One on One

Laurel here...We are continuing (happily) to make our way through the first season of BH9. For dinner tonight Mark made Ina Garten's super delicious vegetable risotto, and sole muniere. We all really enjoyed it, including Brenda and Dylan.

In this episode the show attempts to tackle RACISM. I don't even know where to start. I don't think we have seen one single black person so far at West Beverly HS, but now all of a sudden the show is gonna teach us a lesson about racism? It turns out black people DO go to west Beverly high, but they are all men, they are all on the basketball team, and they must only hang out in the gym because aside from this episode you never see them before this and as far as I remember we never see them again. The show has an opportunity here to use this as a jumping off point to incorporate some new characters and actually become at least mildly diverse, but as far as I remember that never happens. Do they think that because Andrea (aka the worst) is Jewish they have it covered?

Mark here...I totally agree, the attempts at racial sensitivity a cringe-worthy. The premise of the show is Brandon trying to get on the basketball team and being jealous of a black student, James Walker, who Brandon thinks is getting a free ride at west Beverly while living out of district. There's also a subplot about Brenda not knowing how to drive. In the course of events, we learn Steve is a bigot. Brandon is seemingly oblivious to all racist innuendo, which makes him seem like a rube. Brandon, in being convinced that this student is getting special treatment enlists the help of Andrea, who again proves useless. She really had a chance to shine here, but remains as annoyingly useless as ever, letting Brandon confront the student himself as a reporter for the West Beverly Blaze. Which goes down terribly, but in the end the student turns out to be at the school legitimately and a lesson is learned... They're really not so different after all...resulting in this gem of a quote from Brandon, "I'm not a cowboy, and you're not a gang banger crackhead!". Really?!?! Because those two things are not equally bad!!!

Laurel here...In the end James gets the spot on the varsity team, Brandon gets a spot on the B team, they come to an understanding that they are not so different after all. All's well that ends well.

Also in this episode Brenda is whining about getting her own car because Brandon always makes her late whe he drives her places. So she enrolls in drivers training at school (in the 90s they actually used to offer drivers training in LAUSD public school). We discover that she has already taken drivers training 3 times in Minnesota and has failed. Well, fourth times not a charm either...while out on the road with her instructor, she gets distracted by a HENRY WINKLER sighting, runs through a stop sign and hits somebody.

Despite all of this she still borrows Brandon's car, Mondale, to pick up kelly at a concert. Long story short the car gets "stolen" (actually just towed) and after some fretting, again, all's well that ends well.

Cocktail Moments:

First the beginning with Dad and Brandon shooting hoops in the driveway...dad has the most ridiculous sprayed on pit stains! Yet no other sweat...gross, disturbing...have a drink

Kelly calling Brenda to pick her up from a concert, Brenda explains she could take Brandon's car, Mondale. Kelly doesn't understand so Brenda explains who Walter Mondale is...Kellys response, "whatever."

When Brandon tells Andrea he is trying out for the basketball team, her response is "Aren't you a little short?"

Also, when James and Brandon have their final one on one game/confrontation, James is wearing this shirt...this would be a finish your whole drink moment:

And the style award for this episode.......Donna dethrones Dylan (strangely absent from this episode) with the craziest hat a middle aged wardrobe stylist ever invented. Congrats Donna!