90210 S1E3: Every Dream Has Its Price

No recollections of this one. Sorry.

In this ep, an uninvited housekeeper shows up at the Walsh house and Cindy doesn’t know what to do because she doesn’t speak Spanish. Turns out Jim hired her. The kids read Les Miserables in English class. Kelly has rekindled her friendship with a girl named Tiffany, and Brenda feels she is being pushed out. The theme of the episode is, “How can one decision affect your whole life?”

They say “dope” an awful lot. As in, “Brenda, your brother is dope!” Tiffany befriends Brenda, but it turns out she is a klepto. Brenda, tired of not having “the right clothes,” is sorely tempted to steal but resists. When Tiff gets caught stealing clothes from a fancy boutique, Brenda happens to be with her, so she gets in trouble for being an accomplice.

Meanwhile, Dylan is still wearing half-undone overalls. My best friend has reminded me that this was the Color Me Badd era. Brandon gets a job as a busboy at a hip restaurant, where he learns that the other busboys, who are all minorities, don’t make minimum wage. He is outraged, and quits his job after threatening to write an expose in the school paper.

Poor misguided Brandon. We never actually see what comes of this, but his naiveté in thinking that the parents and students of West Beverly High will stop going to one of the hippest restaurants in town just because the busboys don’t make minimum wage is … sad. It is, however, a relatively unusual topic for a teen drama to bring up.

Dylan takes Brandon to the Peach Pit, where he gets a job instantly. Tiffany arrives at the Walsh home to tell Cindy that Brenda wasn’t involved in the theft. And everything ends up delightfully.