This episode starts with Brandon riding his bicycle through the mean streets of Beverly Hills, while some very questionable music plays. He’s wearing his backpack, so I’m assuming he is coming home from school. Did he forget that he has a car, or do that only remember that he got a DUI when it’s convenient? His parents are in the living room, talking to Anna and a man, and Jim looks up at Brandon when he walks in. Brandon, always having to be in the know, asks Brenda who the mysterious couple are. Brenda is already at home, working on her homework. Is this a weekend? How did Brenda get home already? If it’s a weekend day, why is she already doing homework? Is she some sort of nerd? Brenda tells him that they are throwing a party for Chick Schneider, the CEO of some surf fashion company. I told you, I don’t understand what accountants actually do for a living.
Jim calls the twins downstairs to introduce them to Richard Rodriguez, Anna’s cousin. Richard explains that Anna has a niece that attends a local high school. And all of a sudden, Anna speaks pretty darn good English, and finishes explaining that the school she currently attends is being overrun by gangs. Jim and Cindy have agreed to let Carla use their address so they can attend West Beverly. Ok, I’m just keeping track: the Jewish girl, the African American boy, and the LatinX girl all have to lie so they can have the privilege of attending West Beverly High? Nope, nothing racist about that.
At school, David calls MC Hammer’s office over the loudspeaker and is hung up on, causing Donna to remark how “out there” he is. Oh, Donna, just you wait. Steve’s attention is diverted by an attractive curly haired girl roaming the halls. Dylan is also distracted, much to Brenda’s chagrin. The new girl gets lost, and heads to the journalism classroom for directions. Brandon offers to help her, obviously bewitched as well. Being Brandon, he offers Carla a word of advice about how competitive West Beverly academics are. Brandon loves to mansplain. And he realizes what an ass he is when Carla dominates class discussions. Brandon tells Carla that she should have no trouble getting a scholarship and she is offended, assuming he means she could only score a minority scholarship. Why does no one tell all of these people about Brandon’s super open mind?? He tells her that he has gone out of the way to make things easier for her, um, he walked her to a class, and she just bites his head off….the sexual chemistry is fraught with these two. They come to an agreement that they both have misconceptions, and he invites her to the Peach Pit.
At the Peach Pit, Steve tells Brandon that Carla is really into him, and I think that it is great that Brandon keeps seeking out relationship advice from Steve. Apparently it is a short shift for Brandon, because it is still day light when he drives Carla home. He asks questions about day laborers, and if they are in East LA, and Carla answers him bitterly. He asks her if she is always so defensive, and he tells her that he thinks a lot of her issues are all in her head. Always the appropriate thing to tell a woman of color, that she’s imagining her hardships. Richard is waiting for her on the stairs, with folded arms, and in the background, a synthesizer starts playing to alert us that he is a bad guy. He tells Carla that she had better watch herself. Who the hell is this guy?
The next morning, Brandon uses his own spit to style his hair and his eyebrows, a totally normal thing to do. Brenda catches him checking himself out in the mirror and tells him that people are talking about how every girl that he has met since they moved to LA has been his next true love. Does she listen to the podcast? Brandon gets defensive, thinking that Brenda doesn’t approve of Carla because she is Hispanic and Brenda tells Brandon to go f himself. Turns out, she is the flaming liberal.
Anna and Cindy are reviewing the food list for the party that they are throwing for Jim’s client and Brandon asks Anna if she can bring Carla with her on days she works, so Brandon can give her a ride to school and she doesn’t have to ride the bus. Anna says that she will have to think about it, and Cindy and Anna give each other a look. I’m sure that will be relevant later in the episode.
Andrea, wearing a pink geometric blazer, asks Brandon what the deal is with Carla, and he wants to know if she’s been talking to Brenda. No, she’s been nosy in the registrar’s office, and saw his address on Carla’s file. Why does the school have student files just laying around where other students can view them? How does Andrea know Brandon’s address? I don’t know any of my friends’ addresses. I can drive you there, but I can send them a letter. She tells Brandon that his family needs to be careful, because if they catch Carla, and start a district shakedown, she is liable to get caught in the crossfire. Because only YOU should get the opportunity to go to a better school Andrea?
Brandon tracks Carla down because she has been avoiding him, and invites her out on the weekend, and she turns him down for every night. Brandon, the persistent misogynist, stops by the bus stop after school and aggressively offers Carla a ride home. In the car, Brandon tries to talk to Carla about the problems with her old school, but she tells him she doesn’t want to talk about it. He tells her that he is interested in her and would like a chance…….because he doesn’t take no for an answer. She asks if he likes to dance. Let me answer that for you Carla: no. Or yes. Depends on the episode. Apparently this episode he does, because we are soon entering what appears to be a dance class at a community rec center. They form a soul train line, and Carla asks Brandon to walk the line with her. It is not a Johnny Cash reference, as much as I hoped it was. Brandon “dances” down the line with Carla, and we are once again reminded as to why he doesn’t. It’s not good folks, not good at all.
Brandon takes Carla home, and they stop outside to say good night and enjoy the city landscape. Then they kiss and Brandon is trying to eat her face…loudly. Carla says she can hardly believe it’s only been a week. Meanwhile, Uncle Richard is creepily watching this from the porch.
The next day, Cindy is sitting in bed, stressing about the dinner party that she is apparently single handedly throwing for Jim’s big client. Again, what do accountants do? Jim is on the floor, doing sit ups in a monochromatic blue short set. Brenda breaks in to tell them the rental company is there, and that Brandon is working at the Peach Pit all day. After she leaves, Jim and Cindy discuss telling the kids the truth about Carla. Jim says that they can’t as he is toweling himself off after his 5 sit ups. Cindy looks down. Because she’s thinking.
Brandon isn’t at the Peach Pit, because he is at Carla’s house bringing her breakfast. Their conversation is soon interrupted by Richard. Why is this guy always wearing leather coats? Isn’t it California? Is it really cold enough to wear a leather coat all the time? Or is this how we’re supposed to know he’s a bad guy? Carla tells Brandon that she has to work, so she must go.
It turns out, Carla is working the party at the Walsh house. Brandon holds her hands awkwardly, and asks her not to work because it is weird for him. He then yells at his mother and no one does anything about it. He musters up the energy to be cordial to all of the party guests, while the guest of honor makes inappropriate remarks about Carla. Brandon asks for help “with chairs,” but really sneaks Carla into his bedroom. She is angry at him, and he decides this is the best time to bring up the control Richard has over her. This obviously makes her angrier, and he huffs in his sweater.
Anna is upset by the appearance of Brandon and Carla together and reminds Carla that Richard said to stay away from Brandon. Meanwhile, Brandon overhears Chick, the swimwear king, tell Jim that he just opened a factory in Mexicali, and confronts him about exploiting them for cheap labor. Jim is understandably upset. But no one confronts Brandon about possibly costing Jim and his employer an important client.
Brenda reveals to Brandon that when Carla ran out, upset by his confrontation, that she ran right to Richard’s car. Dylan noticed that Richard sat outside the house the whole time Carla was inside. Brandan surmise is that there is probably a little more to the story than there being told, and that he’s entitled to know the truth, because he’s 16 and has every right to question his parents judgment. So that’s what he does. Jim tells him that it’s not their secret to share, and suggest that Brandon go talk to Carla.
Brandon heads to Anna’s house, but Anna says that Carla is no longer staying there. She tells him that Carla has gone back to her family, but would love to see him to say goodbye. Carla reveals that her father works at a university in Paloma, and she did charity work in East LA. It was there that she witnessed a drive-by shooting and became the star witness for the prosecution. The shooter was a well-known gang member who threatened the life of anybody who testified against him. Anna was Carla’s babysitter, and volunteered to let Carla stay with her while they waited for the trial. The gang member, however, confessed, so Carla could come out of hiding. Richard wasn’t a bad guy, he was the prosecuting attorney. He just likes leather coats and brooding.
At school, Kelly chastises Donna for ordering the same shirt as her, as they walk down the hall in identical outfits. Brenda chastises Dylan for checking out a blonde right in front of her, and Andrea tells Brandon that his latest newspaper piece is her favorite. Brandon tells Andrea that he wishes all his relationships could be as easy as theirs is, you know, just friends…..with absolutely no attraction to one another whatsoever. And then Andrea burns holes into his skull with her eyes. And then Debbie Gibson makes a surprise appearance. Ah, the 90’s.
Donna Martin Graduates: For the Love Of 90210 