

Yeah, I...wouldn't, in this case. I think in later years that story gets sort of nudged into the St. Kelly realm of "she survived an assault!" but the way we hear it initially, he was just a dickweed who slept with her (no blanket, even) and never spoke to her again. And that's shitty, but it isn't rape.

[AndySmith]

Now that I think about it, doesn't the story also get changed further in that he began spreading rumors about her, and that's how she gets her reputation or something? I think it gets brought up at some post-college high school reunion...

[Sara2009]

On May 31, 2016 at 11:10 AM, STOPSHOUTING said:

Why is a PROFESSOR serving WINE TO ostensibly underage actually 40-year-old STUDENTS? And it's not even a plot point. It's just a set dressing. This show is going to give me a brain aneurysm.

Being complicit in grade fraud for an athletic star? Credible, as it could happen. A professor serving students, and a prominent athlete, wine with dinner just for the hey of it and therefore risking his job and the athlete's career? No. Fucking. Way.

Also, umm, how good a player could DeShawn be if the coach is willing to drop him? The show does know that colleges only cheat for the starters, correct?

I had a couple( otherwise good) professors in college who served alcohol to students including minors.It's probably more common than you think.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Sara2009

[ZeroDiscipline]

I am completely re-thinking my 90s experience. I am the same age as the Bev 9ers. Brandon's comment about picking up chicks at Take Back the Night was totally gross, but a very common "joke" around things like this. My liberal arts college in a small Minnesota town had Take Back the Night, and a Women's Resource Center independent of the college. One of my friends worked there, and it was a running joke amongst the guys to be all douchey and "I should stop in there and learn to pick up chicks!" Like yeah, I am so sure abused women trying to save their own lives by fleeing their abusive partners are super into privileged teenaged college dorks. Also, The quarterback of the Vikings at the time was Warren Moon. His wife spoke at a Take Back the Night rally, all about how he used to beat her. But he kept on playing football, without repercussions.

[Talky Tina]

I admit to not caring at all about fashion, as long as my clothes are clean and cover me, I'm fine with them. So I'm confused about why it's such a huge deal that John Sears doesn't wear a belt.  Isn't the purpose of a belt to keep your pants up?  His pants are staying up just fine so I don't get the big deal. 

[Uncle JUICE]

Generally you don't tuck in a shirt unless you're wearing a belt, to me that's the big issue. I mean we're not even going to get into pleats, that's just part of this time period, but you always need a belt if you're tucking in a shirt, which is why you never tuck a tee shirt into jeans, because having to add a belt to that get up makes only highlights how wrong every article of clothing you're wearing is. 

[Petunia13]

Often. The belt keeps the shirt in place from getting pulled out or baggy. Also belts were in then big time so a guy like him would have worn one. 

[psychoticstate]

On 5/28/2016 at 0:34 AM, MissEwa said:

Also, I wish someone had actually bothered to explain to Andrea that 'got drunk, slept with a guy and regretted it in the morning' is not what date rape is? There are all sorts of issues around consent and the ability to consent and taking advantage, but date rape can (and does) happen when people are sober? 

YES!  Thank you!!  This point annoyed the crap out of me while watching this episode.  Not the only thing that annoyed me but when your hot button topic is date rape . . . hello?  Like maybe you should explain what date rape is and isn't?  I get Ohhhhhhn-drea's point that women could possibly prevent themselves from getting into a potentially dangerous situation but drinking too much doesn't always lead to rape and rape doesn't always start because of alcohol.  Ugh, this show.

I always felt when originally watching this episode and on repeats that Steve's version was likely closer to the truth and Laura was more of a scorned female.  However, not the best character and plotline to have when you're discussing date rape. I would have preferred they Single White Tara'd or Single White Valentine'd her for a few episodes and let the grody John Sears be accused of rape.  A stranger twist on that?  He was innocent.  

I also want to say that why did no one dispute Dan Rubin's comment that guys rape girls, not the other way around.  Ohhhhhhhn-drea clearly watches Phil Donahue.  She should know that isn't always the case.  Not as common sure, but guys can be raped too.  So if Ohhhhhhhhn-drea is going to jump all over Dan for something stupid, get him on that comment and not transferring your not-attracted-to-you-any-longer/we're-not-going-to-bone-anymore anger via  whether or not he's an appropriate feminist.

[Jax7917]

On 5/31/2016 at 1:01 PM, CurlyATX said:

We had Take Back the NIGHT (night).  Sadly I never marched, but towards my junior year I worked at the Women's Resource Center and they along with the Women's Studies Department put it on. 

Not sure if any of you watch "Switched at Birth" but they had an interesting rape/consent story line involving two people who had dated but never had had sex.  After a drunken night they do have sex and you see that both parties have very different feelings.  It's a "you didn't say no, but I didn't say yes" type.

On a side note- Brandon is such a dork! How could ANYONE want a geeky bray-ey freshman like him. ewww...

I saw that switched at birth episode and it really annoyed me. He clearly did not rape her, and she ruined his entire life because she didn't want her boyfriend to think she was cheating. I thought for sure a few episodes later they would come out with it not being rape, but nope.. the lie stuck and he lost everything.

[CurlyATX]

I never saw the end of it... just the morning after.  That's too bad if it ended that way.  I just felt that the whole concept brings up a very interesting aspect of consent on BOTH sides.  The first time around I never knew what really happened with Steve- was it like he claimed or something in the middle.

[CeeBeeGee]

On 6/3/2016 at 5:56 PM, Sara2009 said:

I had a couple( otherwise good) professors in college who served alcohol to students including minors.It's probably more common than you think.

Yep. As a freshman my English department had an annual Beer Bash (at some point renamed Beverage Bash but it changed nothing) and I was openly handed beers by my professors. I was 17 and looked 14. It was a blast! English professors can par-tay.

On 5/27/2016 at 10:02 AM, Tooch said:

UGHGH with Andrea and her "women need to take responsibility for their own rapes" point of view. Between her and Dylan's "crew cut" comment this episode may as well have been sponsored by MRAs of America. Bleh!

WTH were they thinking, making Andrea, of all people, the Katie Roiphe mouthpiece? That is completely out of character for her. This episode did not age well at all, but then episodes about rape almost never do. (See the All in the Family episode where Edith is attacked--at one point the would-be rapist is actually mugging for laughs in the middle of the attack. It's very weird although the rest of the episode and the follow up are well done.) I give 90210 props for at least trying to address how muddled consent can seem to be but they punted when they had a main character be accused.

On 5/28/2016 at 4:46 AM, Nanna said:

So if Laura had really been forced or pressured into having sex against her wishes - are we sure that the best way to handle that is to PRESSURE HER into telling her story in public? Isn't that exactly what is happening? "Hey, you know what would make our Bake Back the Night Week Month really neat? If somebody were to name a rapist, so you should really do that regardless of your feelings." Way to listen to and respect her feelings. Christ. Also, it's interesting that she says "you pressured me into having sex with you" the moment he dumps her. Are we supposed to think she is crazy enough as to make up a story on the spot, or are we meant to think that perhaps he did pressure her a little to much?

That was insane and I have to imagine that was a dramatization for the sake of the show. No legitimate counselor who specializes in date rape would pressure anyone to name someone as a rapist that soon, in public, in a high pressure situation like a rally. I mean for God's sake, the KEG boys were heckling them!

On 5/31/2016 at 1:31 PM, Uncle JUICE said:

The thing that bothers me most of all is that Brandon never once says "If you say anything to the professor, you will lose more than your academic eligibility, you lose the scholarship entirely, you have far more to lose than I do. If they investigate me fucking my professor's wife, a woman' whose class I don't even take, my worst case scenario is likely they refund the money for those credits and I go on my merry way, and I can probably leverage THAT into credit for a A in the class to keep my mouth shut. They will do it to keep me from suing them as a university and the professor personally, for gross misconduct, as he'd have me failing me without supporting grades to do so. Why? Simply for fucking, with her consent, a fellow adult woman with no apparent relation to Randall in the first place. I will be fine. If YOU say something, the NCAA will get involved, and you'll be on the outs with big college programs, so I hope that as a bench player with your 11 minutes a game in dump time, you have enough cache to be a third round draft pick. Otherwise, I hope you speak Hebrew, because you're going to play someplace in Europe. That's YOUR best case. So shut the fucking TV off, stop pulling my fucking dick over this lady, and let's get through this, dude." 

THIS. As much as a knob as Brandon is, fuck DShawn for his smug assumption that Brandon will take the test for him, after weeks of blowing off his tutoring sessions. Brandon would be risking his own academic career as well as DShawn's. (Nice shoutout to Heathers with the "pulling my dick" line, BTW.)

I admit I laughed out loud when Dylan pied John Sears.