That's a very nice explanation, and it makes a lot of sense, especially from Dylan's perspective. But I was more interested in writers' perspective and why it was so important to make him soooo intelligent and prove it quantitatively. Mess with SAT committee resulting in Dylan's "rebellion" against accusations do make sense.

Btw, what was Kelly's perspective on that SAT mess? I remember Brenda wanted him to take test and then to repeat it although she trusted him, and he did it all in the end. I don't remember Kelly saying much about it.

Yes, and it works well as catharsis for his character, as you pointed out previously. It also shows Dylan managed to open more publicly. Previously he used to do it in front of close people, but this time, he was ready to do it even for the newspapers, sort of. It was also a nice shape up for the future, like, what Dylan could do with his life, and nice closure of the drama from the beginning of school year (re: not just college plans, but also if he was really interested in doing anything beside surfing, biking and spending his inherited money).

Yeah, and the three of them were the first characters who left indeed (in seasons 4, 5 and 6 though).

I'm not sure what was Kelly's take on the SATs or if she even gave an opinion. I think Dylan was just focusing on Brenda's remark and thought she was siding with the SAT people.

Oh god, that's right! That's kinda spookily interesting.
Well if they didn't prove it quantitatively or via his ability to succeed in AP English, how would they convey his applicable intelligence? We already see how the SAT score was used storywise.

What's the difference between Dylan's perspective and the one that the writers possess and use to communicate his perspective? :oops: Like, if it makes sense from Dylan's perspective, wasn't that their goal?

She didn't give him a talking-to or anything, but listened to his passionate diatribe atop Griffith Observatory in "Rebel Without A Cause". Kelly countered with the other ways that people can misjudge you ("what really stinks" - :lol: god bless our corny show), heavily implying agreement (or at the very least, that's how Dylan took it). Then add in Jack's party later. It was a series of misjudgments, past and present, that they had Dylan and Kelly connect over.
Which I suppose is a big step when you've been caused trouble by your father giving life such a public face.

They could have simply said his grades were not that bad (I mean, DONNA of all people was in a top of her class, why wouldn't he as well?), and let him score ok, but not so insanely fantastic, and let him develop his interests without overstating he was a genius, because we already knew he was smart. I mean, were you under impression Dylan was so much smarter than the others? I was not. I know SAT was a plot deviceistis, but I don't think it was done very well, among other things for screwing up the continuity (Dylan being the one who quit test in S1 instead of Brandon).

Difference is that writers take into account multiple perspectives, not just one character's, especially because that character can be completely delusional :) I mean, the writers take care of hierarchy of characters and other things that characters are not aware of (they are fictional anyway :lol:) They restructured hierarchy of characters that season, and I think Dylan's fantastic SAT score was a means to communicate that he is now a main character, (almost) equal to Brandon. They always alleviated statuses of characters by making them so much better than the others, which, I think, ultimately backfired, because it was harder to identify with them, and people would rather side with someone more human/ordinary (therefore retroactive popularity of Steve and backclash toward Brandon and Dylan).


Hm, no, I guess he did not think she was siding with them because he asked her if she truly believed him and she said yes, because he never lied to her. Then he felt compelled to finally admit - not completely, of course - it was not necessarily true.

Good insight. I did not think about it, that Dylan's care for privacy was, among other things, consequence of (negative) public attention Jack was getting. Although I am not sure Jack was much under spotlight until his machinations with pensions were revealed, and Dylan was already a big boy at that point.

Okay, it seems the lynchpin here is that Dylan earned an "insanely fantastic" score, but it was only fantastic compared to how he did before. I know the SATs have changed since 1993, but we're talking about him earning maybe a 1300 or 1400 here, not a 1600 and only about ten correct questions above the Walshes' score of ~1200. Which is really middle-range great. It's above average but below Ivy League dreams. If Brandon or Brenda were aces on the extracurriculars, essay, and interview (if applicable), they'd be contenders for UC-Berkeley too, at least to try.

I only say all this because I never felt like the show was trying to push that he was a genius. :lol: And, like you said, we knew from the get-go that he was intelligent. I feel like he stayed at that level, just applied it to school.
See, and that was part of her own story of personal heroism, fighting for herself and winning despite the disability. Dylan did the same.
Where is all this backlash against Dylan and Brandon for coming off as superior to the rest of the gang? :lol: I think maybe it was a priority, as Dylan was already a main character, to show that he could realistically end up at the same University as Brandon and the gang despite slagging off with his work here and there.

He only asked her because he thought she was siding with the SAT people. And she was! Not in the sense that she thought he was a liar or a cheater (which he could believe, with her answer) but that she didn't understand what the big deal was. Just take the test again. Why does everything have to be such a battle?

Molly Ringwald's going to play his wife in Riverdale.

Molly Ringwald Joins The CW’s ‘Riverdale’ as Archie’s Mom | Variety

Thanks for sharing.

That's really cool about Molly. Two former teen icons together.

Ah, ok, when I read it was about 100 points more than BB I thought it was something incredible. I mean, everyone reacted that way.

Maybe they didn't, but sometimes I had such an impression. Effortless achievement of high SAT scores, other characters' delight about his writing and knowledge of poetry, fast pace of finishing university after he returned... I mean, from S3 onwards the show really pushed the notion that some characters could do anything they wanted if they just put little, like, minimal effort in it - Kelly, Brandon and Dylan in particular.

Uf, maybe heroism is a bit too strong notion here (it's not like she was overcoming some tragic conditions), but she did work hard, and that was admirable. It was a SL developed over longer period of time than Dylan's. But I guess Dylan's worked out as catharsis.

Um, have you checked the other forums lately? :lol:

Not sure that anything realistic was involved, given that Steve ended up in the same university as all of them :lol: But yeah, I guess the writers started to think about their college/career choices way too late (S3), and therefore had to find for some characters what to do at the last minute (Donna and arts/design, David and music apart from dancing, Dylan and writing, Kelly and psychology - literally last minute, in the graduation episode). I mean, it was clear what Brenda, Brandon and Andrea were into all along from the start of the show, but they were also in different position than the Hillsters, not so rich and therefore more hardworking and thoughtful about their interests and future.

Well I guess they implied that he cheated and lied, and she definitely did not side with them. But Dylan definitely saw everything in dychotomized and confronted terms, and anything that did not comply with his POV was against him/siding with the imagined enemy, and not acknowledge that somebody could be "on his side" and want him to take the test again to avoid further mess. For him it was either A or B, no possibility for A and B. He said that only Brandon was on his side in the whole situation.

So, Luke's son is a wrestler named Jungle Boy. :lol: Not that surprising though since I recall hearing the two attended matches about 10 years ago. I think Luke was even a guest on WWE.

Luke Perry Supports His Son Jungle Boy Nate Coy at a Wrestling Tournament | E! News

Haha, this was a logical aftermath! :lol:

So young.

Like the one with him and Joan Collins. Hated that s6 hair. Good riddance.

Really? I liked super short hair on him. I hated S5 hair. It seemed so... greasy and unwashed.

Of course, because of his downward spiral. Too bad I didn't like him much that season because I think it was maybe the hottest he'd ever looked.