playgroundDiaries

Oh, I can do it. Hold on. I'll re-edit this post.

More former thoughts:

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Bee, remember your statement about undisclosed resentment that could have developed between Dy and K between the time he left and the time he returned? Because they didn't uphold their friendship? Well, that's similar to what I've imagined for Dy/K in the earliest years. But it's complicated.

Dylan is a boy who, though he put on a show for Brandon in episode 2 (and only that episode), always had a good sense of who he was -- and deeply resented the falsity of the town he lived in. Therefore, I always imagined that he held some sorrow over what 'Beverly Hills' and social/life circumstance had "done" to his former friends, Kelly and Steve ... both changed to have an amazingly lost sense of identity. He was still amused by Steve's futile efforts at bravado because he understood his insecurities. But Kelly ... he considered 'ruined', though of course he was attracted to her. They began flirting a year prior to the series, somewhat reunited under the false pretenses of their respective "masks", as Steffi put it. This will all come to a head in S3, as we all know , when they have to relate to each other for real, amidst the same environment where they had been 'branded' by others.

Dylan could see right through to Kelly, and that she was potentially 'reachable' (ie, could learn to be/love herself), but for Kelly I believe it took some time for her to recognize Dylan beyond his image. This was because she had so many illusions about herself. As her character developed towards S3, softening and able to begin receiving genuine affection from people, it just felt right to me that Dylan would be the one to pick up on it and be that man for her. It was Kelly's fear of this that kept them so distanced in S1 and S2, apart from the crucial fact that she didn't want to jeopardize her relationship with the Walsh family, who represented a whole new level of security, just like they did for Dylan.

When his friend Jake was going to mess with her (emotionally and sexually), Dylan stepped in like, 'No, not on my account.' He knew that Kelly had come a long way and was invested in her personal growth, even if it had to be from afar.

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