yulan

Crystal Clear

Loved their hippy style in that Brenda centric season 4 episode

Also, the reinforcement of the idea that Brenda had grown much closer to Donna in the aftermath of finding out about Kelly/Dylan really shines through in this episode. Kelly is basically the role of the outsider in that AU arc and doing crazy things without really caring about what others think, whereas Brenda and Donna have similar attitudes to chaos and really keep a sensible head on their shoulders - despite the sexual temptations of Dylan and David's 1960s alternatives. (Peter Brinkley )

yulan

I never thought about that. Well, that was not exactly Kelly, but Michelle imagined as Kelly And she might have been an outsider, but also a star of the group in a way.

I think that had they lived back in time, rich fashionable sorority girls Kelly and Donna would have been NOWHERE near hippies At least not from the start. I can imagine them as Sheila in musical Hair.

Crystal Clear

Yep, for sure and I love The Time Has Come Today because it creates this flawed fantasy from AU Brenda's perspective of how freedom can make or break people. She cast herself in the first person's role of Dylan / Peter's true love (with a rather bittersweet twist of it not really working out), and Donna's role (despite being a hippy) is still very Donna-ish with how David's character is sexually obsessed with her but she's keeping him at arm's length. I think reading that diary allows Brenda to realize that the group need to better appreciate their lives because they're not in the life-or-death situation that they were in during the Vietnam War.

yulan

Except that she did not create the fantasy, but was reading the diary. She cast the people into characters she was reading about, but she did not create the story.

Yeah, and then Donna's hippie alter-ego slept with David's and he never talked to her again.

Yeah, and the friendships-connections they had, I guess.

Crystal Clear

That's what I love - that she could perfectly fit her own friends' group into the story of somebody else's life, someone who she could relate to very strongly.

I DEFINITELY saw this as foreshadowing.

yulan

I remember reading some comment years ago that Kelly's alter ego Michelle dying was a projection of Brenda's wish to see Kelly dead. I was like, that's totally unfair. Brenda did not create the story, she did not know what would be the destiny of Michelle. She simply saw Michelle as similar to Kelly in being a popular girl prone to addictions who was sleeping with the man she loved, and had hesitations to have sex with. She saw Kelly as Michelle way before she knew she might die soon. Hell, that was not even in the diary, she heard it from Wendy afterwards.

I am now thinking that it's possible that David would have behaved exactly that way had she slept with him earlier. I mean, she was his ticket into the group in the early seasons so maybe he would not have, but who knows.

I am sure that in that case Brenda would have given him a piece of her mind. I am very sorry we did not see her berating him for cheating on Donna. She left too soon afterwards.

Crystal Clear

Firstly, I forgot Peter said Michelle died. I remember now, she succumbed to her addiction. Secondly, I totally agree with you Kelly was simply the version of Michelle because Brenda was still feeling the hurt of her best friend being in a sexual relationship with the man she loved. Michelle's death did not happen until late into the story and Brenda had only just started to read the diary when the dream scenario of her friends becoming these characters happened on screen. So, anyone who claims Brenda to be THAT cruel and bitter is just a hater.

I would have been interested to see that version play out in the show, to see David become your typical jock character of someone whose ego is boosted after finally getting the girl in that way and then abandons her because he feels he's surpassed her. Interestingly enough, the way that it did play out (with Ariel) wasn't altogether different from that. He admitted to sleeping with her more than once, and it coincided with him getting noticed for his music, so I feel the message there in the writing was that David was getting a taste of being noticed by ~worldly~ women, and he wanted a taste of more of that kind of lifestyle. He wanted more than just a safe high school relationship.

And that was probably one of Donna's biggest fears all along. That she was just his meal ticket to something bigger.

yulan

No, not Peter, it was Wendy who said it when Brenda went to visit her and give her a diary.

It made sense Brenda imagined Michelle as Kelly also because Kelly was indeed prone to addictions - her pills addiction and diet disorder happened already, we saw her drinking in BYOB until Brenda made her reexamine it, and she told to Dylan in Home and Away that she used to get high with some guy when her dad stood her up before. Brenda did not project something non-existent and mean in that sense.

Also, even if she wanted her to die subconsciously, that's actually something common for close people and even relatives There's a lot of ugly stuff that are usual for humans, like Kelly praying for the other girl to die so she would not. But again, there was no FREAKIN' SIGN Brenda wanted Kelly to die.

I never thought what her fears in that relationship were. She did not seem to have many, not even about David dumping her if she does not sleep with him - I guess because she made it clear so early in their relationship that she would not, and he seemed relieved in the beginning, because he was not ready for sex either.

It's interesting she never, never seemed to think about herself as his way into the group. And to me it seemed obvious.

Crystal Clear

Exactly

The inevitable comparison was drawn. Michelle's addiction and Kelly's.

I hate that Kelly never faced the repercussions of telling Brenda "I'm not going to die, so you can't have Dylan back." Moments like that really made me prefer Brenda's friendship with Donna. Once Kelly fell for Dylan, something darkened her scenes with Brenda... This ultimate jealousy where she constantly made everything into a fight about Dylan. Donna and Brenda's friendship remained untainted by fights over guys, which I'm relieved about.

yulan

Crystal Clear

The amount of bags they took with them

I don't think I had that many when I moved house

yulan

I did not pay attention, but you're right.

Crystal Clear

That pic would make a great eyeroll reaction meme

They both look done with the trip already, and they'd only just arrived.

yulan

All true.