S06.E31: You Say It's Your Birthday Part 1 / S06.E32: You Say It's Your Birthday Part 2

[Primetimer]

As Steve's birthday party finally arrives, Prince Carl kicks Operation Steal Clare into high gear.

View the full article

[Primetimer]

Susan apologizes one last maddening time in the Season 6 finale. WE apologize for the horror that awaits you in this collection of photos.

View the full article

[StatMom]

Why did "Campaign '96" find it necessary to repeat the same sentences over and over in the letter to Susan? Or, I guess more accurately, why did the PA think this letter needed to be longer than one main paragraph plus maybe an opening and closing sentence/paragraph? I know it wasn't on the screen long enough in real time to read it all, but the question still remains: why bother? This stupid show.

[mskyle]

I used to work at a small New England college (not one of the ones you've heard of) that has an annual event called "Spring Event." The Goo Goo Dolls were the featured act at Spring Event 2010, which led to some serious soul-searching on my part and, I hope, theirs.

[TeeVee329]

Kelly telling Valerie that "disaster seems to follow right behind [her]" is pretty rich coming from the ex-cult member, former cokehead, and chick who recently got kidnapped by the woman Single White Female-ing her.

What a Bitch (About It).

[ZeroDiscipline]

Ha, "Spring Event". I would hope one would go there to enjoy music bands and foodstuffs, similar to but different from "Winter Event".  My college put on an event which Cheap Trick headlined (with no opening act, not even a student band) in 1994, so I get what you are saying.

[ZeroDiscipline]

All these years later, I am still infuriated by Brandon's reaction to this, and the show's attitude towards Susan taking this job. There were over 5,000 applicants! Is anyone going to congratulate her? Get the hell out Susan and don't look back.

[maxineofarc]

SUSAN. JESUS. RETROACTIVELY DUMP HIM. HE SUCKS.

[allicatexp]

Oh God, now that season 6 has ended and I am reminded that we are walking into the season with my most hated Donna "STUFF" bit: Campus Fashion Weather Personality.  I want to punch Tori Spelling in the face when she does those scenes.

[Jax7917]

1 hour ago, ZeroDiscipline said:

All these years later, I am still infuriated by Brandon's reaction to this, and the show's attitude towards Susan taking this job. There were over 5,000 applicants! Is anyone going to congratulate her? Get the hell out Susan and don't look back.

I thought Brandon was really nice to her considering he wanted to take his summer job which would have been great for his future and she gave him an ultimatum either her or the job and he was guilted into turning down the job . One week later she gets offered something , takes it and leaves him in the dust with no job .. I don't understand people thinking his reaction was bad . I would have been much worse 

[profreader]

Brandon's hair.

[benteen]

I'm no Brandon fan but I'm still annoyed to this day how Susan screwed him over.  She guilted him into not accepting the internship he was offered (which, in fairness, was a stupid decision on his part) but then jumps at the first great opportunity she gets and later plays the gender card to try to justify it.  Brandon was in the right on this one.

Though neither Brandon or Susan were catches.

[benteen]

Susan owed him an apology for this one.

The newspaper that gave Brandon an internship owes Susan a thank you for sparing them the "honor" of him braying to them what real journalism is all about.

I won't defend the personal space violation though and whomever said a while ago that Susan's body language makes them think she has been beaten up by her boyfriend is disturbingly accurate. 

Quote

Colin adds a charge of attempted mustache to his lengthy list of misdeeds.

Brilliant line.

Edited June 1, 2017 by benteen

[benteen]

3 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Kelly telling Valerie that "disaster seems to follow right behind [her]" is pretty rich coming from the ex-cult member, former cokehead, and chick who recently got kidnapped by the woman Single White Female-ing her.

What a Bitch (About It).

And that all happened in the past season and a half.  Good lord, didn't the writers ever think of the irony in the lines they wrote for the characters on this show?

[MerBearStare]

I get why Brandon was pissed. He's right to be pissed and I would be too. HOWEVAH, the way he reacted is completely inappropriate. You never get up in someone's face to yell at them, especially not your girlfriend. Considering this scene and how often Susan apologized to him, their relationship seems downright abusive.

[benteen]

9 minutes ago, MerBearStare said:

I get why Brandon was pissed. He's right to be pissed and I would be too. HOWEVAH, the way he reacted is completely inappropriate. You never get up in someone's face to yell at them, especially not your girlfriend. Considering this scene and how often Susan apologized to him, their relationship seems downright abusive.

There was also the scene early in the season (I think Susan's first episode) where he goon-armed her.  This relationship was not a good look on him.

[CurlyATX]

I never understood this Summer of the Ball of String.  Susan always seemed very goal-oriented, like a sexy Ohndrea.  She would be the first person to see the practical nature of an internship or summer job and its importance.  Plus, who spends an entire summer just goofing around?  Was Susan as rich as the Hillsters where she doesn't need a summer job?

I think they tried to have this "opposites attract" almost Honeymooners cutsey-I'm going to smack you (????) vibe with these two.  But instead, she just seems like a cowering simp and he looks like a bully. 

[TeeVee329]

In other news, I'm sure we were supposed to find Val's solemn vow to keep Brandon and Kelly apart bitchy, but man is Ms. Malone doing the Lord's work on that one.

[Molly Cule]

I always forget that FBI guy with the ill-advised Caesar is my man Jon Hensley from As The World Turns. By the time that was one of my regular stories he had grown that shit out, thanks be. 

A somewhat shaky phone camera video of the warehouse chase lives deep in my Google photos somewhere; time to dig that up and laugh to keep from throwing something at my laptop in Brandon the asshole's direction. 

Edited June 1, 2017 by Molly Cule

[Molly Cule]

Anyone else barf/die inside a little hearing Nat say "we used a condom!"? Just me?

 

ps the kid winds up with MY NAME. I am offended on behalf of all Frankies everywhere, forever and ever amen >:(

[Jax7917]

2 hours ago, Molly Cule said:

Anyone else barf/die inside a little hearing Nat say "we used a condom!"? Just me?

 

ps the kid winds up with MY NAME. I am offended on behalf of all Frankies everywhere, forever and ever amen >:(

The biggest mystery of the show was how Joanie got pregnant and pregnant so easily ( withhhh a condom might I add )Wasn't she supposed to be in her 50s?

[MuuMuuChainsmoker]

I saw Brandon's hair and immediately thought of Jersey Shore's own self tanning aficionado, Pauly D!

 

[CurlyATX]

Ah, unplanned pregnancy, one of the "best" TV tropes around.   I know this is TV, but honestly a woman of that age may have some legit health reasons to think about having the baby or not.   I'd imagine that maybe Joan thought that missing her period was due to menopause vs. being preggo.  And... now I have to bleach my brain.

[Cekrypton1]

The thing about Brandon's treatment of Susan is that he is acting like she did this on purpose and feels no remorse, while Emma Caulfield is acting the hell out of how badly this is tearing her up. He comes across like a sociopath, unable to sense/notice/process that she is in legitimate distress over this. I would buy his reaction if she were just trying to calmly argue the merits of her case, but in the face of her obvious upset he is monstrous.

[Jax7917]

29 minutes ago, Cekrypton1 said:

The thing about Brandon's treatment of Susan is that he is acting like she did this on purpose and feels no remorse, while Emma Caulfield is acting the hell out of how badly this is tearing her up. He comes across like a sociopath, unable to sense/notice/process that she is in legitimate distress over this. I would buy his reaction if she were just trying to calmly argue the merits of her case, but in the face of her obvious upset he is monstrous.

Think about it though realistically.... You get offered an amazing summer internship that would be really helpful to getting a future career. You are then guilt  tripped by your girlfriend who is making you feel really bad if you canceled your summer road trip and took the job. She gives him an ultimatum and so he chose to be with her. Fast forward to about a week later. You canceled your internship and now your girlfriend gets offered a summer job and she takes it without even talking to you about it first and considering the fact that you just denied something great for you so you can be with her. She can cry all she wants, but let's face it. She did him dirty. I would have been way more pissed than he was so I actually think he was being too kind to her. Now he's left with no internship and having to look at Kelly's smug mug every day.

[TeeVee329]

And meanwhile, this Nat/Joanie kid didn't show on the reboot?  He could have been the Poor a la Andrea!

4 hours ago, Cekrypton1 said:

The thing about Brandon's treatment of Susan is that he is acting like she did this on purpose and feels no remorse, while Emma Caulfield is acting the hell out of how badly this is tearing her up. He comes across like a sociopath, unable to sense/notice/process that she is in legitimate distress over this. I would buy his reaction if she were just trying to calmly argue the merits of her case, but in the face of her obvious upset he is monstrous.

He's so cold at the end, it really comes off like he never loved her/cared about her at all.  I get being angry, but you think that'd be tempered with something else.

[luckyroll3]

Brando reacts to everything badly.  So now, when he has a legitimate reason to be utterly pissed, it comes off as overkill.  If he wasn't such a douche all the damn time, the rest of us wouldn't have to feel sick for having to defend him in this instance.  And if he had hovered over me like that, I would have clocked his ass right in the adam's apple.

[benteen]

Is there anything to look forward to after Season 6?  I admit my memory starts getting a little fuzzy at this point.  I still remember things but not as much.

I was glad we got a few Nanna comments though.  I missed those.

[Petunia13]

Brandon's hairstyle = Johnny Bray-vo.

[penguinnj]

I actually kind of love the gang shots during the concert- I've always wondered if those are supposed to be "in character" or not because they look like they are having fun.  Just wanted to throw that out there.

[CurlyATX]

On ‎6‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 0:34 PM, Jaclyn88 said:

She can cry all she wants, but let's face it. She did him dirty. I would have been way more pissed than he was so I actually think he was being too kind to her.

Sadly, I pretty much agree with Brandon minus the screaming in your face thing.  Brandon tends to lean towards the "cutting off all feelings" mode when he is mad/hurt with women.  I think he has acted that way with Kelly when she chose herself.  And he also doesn't spend much time mourning the loss of the girl. 

At the end of the day, I think Susan made the right decision and that should have been the decision that Brandon made.  If your relationship can't survive at 3 month separation, why would you think that you had a future.  Even Brinda was smart enough to jump when opportunity knocked for Paris or London.

[Jax7917]

The person who spends the least amount of time mouring over a breakup on any show ever goes to Ms. Kelly Taylor. Girl is onto the next guy the same episode.

[ZeroDiscipline]

On 6/2/2017 at 9:56 PM, benteen said:

Is there anything to look forward to after Season 6?  I admit my memory starts getting a little fuzzy at this point.  I still remember things but not as much.

I enjoy their 5 year high school reunion, when Valerie is with David and walks around telling everyone she works for the poor, and then she gives what-for to Ross Weber on behalf of Kelly and then they together bust off the "Kelly is a Slut" tile in the hallway that has somehow been there for five years yet we have never seen it. This show. It's like they think they got any new viewers past their senior year of high school. Anyway, it's completely worthless after that.

[Jax7917]

And also more then likely , the tile would have been taken down in that time frame . and who has a 5 year reunion ?

[luckyroll3]

4 minutes ago, Jaclyn88 said:

and who has a 5 year reunion ?

TV show high schools.  

[benteen]

3 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

TV show high schools.  

Heheh.  I'm surprised they didn't make the 5-year reunion all about the gang like they did with their high school graduation.

[nkotb]

2 minutes ago, benteen said:

Heheh.  I'm surprised they didn't make the 5-year reunion all about the gang like they did with their high school graduation.

I'm just happy that the 5-year reunion didn't feature a song about how Brandon wants a girl who is "creamy", sung by his sister & his now-girlfriend (he was dating Kelly at the reunion, my wording is a bit foggy).

[scarynikki12]

2 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

and who has a 5 year reunion ?

My school. There's one every five years from graduation. Don't know why but people do show up. 

[Molly Cule]

2 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

and who has a 5 year reunion ?

My school did, but I sure as shit didn't go. I heard some of the former cheerleaders got in a fight with some rando girls in the parking lot so I'm kinda bummed I missed that part. My 20 is next year, here's hoping for another barfight. Go Millers!

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Mine did -- I hosted it -- but girls' schools can sometimes get a little intense with the nostalginations.

[Halo]

Some of my classmates had a 5-year, but my friends were not interested. I attended the 10-year, which was a shitshow of drunken hijinks, and the 20-year, which was EVEN WORSE, and I have had it. Officially. 

Edited June 7, 2017 by Halo

[nkotb]

With Facebook, high school reunions aren't quite as important as they once were. These days, we all know pretty much what everyone we graduated with had for breakfast last Wednesday, & what they think of how the Cubs aren't playing like World Series champs, as well as mundane things like where they live, where they work, who they married, how many kids, how much weight they packed on, etc. We had a 10-year, & we'll probably have a 20-year, but you can bet I'll be there, because my husband is way hotter than anyone would have expected out of my in high school (they've all seen him on FB, just saying).

[CurlyATX]

I went to an all girls' school too but tradition was that the class president arranged all the reunions.  And, well, our president had mentally checked out by March of senior year, so she didn't give a crap about any milestone. I heard we did our 10 year at a random bar.  Mostly the girls who were already friends with each other went.  It was my wedding day and then, I moved to Austin so I wasn't going to haul my cookies back just to see girls who I didn't really like.

Now on FB, there are many I see and a few that I've actually reconnected with.  But I wouldn't want to go to a reunion.  What's to say... "hey, I was a grade grubber in high school but got burnt out when I went to college and studied stuff I liked and now have this job where I basically am paid to make friends but don't have a fat bank account. "

[Jax7917]

I think it's sad that no one cares about 10 year reunions anymore, although I understand why. My 10 year was supposed to be last year and a few of the cheerleaders were trying to organize it at a fancy place, but they wanted $100 a person so a lot of people didn't want to do it because if you bring a guest its $200.  I think more people would have liked to go if it wasn't for knowing every ones every move on facebook and I wish people went through with it even if it was at a bar.

It really is amazing how many traumatic things happened to Kelly in just 5 years. Girl needs to seek therapy.

[benteen]

One thing I liked about that reunion was that it was in the school.  The idea of visiting your school one more time is fun but a lot of these are held elsewhere.  And, as stated, Facebook has made it increasingly obsolete.

[Jax7917]

I'm watching the episodes where they started college .. there's a certain innocence I liked about these episodes .. also Celeste was one of the least cringeworthy people on this show . It would have been cute if they brought her back to be with steve at the end although he never really seemed that into her 

[MCMLXXVII]

I went to my 10th and much smaller 20th, both at bars. They're less formal/restrictive now, like the Class of '92 is having their 25th, but the FB post said "and surrounding classes", so I figure some fellow '95s will go. 

[Klaw]

On 6/6/2017 at 8:42 PM, CurlyATX said:

At the end of the day, I think Susan made the right decision and that should have been the decision that Brandon made.  If your relationship can't survive at 3 month separation, why would you think that you had a future.  Even Brinda was smart enough to jump when opportunity knocked for Paris or London.

Seriously. She also made the right decision because. Brandon. IS. THE. WORST. Yea, I can see him being angry at her, but the way he got in her face "You took the job? you took the JOB! YOU TOOK THE JOB." was seriously aggro af and unnecessary. Even when Mr. KLaw is legit pissed at me, he would never get in my space like that. Asshole. And yea, Susan was a dick, too, but Brandon's actions were too much. Once she got to DC and had great guys crawling all over her, I'm sure she was like "Brandon, who?"

Frankly, I never brought the notion that a career-driven woman like her would have wanted to take a summer off anyway. So, so, so stupid. 

Re: 5th Reunions. Yea, maybe my school had one, I have no idea, because I sure as hell wouldn't have known about it. I did go to my 20th Reunion and that was... interesting. Let's just say that it was very surreal having the mean girls crowding around me because (I guess) they found my life fascinating when they didn't give me the time of day back in the day. High school is so, so strange.

On 6/3/2017 at 4:56 AM, benteen said:

Is there anything to look forward to after Season 6? 

Short Answer: No. Long Answer: there are glimmers of fun, but few and far between. I liked the Donna-getting-hooked-on-Painkillers story and Kelly-getting-gut-shot (but not dying but somehow getting amnesia) but other than that, it's all down hill from here... To me, the last "good" storyline was Coke!Kelly!

 

On 6/2/2017 at 11:39 PM, TeeVee329 said:

He's so cold at the end, it really comes off like he never loved her/cared about her at all.  I get being angry, but you think that'd be tempered with something else.

A better actor, maybe, could have shown all facets: anger, heartbreak, love. But JP seems to only do Bray, Brayer, Brayest. Or Jocular, Jocular-er, Jocular-ist. He sucks.

[CurlyATX]

20 hours ago, Klaw said:

A better actor, maybe, could have shown all facets: anger, heartbreak, love. But JP seems to only do Bray, Brayer, Brayest. Or Jocular, Jocular-er, Jocular-ist. He sucks.

Hilarious!  This should be one of the new listener submitted challenges.  5 times a good actor/actress could have made the episode better.   Brayest... I love it.

[Jax7917]

Almost any actress could have made any of Tori Spelling's scenes better. I think she was ok during the cutesy/ silly scenes, but omg the sad scenes where she had to show real emotion was so bad. The biggest one that comes to mind was her break up with Joe. It was so soapy that scene.

I don't think the rest of them were terrible. Steve probably didn't really have to act. He strikes me as the type that acts the same way in real life as he did on the show. It's not too hard to play a goof ball having fun. Brandon was pretty annoying but I didn't think his acting was that bad. Kelly I actually thought was the best actress of the bunch. She had to use a lot of diff emotions throughout the shows run and I thought she did a really good job with whatever she had to play. Dylan was just Dylan. Annoying. Broody. hypocritical. Annoying. David didn't have much to work with but I thought he did a good job when he needed to. Val was awesome which I was surprised about because you would have never thought she could pull off that acting by the part she played on saved by the bell. Brenda was good. 

Doesn't make any of them less annoying.