Brenda Walsh
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| Brenda Walsh | |||||||||
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| Brenda portrayed by Shannen Doherty | |||||||||
| Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Shannen Doherty | ||||||||
| First appearance | October 4, 1990 (Beverly Hills, 90210, "Class of Beverly Hills") |
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| Last appearance | As Star: May 25, 1994 (Beverly Hills, 90210, "Mr. Walsh Goes to Washington Part 2") As Special Guest: May 19, 2009 (90210, "One Party Can Ruin Your Whole Summer") |
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| Cause/reason | Wanted to spend time raising her newly adopted child from China | ||||||||
| Created by | Darren Star | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Gender | Female | ||||||||
| Occupation | Theater Actress Director/Drama Teacher of the West Beverly High school play |
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Brenda Walsh, portrayed by Shannen Doherty, is a fictional character in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. She was the original show's female lead through the first four seasons,[1] until Doherty's departure prompted her character to be written out. In the 1000th issue of Entertainment Weekly, Brenda Walsh was selected as the daughter for "The Perfect TV Family."[2] Brenda returned in the franchise's third spin-off, 90210.
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[edit] Beverly Hills, 90210
Brenda, along with fraternal twin Brandon Walsh, Brenda was the Daughter of Jim & Cindy Walsh. She lived in Minnesota until their father, Jim Walsh, got a promotion and was forced to move to Beverly Hills in 1990. The show initially focused on their struggles with culture shock and their relationships with their new Beverly Hills friends, Donna Martin, Andrea Zuckerman, Kelly Taylor, Dylan McKay, and Steve Sanders.
[edit] Season 1
The key exploration of her character came during a series of episodes involving a romance with Brandon's loner friend Dylan McKay—who had long had the attention of Brenda's best friend Kelly as well. Brenda and Dylan dated for two years, and their relationship became serious very fast. Immediately following an argument with his father, Dylan was comforted by and shared a passionate kiss with Brenda. However, Brenda's father is initially against her relationship with her new boyfriend.
After Brenda and Dylan dated for two months, Dylan wanted to have sex, but Brenda wasn't ready. On a trip to Palm Springs, Brenda went to meet Dylan in a hotel room, but sees him with someone else and jumped to the conclusion that they had sex. Brenda and Dylan fought, but made up when they sat outside and tease each other about other suitors. Dylan agreed to wait until Brenda is ready to take their relationship to the next stage. Brenda then loses her virginity to Dylan at the spring dance. Shortly afterwards, Brenda became worried that she may have become pregnant. It turned out to be a false alarm, but Brenda broke up with Dylan and told him she again wasn't ready for a regular sexual relationship.[3]
[edit] Season 2
Despite the break-up, Brenda was hurt by seeing Dylan going out with other girls. Brenda's continued feelings eventually led to the couple getting back together. Their relationship would continue to strengthen when Brenda met Dylan's mother, Iris, whom she would eventually bond with.
The couple faced another obstacle when Brenda wanted to publish an article about her pregnancy scare and Dylan objected due to it being personal. Typical of their relationship, Brenda and Dylan made up after a fight. After Brenda was held at gunpoint at the Peach Pit, Dylan comforted her when she began having recurring nightmares about the event. Things only become more serious when Brenda spent a lot of time with Dylan while forgetting her curfew. Dylan invited Brenda on a trip to Mexico, and her family agreed to let her go. However, when Brenda and Dylan fall asleep together, they forbid her from going, prompting Brenda to sneak out and meet Dylan for the trip. They eventually got into an argument about a fling Dylan had during their break-up, but reconciled and danced together. When it was discovered that Brenda had forgotten her drivers license, Brenda is forced to call her father, restarting the feud between Dylan and Jim, who had demanded that Brenda stopped seeing Dylan. She refused to end the relationship and moved in with Dylan, who was annoyed by the situation to the point where he nearly ended it himself.[3]
[edit] Season 3
During the special summer start of the third-season; Jim, growing tired of his feud with Dylan, offered another option: letting Brenda go to Paris for a summer-long French immersion program instead of Kelly (who had dropped out of the program to help with her baby sister) giving Jim, Brenda, and Dylan much needed time and space apart.
While in Paris, Brenda pretends to be a French tour guide to the cute Wisconsin native, Rick. A summer fling soon occurred between a resistant Kelly and Dylan. Rick and Brenda date briefly after they reconnect at a video store. They break up after Brenda realizes that he has more in common with her father than her.[3] The triangle between Dylan, Brenda, and Kelly became a series milestone that helped to boost the show's popularity. The resolution involving all three—in which Brenda learned that Dylan had chosen her friend—was listed by Entertainment Weekly magazine as one of their 100 Greatest Television Moments.
[edit] Season 4
Brenda, still heartbroken over Dylan choosing Kelly, started the fourth season in Minnesota, where she had decided to go to college. However, upon hearing about Kelly and Dylan's break-up and also realizing that she and her old friends no longer shared anything in common, she decided to return home and attend California University.
When Brenda returns, she meets a wealthy young-man named Stuart (whom Dylan knew as a drug-dealer in times past), and quickly fell in love with him. The couple would get engaged within weeks of their meeting and elope to Las Vegas, causing Dylan and her friends to come and attempt to stop it. They succeed by using reverse psychology, pretending that they're in favor of a Brenda-Stuart marriage.[3]
Brenda's non-romantic life also took some hits over the season. When Donna Martin took in a puppy she and Brenda found, they learned it had escaped from an animal-testing lab and were both distraught when the puppy died. Brenda fell in with a group of animal-rights activists and ended up going along with them when they trashed a number of labs, and she got arrested (Donna decided at the last minute not to join the group). After her arrest, the only person in the group to show support for her was Dylan: David Silver questioned her judgment, Andrea angrily accused her of causing damage to labs that didn't test on animals, and Kelly told her that Dylan wasn't her boyfriend anymore and Brenda couldn't go running to him every time she had a problem. It turned out one of the activists was an undercover FBI agent who offered Brenda a deal for no prison time, because she had not known about nor supported the vandalism. All of Brenda's friends were apologetic for their shoddy treatment of her afterwards.
Brenda would also explore acting during the fourth-season, but this also led to problems: She bungled her first audition and then went over to the director's house to try again. She then got the part, but an unstable student implied she'd slept her way to the role. Unfortunately, this student was also dating Steve Sanders and he believed her claims, with everyone else more or less refusing to believe Brenda's denials. Steve realized his mistake when the student asked him to attack Brenda so she'd have to miss rehearsals. The student later tried to kill herself, but Brenda and Steve teamed up to save her, and Steve finally made amends by attending Brenda's well-received acting debut. The director's praise ended up leading to her accepting a position at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London for a year. Following Kelly and Dylan's latest break-up, Brenda eventually learned of a possible romance between Kelly and Brandon, and expressed her blessing. Another significant event that occurred in the season finale was when Brenda, Jim and Cindy watched Brandon's meeting the President and Brenda watched the pride with which Jim and Cindy watched her brother, later saying that they had never looked at her in that way; this also strengthened her resolve to move to London and pursue acting. She later spent her last night with Dylan, telling him that she wouldn't be gone forever. The couple would briefly reconcile in the final scene of the fourth season, although (because of Doherty's departure), the Brenda character was written out, and Brenda would never again appear on-screen in the franchise's first series.[3]
[edit] Missing years
After Brenda went to London at the Royal Academy in 1994, she was accepted as a student full time. She decided to stay in London indefinitely. Although she and Dylan broke up, she still kept in contact with him, as she sent a letter to him congratulating him on his impending marriage to Toni Marchette. In 1996, after the death of Toni, Dylan moves to London and reconciles with Brenda, and then moves into her apartment. They are together from 1997 to late 1998. In 1998, Dylan's half-sister was rescued from a life of prostitution and sent to live with Dylan and Brenda in London. Also, that same year Kelly and Brandon also plan to visit Brenda and Dylan during their honeymoon. In a continuity error, when Dylan returned to Beverly Hills in 1998, he told Kelly that he had broken up with Brenda two years earlier (which would have placed the end of their relationship in 1996).
After Dylan left her, Brenda continued to act, and became a successful theater actress in London. She also began to stage direct. After the birth of Kelly and Dylan's son Sammy in 2004, Brenda did not stay in touch with Dylan until he sent her an email, as he got her email address from Brandon. She continued to keep in contact with Dylan, eventually encouraging him to fix things with Kelly, as they'd broken up once again.
[edit] Replacements for Brenda
Brenda Walsh's character was recreated twice firstly with Valerie Malone (1994-1998) who was a family friend of Brenda and Brandon in the late 1980s back in Minnesota, then secondly with Gina Kincaid (1998-2000) who was the half-sister/cousin of established character Donna Martin they both slept with Dylan McKay and made an enemy of Kelly Taylor like Brenda did in seasons 3 and 4
Unlike Brenda however both Valerie and Gina's relationship with Dylan wasn't as successful as Brenda's had been. Similarly, Dylan never displayed as much affection for them as he did for Brenda or Kelly for that matter. Val and Gina also had rocky friendships with the gang for most of their run, never fully being able to immerse themselves into the gang.
[edit] 90210
Her appearance in "The Jet Set" marked the first time Brenda had been seen in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise since 1994. Returning from London, Brenda has moved back to Beverly Hills for a month due to a project she's working on. In this episode, Brenda mentions to Kelly that Brandon is in Belize (and he says that Kelly's beautiful) and she tells Nat that Brandon thinks of him whenever he craves a megaburger. Later, she babysits for Kelly's son Sammy while Kelly goes on a date with her coworker Ryan Matthews.
She and Kelly are later seen talking about Donna's new baby and about Kelly's relationship with Ryan. She also agrees to become the director for the school play, taking over for Tabitha Wilson. Later, she enlists the help of Ryan with the music for the play. She declines to answer any questions about Kelly and Sammy's father, just saying there was a lot of history there. Kelly confronts her that night and after an argument, Brenda claims that Kelly is still in love with Dylan and believes that to be a reason her relationships never work out.
Brenda is next seen directing the play, with opening night approaching. She works with student actress Adrianna but notices something is off. Realizing Adrianna has a drug problem, she goes to Kelly and Ryan for help. When Adriana gets too high to do the show, Brenda has Annie take the lead role in the musical. The show goes on to be a great success.
Later, Brenda is directing the last few shows of the play. During a conversation with Ryan and Kelly, Dylan calls her phone. Hearing that Dylan wants to talk to Kelly, she hands the phone over. Later, Kelly (after breaking up with Ryan) confronts Brenda about why Dylan called her phone. She accuses Brenda of having a relationship with Dylan and getting Kelly's "seconds" (although Kelly is mistaken, as Brenda dated Dylan first before he dated Kelly.) Brenda convinces Kelly that she has stayed in touch with Dylan but she has only told him not to screw up things with Kelly. Kelly and Brenda then make up. When Brenda exits the house, she gets into her car intent on going to the fashion show. Before she leaves, she deletes Dylan's phone number off her phone, shedding a tear in the process. This may indicate that there may have been more to the story of Brenda and Dylan's relationship that she didn't share with Kelly. At the show, she flirts with Ryan while they watch Adriana. Later, she and Ryan try to break up a fight between Annie and Adriana (Annie had just found out that Adriana lied about Ty). After that, Ryan and Brenda talk as they leave. She informs Ryan that she is going to take a break from Beverly Hills and acting for a bit to rejuvenate and probably go visit Brandon and his family. Ryan then offers to give Brenda a ride, which she accepts.
A few weeks later, Brenda is surprised to see Kelly at her performance. She avoids answering why she hasn't answered any of Kelly's calls. She later agrees to go out to lunch with Kelly the next day. At lunch, Brenda apologizes for not answering Kelly's phone calls, but mentions that it isn't high school anymore and that they have both grown up and changed. When Kelly asks why she brought it up, Brenda asks whether she and Kelly really have anything in common anymore. She states that she's done fighting over men (Dylan and Ryan) with Kelly. Kelly replies that since they have shared so much history, it brought them together. Brenda replies that history isn't enough, especially since they have not learned from it. Kelly then proceeds to order food, telling Brenda she can leave whenever she wants to, to which Brenda leaves. Later Brenda is in the hospital, after falling off the stage during a blackout. Kelly visits her and they talk. Brenda marvels how Kelly could still show up after Brenda was mean to her but Kelly remarks it is because they are friends, and that their history means something. Brenda then apologizes for what she had said to Kelly earlier, and then reveals that she wanted to avoid telling Kelly the truth: that she slept with Ryan. Kelly then walks out without saying a word to Brenda.
Brenda is then seen talking to a doctor after receiving some bad news. She turns down the invitation to call any friends, as she said she burned those bridges. Later that night, Kelly, who has been calling Brenda, does not receive any type of response so she goes to Brenda's house. Turns out that Adrianna is having support day at her rehab and she wanted Brenda to be her adult mentor, as she did not want her mother to go. Brenda argues with Kelly and kicks her out of the house once Kelly calls her selfish. Brenda eventually decides to go to Adrianna's support day and tells everyone else there how proud she is of her and her recovery. She was also present when Adrianna found out that a friend she had previously slept while she was using contracted HIV. Fearing that she might have it, both Brenda and Kelly convince Adrianna to get tested. Both women are present when the doctor tells Adrianna that she does not have HIV, but she's pregnant. Hearing this, Brenda leaves without explanation. Confronted by Kelly that night, Brenda finally tells her the news she had received the day before, that she is unable to bear children due to complications of surgery. Kelly, having been told the same thing previously comforts Brenda and both she and Kelly made amends once again.
In the season finale, Brenda comes back from China (where she was performing as Cleopatra) and visits Adrianna in the hospital after she gave birth to her daughter. She tells Adrianna that they are both similar, as they both lived lives full of drama. She then takes a walk with Adrianna and they stumble upon another patient named Jim Walsh. Brenda reveals that this patient is in fact her father, and that he is dying. Adrianna ties to convince her to say goodbye to her father but to no avail. Brenda then gives her some parting advice and leaves. However, it turns out that Adrianna had been dreaming the entire time and her conversation with Brenda never took place.
The real Brenda comes to visit Adrianna, after having come home from China a couple of hours ago. She helps Adrianna cope with giving her child up for adoption. She also reveals that she was in China because she adopted a little girl, who she left with her parents.
[edit] Influences on popular culture
- In the season 4 episode "The Perfect Date" of What I Like About You, Charlie (played by Jason Priestley) mistakes Val (played by Jennie Garth) for being somebody he knew when he was younger, as he asks her if they went to high school together (a reference to Garth playing Kelly). When Val replies that she didn't think so, Charlie asks her if she remembered that he was the editor of the school paper (a nod to Priestley playing Brandon) and that she was friends with his sister (a nod to Kelly's friendship with Brenda).
- In the season 3 episode of What I Like About You, "Dangerous Liaisons", Val (played by Jennie Garth) and Todd (played by Luke Perry) flashed back to high school, where Todd spoke of his girlfriend, Brenda, who was away in Paris (an allusion to Perry playing Dylan McKay and to Brenda going to Paris in season 3). Val also mentions that Brenda was her best friend (a reference to Garth portraying Kelly Taylor and to Kelly's friendship with Brenda).
- In part two of "American Dad!" episode "Stan Of Arabia", the family is in Saudi Arabia, and Roger is sold to a man who believes Roger is a woman. When the man expects Roger to have sex with him, Roger exclaims that he now knows what Brenda Walsh felt like on prom night. The man who bought Roger hasn't heard of Brenda, and Roger tells the man all about Beverly Hills, 90210 in order to postpone sex.
[edit] References
- ^ 'Beverly Hills, 90210' cast billing epguides.com. Retrieved on July 8, 2008
- ^ "TV: Breaking Down the List," Entertainment Weekly," #999/1000 June 27 & July 4, 2008, 56.
- ^ a b c d e 'Beverly Hills, 90210' episode summaries tv.com. Retrieved on July 13, 2008
[edit] External links
- Brenda Walsh at the IMDb
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