BH90210 2.12, Down and Out of District in Beverly Hills: I Ain’t Saying She’s a Golddigger

October 23, 2011

BH90210 2.12, Down and Out of District in Beverly Hills: I Ain’t Saying She’s a Golddigger

That living room is bigger than my apartment, so Andrea has no right to complain

Summary: Andrea has that classic nightmare about showing up for school naked. Fortunately, she manages to remember to get dressed before she goes to school for real. Brandon tells her he entered her in a contest for high school journalists, but she’s worried that someone will find out she enrolled out of district and she’ll get expelled. Brandon promises he won’t bust her, noting that if she hasn’t gotten a call about the competition yet, she must not have won.

At the Peach Pit, Steve meets a girl named Christine and turns on the old Steve charm. Her ride home has ditched her, so he offers to take her. She wants to hurry home to watch the TV show Steve’s mom is on. Steve takes Christine to his place to watch the show and make out. She says she doesn’t usually go too far with a guy she’s just met, but she knows Steve is special, so she’ll make an exception.

A teacher, Mrs. Teasley, tells Andrea she’s won the contest and the district public relations office will be sending someone over to her house to interview her. Andrea freaks out because the interviewer will meet her grandmother. Brandon goes home with Andrea and meets her grandmother, Rose, and Rose’s friends. Andrea tells Rose about the interviewer, Mr. Kramer, and asks her to pretend that Andrea lives with her. Rose is upset that Andrea’s going beyond using her address for school. She says she’ll keep her mouth shut unless Mr. Kramer asks her a direct question, but she won’t lie.

Mr. Kramer finds the situation a little weird but doesn’t seem suspicious. Rose says that Andrea is so wonderful to live with, it’s almost like she’s not there. After Mr. Kramer leaves, Andrea asks if Rose is on her side or not. She doesn’t like lying, but it’s for a good reason. She notes that Rose changed her identity as a teenager. Rose replies that that was to avoid being killed in concentration camp. (Okay, Andrea, you totally lose that argument. Not even close.)

Steve and Christine (now together a week) make out at the Peach Pit while Kelly glares from across the room, saying he could do better. Donna tells her to go let Steve know. Steve surprises Christine with REM tickets, and the ensuing makeout session is too much for Kelly to take. (Same here.) Brandon and Dylan try to make weekend plans with Steve, and Kelly steps in to complain about Christine. Brandon, Dylan, and Andrea start to leave, but Steve wants them to hear what Kelly has to say. “All I’m going to say is that you get what you pay for,” Kelly replies. Steve thinks she’s a snob. He notes that it’s not like Christine lives in the valley…which is where Andrea lives.

Mrs. Teasley relays a message from Mr. Kramer that he couldn’t complete a full interview with Andrea because he questions whether she really lives in Beverly Hills. There will have to be a home visit. Later, Andrea tells Brandon that Rose will let her move in that weekend. Brandon feels guilty for outing her, but Andrea tells him she brought it on herself. He agrees to help her move, though he won’t let it interfere with the plans he’s made with Dylan.

Steve takes Christine to the REM concert, getting right in the door while David has to wait in line. Andrea moves in with Rose, apologizing for her comments about Rose changing her identity. Her mother calls but Andrea doesn’t want to talk to her. Christine complains that Steve wasn’t able to get them backstage passes. David meets up with them, having snuck backstage and gotten the band members’ signatures.

Christine then complains about the slowness of their limo service, telling Steve not to tip the driver. He tries to reenact the limo-sex scene from No Way Out, but Christine’s too grumpy…until Steve promises her jewelry. Then the L word comes out. At school the next day, Steve shares his limo experience with the rest of the gang. After he leaves, Kelly asks if anyone else thinks Christine is a phony. (Apparently not.)

Brandon tries to cheer Andrea up about living away from her family, having no privacy, and being annoyed with her grandmother. Donna asks if West Beverly is really worth it. Andrea goes on a rant about how not all schools are as awesome as West Beverly, and she doesn’t have money while they’re all rich, and blah blah blah. Kelly offers to help make Rose’s place look like Andrea really lives there.

The girls teenagerize the apartment with photos, stuffed animals, and movie posters. Brenda spots a photo of Andrea with her mother, which Andrea quickly removes after Rose glares at it. A non-conversation between grandmother and granddaughter later clarifies that Rose and her daughter-in-law don’t get along.

Steve and Christine go to the Walshes’ for dinner with Brenda and Dylan; Christine complains that they’re cooking instead of eating out. She won’t shut up about money, the stuff Steve’s bought her, and how she hopes Steve will take her to Hawaii over spring break. Christine wants to be like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, even knowing she was a prostitute. Brenda accuses Christine of using Steve, and she replies that they’re using each other. Steve blasts Brenda for meddling and asks if Kelly put her up to it.

Andrea tries to talk to her mother on the phone, but Rose starts vacuuming. Andrea confronts Rose about not liking her mother, thinking it’s because she’s not Jewish. Rose says it’s not that; she just thinks Andrea’s mother is disrespectful. Andrea decides she’s had it and she’s moving back home. At school, she types a letter resigning from the newspaper and tells Brandon what happened. He offers to talk to his parents about letting Andrea live with them. Andrea says she’ll have to deal with whatever happens.

Steve tells Brandon about Brenda and Christine’s fight the night before, and how Brenda’s accusations made him see Christine in a new way. He’s realized that Christine is obsessed with money. Brandon can see that Steve really cared about her. Steve thought he’d found someone who wanted to be with him for him, not his money. After school, he takes Christine to a jewelry store, telling her he picked something out for her. She’s underwhelmed, and he confronts her for being a golddigger. He also confirms that she lied about not knowing who his mom was when they first met.

At the Peach Pit, Steve and Andrea both mope, though he gets a laugh out of her when he asks if she’s busy that night. He asks if she likes her, and when she says yes, he asks why. Andrea says that on the inside he’s just a little boy who likes to have fun. Oh, and he’s cute. Steve admits that sometimes he wonders why people talk to him after he says stupid things about them. He apologizes for his comments about the valley, telling Andrea that she needs to stay in Beverly Hills and inspire people.

Andrea goes to Rose’s to get her things and runs into the woman investigating her living situation. Whatever Rose said to her has left her with a positive impression. She tells Andrea that she deserves something good for all the hard work she’s done. Andrea replies that if she’s going to live with Rose, the two of them need to sit down with her parents and talk about the situation. She calls her mother, and Rose talks to her for the first time in three years.

Nat and the gang give Andrea a “good luck” cake to celebrate the fact that she gets to stay at West Beverly. (When they got the cake, they didn’t know what the outcome would be.) Kelly notices Steve moping by himself and checks up on him. He’s sorry he didn’t listen to her about Christine. (Are you going to apologize to Brenda, too?) Steve tries to give her the bracelet he bought Christine, but she doesn’t want something she got for another girl. Kelly invites him to a movie and they head off alone, leaving the rest of the gang in semi-confusion.

Thoughts: Rose is played by Lainie Kazan, who is too good for this show.

The whole plot makes no sense. They couldn’t take the interviewer out for dinner at a restaurant and avoid having him come by the apartment in the first place?

Seriously, Andrea? You’re going to compare using a false address for school with hiding from Nazis? SERIOUSLY?

Andrea types her resignation letter on what would probably be described as a word processor. Possibly a Tandy.

How long till Kelly wakes up in Steve’s bed, trying to remember what happened the previous night?

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