Brandon interviews a classmate, Roger, who's an outstanding athlete and student--and haunted by the overbearing success of his father. When Brandon reads a script written by Roger, he begins to worry that the grisly ending just might come true.
So ol' Brando plays cop in this episode, uncovering a harrowing tale of parents who push too hard and children who will never live up to their own standards. Matthew Perry guest stars as Roger, the handsome school perfectionist tennis star whose wealthy father is reminiscent of another infamous Beverly Hills dad, Jose Menendez. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of Darren Star's first attempts at "ripped from the headlines" writing. (Didn't Lyle Menendez play tennis, too? Or was it Eric? Also, Matthew Perry is a big time tennis player. Tennis is a theme here. Hmm, I wonder what that means.) Anyway, like the Menendez bros, Roger writes a screenplay in which he kills his maniacal father. But can Brandon save the day before fiction becomes reality?
- I love how there are random interjections of other popular kids at West Beverly.
- Matthew Perry is wearing some hot teal short shorts.
- Brandon is interviewing Roger for the Blaze. Of course he is.
- Roger has lettered in 3 sports, is a straight-A student, is a volunteer, a member of an environmental group, and won't grant Brandon an interview.
- Really. The teal pleated chinos.
- SAT jitters. Blah blah blah. Donna is more concerned about the Fred Segal.
- Andrea is so impressed that Brandon scored an interview with Roger Azarian. The sentiment? WHY ARE THEY FRIENDS WITH ANDREA?!
- Steve hates Roger because Roger's perfect.
- Roger's dad is a self-made millionaire who owns half of Orange County and has real estate everywhere. Original.
- Kelly, Brenda, and Donna are all wearing different colored blazers. I should invest in a mustard-colored blazer.
- Brenda gets an 1190 on the SATs.
- Cindy says, "TS Eliot was right. April is the cruelest month," because she has to do taxes. Now THAT is some great writing.
- Roger's house is a big scary Beverly Hills monstrosity plastered in diploma-looking awards to Roger's pops and cases of guns. Note the use of foreshadowing.
- Brandon inexplicably knows how to handle a gun.
- The guys yuk it up to a joke about the similarities between Beverly Hills and the jungle. Heh heh heh!
- Why does Cindy do the Walsh taxes when Jim is an accountant? I wouldn't trust that bitch with a calculator.
- Jim wants to bet on who does better on the SATs, Brenda or Brandon.
- Brandon wants to record the conversation/interview with Roger, and Roger has a problem with this. Paranoid rich people.
- Roger is annoyed that his father is getting him into college (Stanford) and getting his screenplay read by an agent. The father is happy that Roger is being interviewed.
- Brandon: "You really wrote a screenplay?" Roger: "Every busboy in Hollywood has a screenplay under his arm." Now, I can't decide which joke to go with here: 1) This isn't true. The busboys are too busy trying to remain off the grid lest their illegality be revealed. or 2) Brandon. What a dumbass.
- Brandon gets an 1190 on his SATs too. I can't believe he didn't whip Brenda's ass.
- Jim knows George Azarian. Of course.
- Brandon and Brenda read aloud Roger's screenplay and discover that Roger harbors homicidal tendencies towards his father. Matthew Perry wants to know if it turns his gf on.
- Kelly gets a 1050 on her SATs. Donna is remaining suspiciously mum about it. This is because she's an idiot and probably got a 320.
- Kelly had sex with Roger. Roger then dumped Kelly because she wasn't good enough for his dad.
- The writing in the fake screenplay is better than the writing in the damn show.
- Andrea calls Roger one of the hottest new athletes of the 90s. Then what is he doing at West Beverly, moron?
- Brandon tells Andrea about the screenplay murder, she does think it's a biggie.
- Kelly wants to go to Washington & Lee because the male-to-female ratio is 20 to 1.
- A floral blazer! Floral patchwork I should say, donned by Kelly Taylor.
- Donna's retarded, we get it.
- It's taking Brandon an awfully long time to read this stupid screenplay.
- Brandon thinks Roger's offer of box seat Dodger tickets is his way of "buying him off." Naturally, Roger is offended.
- Dylan makes his first appearance 19 minutes into the episode, when Brandon seeks him out for complicated father-son relationship advice.
- Brandon learns that he and Brenda saved Dylan from "going over the edge."
- Donna's dressed all sexy, wearing sunglasses, and "lighting up" in the parking lot. That would be cigarettes, not doobies.
- Of course Beverly Hills boy has a shrink.
- Roger sneaks into the house...
- ...his father is busy doing work in his office...
- ...Roger takes a gun from the wall...
- ..."Is that you, son?" George calls from the office...
- ...Roger enters the office, shoots his father twice...
- ...and Brandon finishes the screenplay!
- Steve offends Roger by insinuating that his father is going to get him into college.
- Mrs. Teasly tells Kelly and Brenda that Donna missed a meeting with her today. And they realize she wasn't at school today...something must be up.
- Roger challenges Dylan to a Porsche race and when Dylan refuses, Roger peels out of the parking lot.
- Brenda bumps into Donna at Fred Segal. I like how blunt she is with Donna: "What's wrong with you?" before even a concerned, "Is everything okay?"
- Donna got a 630 on the SATs. Her mother told her she better find a rich guy to marry her. Ha!
- Brandon witnesses an altercation between Roger and his father because Roger didn't get into Stanford. Roger can't cut it on his own and George is pissed. I love Chandler.
- Brandon offers to walk home. Nobody walks in Los Angeles.
- Brandon finds a gun in the backseat of Rog's Porsche.
- Brandon calls Andrea at the Rap Line because he doesn't know what to do. He went to the police, apparently, too, and they didn't do anything. Stupid cops.
- Andrea says you can't help somebody who doesn't want to be helped. Shut up, Andrea.
- Brandon finally goes to Jim for advice. Jim says that Roger needs a friend. Why did they try to turn this into an after school special? This show is so bad, I can't believe I watch it.
- Brandon sneaks into the house using the key under the potted plant, as described in the screenplay. It's all coming true!
- Brandon sees a light on in the office and has rather frightening jump cut visions of Roger shooting the gun at his father.
- But...nobody's in the office.
- And...now they're at school...what?
- Kelly's wearing a kelly green blazer and Brenda is wearing a dark brown tweed blazer with a bi-colored lapel.
- Wait, did Mrs. Teasly shave her head in the middle of this episode?
- Brandon can't find the Azarians. I don't get it. Why didn't he look for him in the house last night?
- Brandon uses the clues in the screenplay to crack the case! He borrows Dylan's car, getting the keys from him while he's in the middle of building a computer? This show is so random.
- Here they go again with the after school special: Donna has a learning disability. It's nothing to be ashamed of! Yes it is.
- Donna is "one of those people who [doesn't] do well with time limits." What?! Who doesn't have a problem with time limits?
- Brandon, meanwhile, runs to the guest house to find Roger drunk and shooting up his dad's awards.
- And as usual Brandon has it all wrong. Roger is going to kill himself, not his father. Idiot, Brandon, idiot. Poor Matthew Perry.
- Brandon saves the day, of course, and Roger breaks down in tears. I love Matthew Perry.
- Donna's taking a special oral SAT with no time limit. Skank.
- Brandon is a geek, I gotta say.
- Brandon catches George outside Roger's hospital room. I guess he's on a...what do they call it? 4140? Psych hold? Whatever. They're both getting help.
- Roger wants BRandon to tell the truth about his depression and suicide attempt because he hopes it will help someone. AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL. From now on we will refer to this show as "ASS."
- Brandon brings a radio to the hospital to listen to the game with Roger. A radio? Really?
There you have it. Different colored blazers, learning disabilities, and oppressive fathers. Beverly Hills in a nutshell.
