My sincerest apologies for the double post. But seeing as it's been well over a month, hopefully The Powers That Be will cut me the tiniest bit of slack. *casts puppy-dog eyes at Assassin*
If anybody watched or is still watching this show (and I'm surprised that I still am -- but I guarantee you that last night's epi will probably be my last), you'll get what I'm saying. Even if you're not, trust me -- you're not missing much.
And so the venting begins...
Wow, this show gets worse and worse. I didn't think that was possible.
I wouldn't have minded that Annie was the one who became suspicious of Sean, if she had played it mean and angry rather than so angst-ridden. That would be more in character with any teenager, especially if she had badgered her dad about it. Instead, all the angst, that about to cry but not crying voice and face, ugh. Hate.
Props to Becky for standing up for "her" kids, although she should have taken it a step further and told Harry to let CrazyEyes Tracy in on the question of paternity. Actually, if they weren't all dumb as rocks, they should have had that conversation with her when they met with her to tell her Sean needed so much money, or asked for the test right away when he showed up.
Glad to see Dixon branching out and making some friends. And I thought it was great they made a point of having him say he hadn't thought there were that many black people in Beverly Hills.
Were the writers also editors of the "I hate Brenda" newsletter? WTH with all the little digs at Brenda tonight. Apparently Kelly forgot how she even hooked up with Dylan. I just wanted 90210 1.0 Brenda just telling Kelly to shut up. *sigh* How I miss that.
This show is losing my interest despite having new writers. Brenda and Kelly were the only thing keeping me interested but Shannen is wasted on this show and more than 1 minute focus on Annie is 1 minute too many for me.
This show COULD be good, but it misses out on so much. There are so many opportunities for great stories here - Adrianna struggling with drugs, for one. More Navid, and his kicka$$ family. Showing Kelly struggling to raise Silver (where the hell have the scenes been between the two of them?). Silver with addiction problems like her mother and sister. Using Brenda in a fun and interesting way that showcases what a great actress Shannen Doherty really is. It just really disappoints me that this show tends to use boring, boring Annie so often.
Onto the next topic...
I almost broke my tv due to Kelly's digs throughout the evening:
"Brenda I knew you were selfish, but this is unforgivable."
"Traffic's a b!tch" while glaring at Brenda
"Brenda, this is low--even for you!"
"You're a pain in the a$$, but you're not pathetic."
WHAT?!
HUH??!
ALL in ONE episode from KELLY friggin TAYLOR!?! And that doesn't even include the glares she was shooting at Bren
every freakin' time they cut to her! I'm not going to pretend to assume that these writers bothered to watch Original Recipe 90210 (because I'm sure they didn't) but honestly, where the hell is this crapola coming from!?!
You could ask even a casual viewer and they'd tell you that Kelly cheated with Dylan on Brenda. Brenda was the injured party. And correct me if I'm wrong, but besides a little brooding, what "low" backstabbing thing did Brenda
ever do to any of them? I mean d@mn, did Kelly get her confused with Val??
Continuing on...
What's with burying Brenda and propping up Kelly? Her return to this new 90210 is what generated nearly all the buzz. If Brenda is not going to be Brenda, then what the hell was she brought back for? *shakes head*
I guess I should have known better. I strongly suspected from the start that this is what was going to happen to Brenda b/c of how the CW advertized Brenda's return before the show even aired - "The B!tch is Back." So, clearly, the CW's take all along has been that Brenda is/was the b!tch, not Kelly.
Secondly, I think it's a well-known fact that Shannen apparently isn't a big fan of "our" Brenda (aka, Original Brenda). She's said as much in her own interviews so I think that's partly to blame for what we're seeing onscreen. She wanted to portray her in a new light and I think in some weird way Shannen thinks she's redeeming the character for the fans who "didn't" like her back in the old 90210 days. I don't think she really grasps how many people
did like her character just as much as those who disliked it and the "new portrayal" is killing the character.
So, on some level, I think she's more comfortable portraying Brenda the way she is right now even if she doesn't like everything they're doing to the character this time around too. Because, no offense, I think it's pretty obvious by this point in the show that Brenda has not been portrayed as the grown-up, independent, successful woman Shannen said she wanted her to be. Instead, the CW took the opportunity to turn the show into a "Brenda-bashing" session by mocking the "bad stereotypes/labels" made against that of the original Brenda character.
Lastly, the CW clearly buys into that pathetic "Kelly redemption theme." She's viewed as the beloved character
that started out on the wrong path but grew into a more sensitive, caring, mature adult (Geez, that was painful to write) that they think we should see before us on the TV screen. I never saw her that way; I never will. But, in the end, the CW does think so which means it's an all out Brenda-bash fest paralleled by the never-ending Kelly love-fest.
This is NOT, I repeat NOT, a show for Brenda fans. However, it almost meets a Kelly and D/K fan's dream with the exception that D/K are not onscreen together (*sighs* but all hail and thank Luke Perry for that one b/c he's the one that refused to come back). But, then again, maybe I shouldn't assume that either since the writing for this show is so bad. Maybe Kelly and D/K fans are disgusted about their own things too.
As a B/D fan, I'm thanking my lucky stars because I think I would have been literally appalled and grossed out if the CW ever gave us a B/D scene together. Their scenes would probably come across very contrived and just as revisionist - as if they never meant anything to each other. If they can't even get Brenda right, how on earth would they get B/D right?
It's a nightmare what the writers have done to Bren. It's like ... Kelly does no wrong, Brenda's the b!tch with no real life of her own, and Brenda grovels at Kelly's feet. She's constantly apologizing...she's just lame and in Kelly's shadow. It saddens me that a character I've loved has been destroyed like this while Kelly's been pimped up to look "good as gold."
Brenda's just really being degraded at Kelly's expense. I don't even understand the Brenda/Kelly interactions because they're just way too revisionist. I can't follow it, and I hate to say this but I literally cringe when Brenda comes onscreen now, especially with Kelly. Because I know what's coming and it's not going to be good for Brenda's character at all.
And it hurts, because Brenda was my favorite of all the characters in the original. I mean, I expected Kelly to tick me off in this farce, but never Brenda. She's being handled so poorly in comparison to Kelly and that says a lot. It's almost like Kelly is bad but Brenda is so much worse due to the writing. The originals are totally ruined any way you look at it. They can't pretend this joke is "nostalgia" for old fans.
The way I see it, Brenda was quite a deep character to be written for this lame show, anyway. I know some other characters who do belong to this "lame fanfic" world. But Brenda Walsh? No way.
The Brenda I remember and loved is somewhere else in a much better universe. CW isn't really writing her anyway. The only writers qualified to write Brenda were her writers from the original. She just can't be handled by anyone else.
And I hate that poor Shannen has to look bad for it. I know she said she did this for the fans who wanted her to come back but I just don't think her fans are liking this "new take" on the character. I just wish she would have stood her ground and acted the character out "in character" despite who did or didn't like her from before. Her impeccable acting is the only good thing about this whole mess.
Oh well. Canon Brenda of BH seasons 1-4 is the real deal anyway, so whatever. And she'll just have to live on through some really well written fanfiction.
So long CW. I hope you go down in flames. The world will be a better place for it. This "spew-off" is a total mockery of a classic 90's show and doesn't even deserve to share the same name as the original.
One last thing....
Kelly 2.0? Some words of advice: Shut Up. Brenda owes you nothing.
that started out on the wrong path but grew into a more sensitive, caring, mature adult (Geez, that was painful to write) that they think we should see before us on the TV screen. I never saw her that way; I never will. But, in the end, the CW does think so which means it's an all out Brenda-bash fest paralleled by the never-ending Kelly love-fest.
