Chuckie's Back

Mark here... this episode of Beverly Hills 90210 is called, "Chuckie's Back".  It's basically a Steve-centric episode.  While not annoying, it's sort of a forgettable episode.  We do get to meet Steve's mom, Samantha, who used to star on a sitcom called, "The Hartley House".  The Chuckie from the episode's title is her co-star, a former child actor who was jealous of Steve for being Samantha's son.  We learn that Steve was adopted and that Chuckie was told by the show's people before Steve knew, in an attempt to coddle him.  Anyway, Steve spends the episode at first vying for his mom's attention and then telling everyone how he needs to find his birth mom.  Somehow this quest needs to involve a bus to Albuquerque? I know.  Because planes don't fly there.  So by the end of the episode Steve is boarding said bus.  But prior to that there's the school holiday dance, which is of note because Donna and David Silver finally get together.  Donna had been avoiding it because her friends made fun of him, but when David shows up everyone on the dance floor Donna rewards him with a long deep throat kiss...  WooHoo!!! Umm...too bad Donna's a committed virgin...

Anyway, the only other point was how the show danced around Steve's adoption.  Like his mom comes across as feeling shame for it?!  Sure she didn't tell him until he was older, but really...  It's such dated writing and thinking...

Laurel here...Not much to add expect that man that Chuckie is a real asshole.  Also, guys, get over the Beverly Blaze already.  Brandon and whoever this annoying new guy at the paper is get into a fight over whether or not to write a story about Chuckie, Brandon thinks it's going to be too much of a puff piece for the hard hitting Beverly Blaze.  Get over yourself!  It's a school paper!

Amalia here...Way too much Steve Sanders in this episode. I really need some more Dylan if I'm going to commit to these screenings. When do we get to see the Dylan-Brenda-Kelly love triangle? I actually miss Emily Valentine at this point. My favorite part of this episode was watching David Silver's dance moves, though it's still really hard to look at Donna Martin's face. Poor girl. I also enjoyed Andrea's "cupcake" style formal wear at the school dance. Did you know she was 30 years old while playing a sophomore in high school? I keep getting her mixed up with Brandon's mom.

Mark here...The style award this episode is a tie for Steve and Steve!  First his Golden Girls shirts.  We got a picture of one, but each one was a treasure.  We couldn't tell if there were shoulder pads, but I'm guessing yes, given that I think my mom owned the same shirts in the early 90s.  Steve #2 had is sweat shirt and sweat pants ensemble.  This one was a half sweat top and rolled up sweat pants. Truly something to behold.

Our quote of note is Chuckie responding to Samantha Sanders, who is finally sticking up for her son, "Hey Lady! I kept this show on the air!"

Cocktail moment is any reference to "The Hartley House"...

I Think We Should Have Sex

Mark here...we've just watched the next episode of Friday Night Lights, called "I Think We Should Have Sex".  Well, the title says it all...Julie and Matt are thinking of having sex.  Julie is very matter of fact about it, assuming this is the next step of their relationship, without giving it much thought.  Unfortunately, Tami accidentally sees Matt buying condoms at the local drug store.  This leads to an awkward conversation with Julie.  Tami is great, in that she sort of says all the wrong things but conveys an honest parent who's genuinely worried.  In the end Julie and Matt don't go through with it, but end up staying out too late one night, freaking Julie's parents out.  But it's a tender moment as Julie and Matt have both said "I love you" and Julie thanks her mom for their talk.  At the same time, prior to this Coach and Tami at least start to come to terms with the fact that their daughter is growing up, and it's not either of their fault that she wants to have sex.

Separately, Tim is realizing that his absentee dad who has popped up again is not really healthy to be around.  Dad steals video equipment from the team and then lies about it. Tyra sees what's going on and in the end has to come to the rescue with Tim's brother when Tim picks a fight with a guy Tim and Dad have wronged. Tim picked a fight in a bar because he couldn't pick a fight with his dad.

Another plot line shows us that Buddy and Tyra's mom have indeed had an affair.  Buddy tries to push it under the rug and pay off Tyra's mom.  Of course she can't handle it, we've already seen she's unstable and dependent on having a man.  She ends up confronting Buddy after mass at the church, much to Tyra's embarrassment.  We see that Lyla has clued in to what's going on though...

Hi laurel here...I agree with Mark on all points.  Can I talk about how good this show is again?  I'm just remembering when we did 90210 and there were all these filler episodes during season one that had nothing to do with anything, and were terrible!  All of the episodes we've seen so far of FNL have been good and relevant and important.

Also I wanted to point out that Julie fully intended to have sex the night her and Matt stayed out to late..but she wanted to because she felt like she was supposed to.  Matt saw through her fake enthusiasm and to his credit called it off even though he really wanted to go through with it.  I was thinking that Coach Taylor must clearly realize at this point that his daughter is dating an awesome stand-up guy, but Mark was like "well he still wants to kill him"  which of course is totally true.  I'm interested to see what happens next.

I also feel sad for poor Tim Riggins.  He's almost a grown up and needs to take responsibility for his own actions but at the same time he's really still a kid and no one is looking out for him, except Billy who is pretty immature himself.  The dad is so awful I hope he ends up leaving again.

It's Only a Test

Mark here... Laurel and I are settling in with some very tasty vegetarian chili that Laurel made, and a bit of wine. The wine is very necessary for this episode...called, "It's Only A Test". Of course there are 2 tests here. First the gang is preparing for the SATs and second Brenda finds a lump on her breast. Jeesum Crow...this one goes above and beyond "Very Special Episode" as we're treated to questions about Brenda's period and discharge from her nipples.... Eeegg, pour me some more wine please. Anyway, the episode is mostly Brenda! Brenda! Brenda! and all things surrounding Brenda feel super preachy. I had hoped Cindy Walsh might shine through, but unfortunately she had a sister who died of cancer so she's freaking out as much as Brenda, who finally has a reason to be a raging bitch and doesn't hold back. There is a funny moment where Kelly and Donna are attempting to console Brenda and Kelly says "I hope nothing ever happens to my breasts" to which Donna replies "me too!" Ahem.

There's also a subplot about Andrea and Steve and SAT mayhem, but I'll leave most of that for the cocktail moments...

Laurel here...Brandon really shines in the episode, he is the perfect brother, really holding it together for Brenda and Cindy, even though he is freaking out. Although the person he confides in...Andrea. Does he want it to be on the front page of the West Beverly Blaze?

Also noteworthy is the way Brenda discovers her lump...Brenda, Kelly, and Donna are all at Kelly's place studying for the SATs, but of course Kelly is just reading a magazine. She finds pull out instructions in her copy of YM or whatever and the girls all decide to do a breast exam together. Excuse me? What high school girls would ever decide to do a breast exam together?

And as for Steve and Andrea, I just think I threw up a little bit in my mouth. Like Mark said please see cocktail moments for more detail.

Style award this episode...Cindy! For her take-your-daughter-to-get-her-lump-checked business suit. Way to go Cindy!

Cocktail moments:

Andrea freaks out! Brandon uses the word "masticate" (btw referring to Andrea chewing all the pencils at the school paper office...eew) which leads to Andrea having a complete bitchy freak out about how fancy SAT prep courses give rich kids an unfair advantage. waaahhh! Hand me my wine!

Then Andrea barreling down the school stairs in a crazy freak out to get SAT tips from...Steve?! He's one of the rich kids taking the offending fancy private courses...in any case Andrea's craziness requires a drink...

...leading to Andrea and Steve studying at Steve's and...KISSING?!?! Thats another drink for sure!