2.27 "Mexican Standoff" aka "Brenda is a Badass"

Okay so I vaguely remember this one. Brenda’s been missing curfew for a few weeks, so she’s on thin ice as it is. Then, Dylan’s going down to Mexico for the weekend to go catch the waves and invites Brenda along. Jim (that’s Mr. Walsh) says Brenda can’t go, so she says “fuck that” and goes anyway. I wish I had had the cojones to do that when I was in high school. Hell, I wish I had the cojones to do that now.

From the back of the box: 

“MEXICAN STANDOFF” - Original Airdate April 30, 1992

Brenda deceives her parents and runs off to Mexico with Dylan–only to get trapped on the wrong side of the border!

• Ahhh, teen make out sessions. Best part of any show, because it exposes me to a life I NEVER HAD.
  
• Cindy is kind of liberal. She’s cool with letting Brenda go to Baja. I can’t believe this, she’s convinced him to let her go. Brandon’s flipping his shit. I mean, I guess I can understand it - they already know they’ve had sex after they found her pregnancy test, so what are they so freaked about? Plus, it’s not like Dylan drinks, he’s a recovering alcoholic for cripe’s sake.
  
• OMG, so Dylan’s going to take Brenda to teach her how to surf, and they run into Dylan’s old pal Jake Hanson - FROM MELROSE PLACE! I LOVE the cross-referencing between those two shows, it’s SO post-modern.
  
• Brandon’s seriously ticked off that Brenda got permission to go.
  
• WHY ARE THEY FRIENDS WITH ANDREA?! Moment #1. Andrea, nobody wants your opinion. Andrea, nobody cares that you have “always wanted to go to Mexico.” Fucking buy a bus ticket and sit for a few hours and you’ll be in TJ, freak.
  
• Cold, Steve, you’re so cold.
  
• Jake Hanson shows up at the Peach Pit. He even knows Nat. This is soooo meta.
  
• Brenda, Jake Hanson does not want to meet ANDREA. Nor does he want to meet the rest of your HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS.
  
• Oh damn. Brenda fell asleep watching a movie with Dylan. Adios, Mexico!
  
• Kelly’s caustic commentary is really quite amusing.
  
• Hmmm, Donna’s rents are splitting up? I thought they were together forever. Maybe not.
  
• Ha…ha…ha. Kelly’s mom is knocked up and has to wear a maternity wedding dress.
  
• Oh, shit! Kelly hooks up with Jake, I totally forgot about that! This is too good to be true. Statutory rape, anyone?
  
• Dylan really is a bad influence. Just because you grew up in a hotel without any parents doesn’t mean that nobody should respect their elders, pal.
  
• Okay, so they leave for Mexico at 5 am, and when they pull up to a pay phone on the beach it’s light out. But then five minutes later when they check into the motel…it’s night. This is why you hire people for continuity.
  
• Brenda flips when Dylan’s friend Rosalita mentions the girl Dylan brought to the motel last summer - WHEN DYLAN AND BRENDA WERE STILL GOING OUT! (Well, when they were “on a break.”) The greatest weekend of her life is now ruined. The melodrama this girl is able to conjure up is epic.
  
• Ha! Kelly says she’s “nuking some lasagna.” When was the last time you heard that phrase?
  
• Kelly’s manse is so vintage 80s construction. It’s, like, made of concrete.
  
• Oooh, penis innuendo.
  
• Jake thinks Kelly is a tough cookie. That’s special.
  
• Steve drops by Kelly’s house when Jake is there and gets all hurt. I know how he feels. It is hard to get over a true love. Don’t be so mean to Steve, Kelly.
  
• A guitar man at the restaurant Brenda and Dylan are at for dinner is what makes Brenda forgive him.
  
• Kelly’s happy now because she got some.
  
• I’m envious of a time when they let normal-sized girls have principal roles on hit television shows.
  
• The INS dude seems to be getting a sick pleasure out of telling Brenda she’s going to have to fess up to her dad in order to get back into America.
  
• Oooh, cliffhanger. The next one should be good.
  

Thank GOD Andrea’s presence in this episode was minimal. Thank you, writers.

More to come!!