REACTION: 9021OMG Episode 35

“Necessity is a Mother” was the subject of Monday’s “9021OMG.”

In this episode, the 10th in the second season of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” viewers finally meet Dylan’s (Luke Perry) eccentric mother, Iris (Stephanie Beacham). Her arrival in Beverly Hills leads the alcoholic Dylan to relapse, testing his relationships with both Brenda (Shannen Doherty) and Brandon (Jason Priestley). There’s also a secondary storyline with Kelly (Jennie Garth), Donna (Tori Spelling), and Steve (Ian Ziering) experimenting with the stock market.

This is another installment written by future executive producers Jessica Klein and Steve Wasserman, with Jefferson Kibbee again directing. On today’s podcast, Jennie and Tori had Stephanie on… but not to discuss the episode.

9021OMG Episode 35, “Life's a Beach'am”

• Sisanie was back on the podcast today with Jennie claiming “all listeners” would be “glad” about that. Tori said she “actually [had] to do my homework” for this episode and had “detailed notes.” That made Jennie say she was going to “sit back” and “relax” and let Tori “run the show.”

  • Does Tori not realize what she was really admitting here?

• They got to the episode very quickly, giving the synopsis at about three minutes in. Of course Jennie wrongly credited Darren Star as one of the episode’s writers for the umpteenth time.

• Jennie said Dylan looked “amazing,” “beautiful,” and “in his prime” as he played pool in the beginning of the episode… but called him out as a “bad driver.” They discussed how Brenda’s “tie” look was back and Sisanie didn’t like it. This led to a small tangent about the style.

• Tori gave away that the interview with Stephanie was prerecorded when she shared what they learned from her about Iris’ accent, which Jennie said made “no sense.” She did like Iris’ “hippie” look and “vibes,” though, and they noted how it was a departure from “Dynasty.” Tori said how “invested” her father was in hair and makeup and speculated he gave a “note” about how Iris’ hair should be.

• Tori pointed out that both Luke and Dylan are Libras, but Shannen is an Aries in real life. She then said how Jennie is an Aries too, but “very different” from Shannen and then after a beat awkwardly added “in good ways.” She wanted to know Kelly’s sign and Jennie said a “big fan” would know it and Tori, as she’s been doing, said they should text Darren. Tori wanted to know about it because Libras and Scorpios (Dylan and Brenda) aren’t a good match, so she wondered if Kelly was a better match for Dylan astrologically.

• Jennie thought Brenda was “over the top” with both Dylan and Iris, as well as “rude” to Iris and didn’t show her “respect.” Tori called it “unfemale,” because women should be supporting women, and further argued that Brenda should’ve wanted to impress Dylan’s mom.

• Sisanie then chimed in to share (based on either her own in-the-moment research or someone doing it for her) that Kelly’s birthday was “inconsistent” on the show, which is true, but then she snarkily added that that’s the “theme of the show.” She noted how Kelly’s birthday in season 3 was in March but in season 6 it was in September. Tori questioned whether the birthday scenes actually took place in those months or those were just the airdates of the episodes. She then personally decided Kelly’s birthday was in March, making Kelly an Aries like Jennie.

  • In season 8, Kelly’s birthday was also in September, which none of them mentioned.

• There was an abrupt change in topics with Jennie calling it “foreshadowing” that Donna and Steve were involved in business things together in this episode because Tori and Ian are today in real life.

  • They really need to learn the definition of “foreshadowing” and how it differs from “coincidence.”

  • And given that Tori and Ian’s business is a pyramid scheme that has duped a lot of fans, it’s really nothing to brag about.

• Tori liked that Donna ultimately used her voice in this episode because it’s something she struggles with in real life. Jennie called Kelly a “bad friend” and wondered why she cared so much how Donna spent her money and why she suddenly decided to be the “voice of reason.” Sisanie suggested that the episode’s theme was “mothering” and that Kelly was serving that kind of role in this storyline. Tori called that a “smart” observation (and it was!), which prompted Sisanie to say they were “crushing it” today (let’s not get carried away).

• Tori also admitted that it was another parallel that Donna feared being seen as stupid because that was her worry in real life too. This led to a long tangent on money matters, with Jennie calling herself “street smart” (as opposed to “book smart”) and Tori “business smart” but not with money. They thought it was funny Donna was good with the stock market since Tori is bad with money in real life.

  • Yeah, being in debt is hysterical, guys.

• Tori said this storyline should’ve inspired Aaron to talk to her about money management but he never did. Jennie said she is no help with her kids when it comes to that either. She was shocked to learn that Tori still uses paper checks, which Tori said is due to her housekeeper and how the woman wouldn’t even know what Venmo is. Tori also said she was like Donna now with investing because she decided to invest in bitcoin. Jennie eventually said viewers were learning how “money-illiterate” the three of them are (Sisanie included) and said they have to stop talking about it because it was giving her “anxiety.”

  • Way to blame your dead father for your financial woes, Tori!

  • The privilege and stereotyping was really strong here.

  • Forget “anxiety.” Here’s the real reason they should’ve stopped talking about it: It veered so far off course from the episode’s content!

• At roughly 25 minutes in they went to a break and when they came back, the audio quality was different, which just made it more obvious that the interview with Stephanie was prerecorded and spliced into the middle of the podcast.

• Stephanie said her earliest memories of Tori were working on Troop Beverly Hills and how impressed she was that Tori didn’t complain about the heat during the filming of it. Tori said how much her dad “loved” her and Stephanie said Aaron “changed my life” and “turned it into technicolor.” It was a really beautiful sentiment.

• They discussed Stephanie’s early career, with her revealing that because she worked with Jason on “Sister Kate,” Jason then pitched Stephanie when they were looking for an actress to play Dylan’s mom. Tori didn’t know that and had just assumed it was Aaron’s idea because he had worked with her so much previously.

• Next came the part Tori had referenced earlier, with Stephanie saying her American accent was the “worst,” so it was decided Iris would be from Hawaii.

  • As if Hawaiian’s have vaguely European accents…?!

• Tori shared what she’s said before: That she was a fan of “Sister Kate,” so when her dad was looking to cast “Beverly Hills, 90210,” she suggested Jason to him. Stephanie was tickled by that. She said she misses the “old days.” They then talked a bit about “Dynasty” and “The Colbys,” specifically the fashion.

• At about 35 minutes, Stephanie actually said to them, “C’mon, girls, what about ‘90210’?” Stephanie shared a memory of seeing the cast asleep in the makeup trailer, but praised the “energy” they all had as actors. Jennie claimed the show was “successful because of guest stars” like her. Stephanie called it a “lovely show” with a “brilliant idea.”

  • You rein ‘em in, Stephanie!

  • The show was successful because of guest stars like Stephanie? That’s a bit of a reach, Jennie. Stephanie was in a grand total of eight episodes out of nearly 300, with her last appearance in season 5. The show did have great guest stars, but that certainly isn’t the reason for its success.

• Stephanie called Luke a “great actor.” Asked for her favorite memory from the show, she said Jason and Luke singing Tom Jones in the makeup trailer and cited their “sweetness.” She made the point that how the actors are in their off-time on set is just as important as how they are onscreen because of the atmosphere it creates.

• They asked Stephanie about her training as a mime and Tori told her she should join TikTok. Stephanie wasn’t opposed. They also asked her about her upcoming movie, Renegades, which she said she has a “small” part in. They ended with asking her whether she was Team Dylan or Team Brandon, given her work with both Luke and Jason. She said “blood comes first,” so Team Dylan. It was a sweet answer. The interview wrapped up at about 40 minutes in, and after another break, they never mentioned it again.

• Next they discussed the episode’s fashion briefly. There was a tangent about Spanx and Sisanie was shocked to hear Tori once wore four pairs at the same time. The discussion led to this from Jennie: “Why are we talking about pee holes?”

• Jennie said her mom has a couch with the same floral pattern as Andrea’s shirt in the episode. Sisanie declared that Cindy “needs to step up her game” fashion-wise. But they liked that she bonded with Iris. There was another tangent about “mind gyms” and other things, like floating and massages.

  • I’m a big floating fan!

• Jennie’s favorite line of the episode wasn’t from the episode itself but what her husband said while watching it — a comment on Brenda’s tie. Tori pointed out Brandon saying “You’ll get used to it, pal,” but thought the use of “pal” was “weird.” Sisanie liked Kelly saying, “You can love him, but you can’t save him,” which prompted Jennie to say Kelly was about “tough love” here.

• One of Iris’ lines to Jim was also mentioned, with Tori or Sisanie expressing surprise that Jennie didn’t mention it because of her crush on him. Sisanie wanted to know if she had this crush back in the day too. Jennie said it’s just as watching it now as a fan, cracking that she has “daddy issues.” Tori said they have to get James on the show, which is the 8237197502384 time they’ve said that and I guess they still haven’t bothered to actually try to make that happen.

• The first fan question was about whether any of their significant others ever got annoyed with the relationships they had with their castmates, male or female. Tori then suggestively asked Jennie how her first husband felt about the wedding gift Luke sent them. Jennie: “I can’t believe you’re bringing this up.” Jennie then spilled, saying Luke didn’t attend the wedding but sent a breadmaker that was called “Mr. Loaf,” which was supposed to be a dig at Jennie’s husband. She also revealed that Luke essentially once made a fat joke about that husband… which didn’t seem to bother Jennie.

• Sisanie: “He was jelly.” Jennie: “Probably.” But she said her exes always had to understand that the guys were like “brothers” to her and they needed to “deal” with it and “get over it.” She said when her (current) husband now sees romantic or sexy scenes as they rewatch the show, he usually makes some kind of joke.

• Tori said there’s a “running theme of Luke not liking” their exes and shared the story she previously told in her first book about Luke punching her no-good boyfriend. She said she and Luke didn’t talk for about six months after that and it took time for her to see that Luke was right. Jennie said he was “protective of us.”

• The second fan question was for Tori, saying that since she’s spoken publicly about her “summer romance” with Jason, the fan wanted to know if it was during these episodes and if it ever caused problems on set and how Brian felt about it. Jennie said Tori was “hiding” — she apparently ducked out of the camera’s view, not that we could see. Jennie supposedly didn’t know Tori had talked about this and Tori explained how she did it on the “Lie Detector” special she did. Tori then said she “screwed up” and “wasn’t thinking clearly” when she revealed it, as if she didn’t do the whole thing (and that revelation) as a publicity stunt.

• Tori said Brian didn’t care because they were history by then. She guessed the fling with Jason took place between seasons 7 and 8 but then wasn’t sure, but thought it was after the college seasons. She said she had brown hair at the time and her hair color is how she judges the timing of things in her memory. Jennie said she personally either “blocked” this from her memory or didn’t know about it. Tori said she was “scared” to tell her. Jennie quipped that you “learn something new every day,” and both she and Sisanie wanted more details. To answer the fan’s question, she said the hookup didn’t cause problems and that she and Jason remained friends. Then she somewhat jokingly told Sisanie and Jennie to “text me after” the podcast for the details.

  • I don’t know why they were acting like this was breaking news. It’s come up on the podcast before.

• They almost ended without giving the title of the next episode, “Leading from the Heart,” as if fans couldn’t figure out themselves which episode is next.

As a non-Brenda / Dylan fan, this is actually one of my favorite episodes for the couple. I mean that sincerely. It’s such a critical episode for their relationship, for Dylan and Iris, and for Dylan and his alcoholism. As per usual, though, they didn’t come close to doing it justice. They spoke with Stephanie for what seemed to be less than 20 minutes and didn’t even discuss this episode at all with her or any other storylines involving Iris. In fact, they spent more time discussing other things with Stephanie than “Beverly Hills, 90210.” She was delightful to listen to, but as a “Beverly Hills, 90210” fan listening to a podcast about “Beverly Hills, 90210” (a rewatch podcast, no less), this was so unsatisfying.

I wondered heading into today whether this installment would be 30-ish minutes like last week’s edition. It was back to the normal length. Frankly, though, whether it’s 30 minutes or 60 doesn’t seem to matter in terms of quality. It sucks either way. But at least if it was 30 minutes, we’d all be saving ourselves some precious time.

The podcast’s Instagram posts from last week are rightly filled with negative feedback, but one person actually declared that “you’re not a true fan of the show if you hate the podcast.” It’s quite the opposite. It’s because I’m a true fan of the show that I hate the podcast. I make no apologies for that. But Jennie and Tori sure should.

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