BH90210 7.18, We Interrupt This Program: Anything Can Happen On Live TV

March 30, 2014

BH90210 7.18, We Interrupt This Program: Anything Can Happen On Live TV

If you say there’s rain in the forecast one more time, I swear to God…

Summary: With Garrett out of the picture, Donna’s going back to her weather segment at CUTV. Evan suggests that they act like she never left. Vile Rusty arrives and blasts Brandon for getting the police on his case. He wants everyone at the station to be knocked down a peg: “I hope you and Donna rot in Hell.” Tracy wonders if they should take his anger as a threat.

Donna moves back into the beach apartment as Kelly and Tom make date plans. Donna thinks Kelly’s just trying to date Tom to make Valerie mad, but Kelly says she really likes him. Making Val jealous is just a side benefit. Chloe practices at the After Dark, and David tells her she’s going to be a big success. She appreciates the support since her parents don’t like that she dropped out of school to become a singer. He offers the use of his home recording studio so she can make a demo.

Steve, Clare, Chancellor Arnold, and Samantha go to a retreat together, though the younger couple isn’t thrilled with the older couple’s romance. Clare breaks the news to Steve that the room arrangements will be based on gender, not relationships. At the After Dark, Valerie is short with Tom, so Kelly’s plans are definitely working out the way she’d hoped. Val tells Tom that Kelly’s only using him for revenge. If he doesn’t dump her, he’s fired. Tom tells her he quits.

Samantha is a fan of Clare’s, though Clare wonders if some of her praise comes from trying to get Clare to like her. Samantha tells her that Chancellor Arnold is proud of her, promising that they won’t do anything Clare wouldn’t approve of. That doesn’t explain the black lingerie she brought with her. Donna calls David and Chloe answers the phone, telling her how great David is. Donna tries to make plans with him, but he’s busy with Chloe.

As someone loads a gun and grumbles about Donna, the retreaters have dinner together. Clare’s overly concerned with her father’s eating habits, trying to turn Samantha off. Steve calls her on it and she asks him to help her drive them apart. Steve, however, likes seeing his mom happy. Clare complains that Samantha’s taking Chancellor Arnold away from her. After a date, Tom asks Kelly if she’s using him to get back at Valerie. Kelly kisses him to let him know she really likes him. Tom tells her he quit when Valerie threatened to fire him.

Donna goes back to CUTV, where Rusty insults her even after she says she’s sorry that the police questioned him. Evan tells him to back off, but Rusty’s already on his way out, since he’s quit. Steve and Clare scheme, because they’re 12, then spot their parents kissing. Chancellor Arnold tells Samantha that he doesn’t think they should be together because their kids aren’t on board. Now Clare feels bad, as she should.

Evan tells Donna how awesome she is, then picks out lipstick for her to wear. She’s getting a little uncomfortable with his closeness. He kisses her on the cheek, which makes her pull away, and tells her he knows she likes the attention she got from his flowers and phone calls. Yes, boys and girls, Evan is Donna’s stalker. He wants them to be together and only put the rat in her bed and tried to run her down because she made him mad.

As Brandon and Tracy arrive, Donna runs to them and tells them Evan’s the stalker. Brandon starts to call campus security, but Evan pulls out his gun and takes control of the studio. He wants to say something on the air, and if he doesn’t get to say it, Donna will pay the price. Evan sends Brandon to the control room, then puts Donna behind the news desk for a very special broadcast.

While Evan assigns Tracy to run the camera, Brandon calls 911 from the control room. Evan notices that the phone is off the hook, but Brandon plays dumb, saying it must have gotten knocked out of its cradle. Evan doesn’t seem to be concerned that he might have made a phone call. The broadcast starts, and Evan holds his gun on Donna while he orders her to talk. At the Condor’s Nest, Kelly sees the broadcast on TV.

Evan makes Donna declare his love for him, then gets her to read entries from his journal. They’re about her and how he thinks she’s going to end up with him. Outside, a SWAT team gathers and a detective named Rendell calls Brandon to give him instructions. Evan makes Donna say she loves him again, yelling at her to say it like she means it. No matter how she says it, he doesn’t believe her.

Brandon announces that the police are on the phone and want to talk to Evan. Evan refuses to get on the phone. Brandon asks him to release the hostages, adding that since he hasn’t hurt anyone yet, he might not be in too much trouble. Evan makes him hang up. Back on the air, he accuses Donna of leading him on. Kelly calls David and leaves him a message telling him to turn on CUTV. Evan gets Donna to say how horrible she is, then tells everyone that the broadcast is far from over.

At the retreat, Clare tells Chancellor Arnold that she doesn’t want him and Samantha to break up. He promises that Clare will always be his first priority. Meanwhile, Steve tells Samantha that he only went along with Clare’s plan because she asked him to. However, he’s also a bit jealous of all the time Samantha spends with Chancellor Arnold.

The police turn up the heat in the TV studio, then offer to send drinks in. Evan lets Brandon get them, and while he’s distracted, a woman in the studio grabs the phone and begs the police for help. Evan waves his gun around but doesn’t shoot anyone. Rendell asks Evan to let the hostages go, since the police did him a favor. Donna agrees to stay since she’s the one Evan really wants. Evan gives in and sends everyone out except Donna, Brandon, and Tracy.

Rendell tries to negotiate with Evan, who wants a car, and for everyone to know what a liar Donna is. He tells Rendell that Donna agreed to stay, so she’s not a hostage. Rendell says he’ll have to prove that by putting his gun down. He starts to, then spots SWAT guys lurking in the control room. He sends them out and demands a car again, threatening to kill Donna if it doesn’t arrive within an hour.

The standoff lasts into the night, with Evan brainstorming places to flee with Donna. She tells him she’s not going anywhere with him – if he liked her, he should have just asked her out. Evan says that without the gun, he’s a nobody. Donna basically snaps, telling him that if he wants to shoot her, he should do it already. If he wants her, he’ll need to act like a man, not a stalker, and put the gun down.

It almost works, but then Evan catches Tracy staring and snaps at her. He tells her to leave, and she tries to get Brandon to go, too, but he wants to stay with Donna. Rendell praises Evan for letting Tracy go, then tries to negotiate some more, but Evan makes Brandon hang up the phone again. Evan cries and asks Donna not to hate him. Outside, the SWAT team prepares to use a flash grenade to get control of him.

Donna does what I call steering into the crazy, by pretending she wants to be with Evan and will leave the country with him. She and Brandon tell him that David means nothing to her. Brandon goes a step farther, saying that Donna told him she has a crush on Evan. Donna asks Evan to kiss her, getting him to put the gun down. Then she kicks the gun away and grabs it while Brandon tackles Evan. The SWAT team bursts in and arrests Evan. “You said you wouldn’t leave me,” he says. “I lied,” Donna replies.

Thoughts: Good job by Trevor Edmund (Evan), who hit all the notes in sweet, creepy, and crazed. That can’t be easy, especially all in one episode.

Clare, shut up. I put up with you for a long time, but now you’re bugging me again.

I wish Chancellor Arnold and Samantha had only fake broken up to teach Clare a lesson.

David hanging out with Chloe while Donna was a hostage is like Brandon making out with Emily while Kelly was trapped by a fire, yes?

I kind of feel bad for the actors in this episode who didn’t get to be part of the hostage storyline. They only got to do boring stuff.

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