An Ode to Brenda Walsh

 

As many of you already know, I have been steadily making my way through all 10 seasons of "90210" thanks to the kindness of Soapnet's infinite reruns. I started in Season 6 about seven months ago and am now nearing the halfway point of Season 5. And as I slog through Dylan's alcoholism and Andrea's stupid early marriage, I can't believe how much I miss Brenda Walsh. Supposedly Shannon Doherty was such a bitch on the set that when she didn't want to return after Season 4, they happily sent her on her merry way. If only we knew then what we know now.

Regardless of what she was like behind the scenes, her absence had a hugely negative impact on the show. Without Brenda, there was no one to challenge St. Brandon and his patronizing reign as the most hypocritical good guy ever. Without Brenda, Kelly became the lead female and in the absence of any other complex females around, she was whitewashed and we entered the "Kelly" years where her blameless antics included almost dying in a fire, a cocaine addiction, her "I choose me" bullshit, a single-white-female stalker, almost joining a cult, the wedding that wasn't, a rape, a gunshot wound that gave her amnesia, and being rewritten as Dylan's one and only true love. Without Brenda, the love triangle to rival all love triangles was reduced to some half-hearted blather from Kelly and Dylan and Valerie basically attempting to BE Brenda. Brenda Walsh, wherefore art thou? (Despite Valerie's usefulness in knocking Kelly off her undeserved pedestal from time to time, she was a thoroughly horrible character - mean and spiteful and full of stupid schemes and faux indignation - I HATE Valerie. The fact that she was brought on as Shannon Doherty's replacement is a failure of epic proportions.)


With Brenda (as Laverne, the gum-popping, singing waitress):

Without Brenda:

But Brenda's appeal did not exist only to prevent bad storylines: she was a wonderfully written character on her own. She screwed up more times than anyone (forbidden trips to Tijuana with Dylan, providing fodder for an expose' on rich teens, cheating on her boyfriend with Paris-Rick, getting arrested for vandalising an animal testing lab, trying to get married in Vegas to a guy she'd only been dating for a month, bitching-slapping Andrea in a fight over their drama teacher (actually that was awesome because the only character as bad as Valerie is self-righteous Andrea), and yet through it all, she never lost that spark of relatability. And she always owned up to her mistakes and apologized. Sincerely. She wasn't afraid of speaking her mind or following an unknown path: for all the later talk of Dylan choosing Kelly over Brenda, it was Brenda who broke up with Dylan both times because she was brave enough to put herself first. She did the "I choose me" thing long before Kelly and in a far more honest way. She chose finding out about the complexities of herself over holding onto a guy she may not always want. And she did it with compassion and uncertainty. She didn't have all the answers, just a desire to seek them out. That shows a lot more gumption than she ever really got credit for from the other characters.

In fact, the way Brenda and the show handled her big breakup from Dylan and subsequent betrayal by both him and Kelly, was one of the most realistic portrayals I've ever seen. It took the rest of Season 3 to sort all that out - Brenda didn't speak to either of them for several episodes and even then she never fully let Kelly back into her heart. She even tried to go to college in Minnesota to get a fresh start. Dylan and Brenda dancing at the prom ("You know, I'm almost over you," "Yeah, me too.") felt so real and bittersweet (excuse me for relating a little too much over here).

My point is, Brenda Walsh rocked. I'm sure someone with a more absolute grasp of the 90210 universe could rip my theory of her as the best character to shreds if they had half a mind to, and I'm okay with that. I'll just go back and watch Brenda do her Laverne again and bask in the glow of knowing I'm right.