BRENDA, DYLAN, AND KELLY, OH MY! An Essay By Me
Tonight, I am in my Brenda/Dylan/Kelly era. I re-enter this era many times, because it just lives in my bones.
And tonight, after revisiting some of those Season 3 episodes for the first time in years, I have thoughts.
First of all: I need to state my bias clearly. I have always been a Brenda/Dylan apologist.
From the very beginning, the chemistry between Brenda and Dylan is palpable. It’s electric in a way that feels bigger than “teen soap opera.” There’s this push-pull between them that feels raw and dangerous and romantic in that very early-90s television way where everyone was still allowed to simmer instead of delivering Marvel quips every 14 seconds.
And honestly? A huge reason it works is Shannen Doherty.
I know “underrated” gets overused online, but her performance as Brenda genuinely deserves more flowers than it gets. Rewatching these episodes now as an adult, I’m kind of blown away by how naturalistic she is compared to a lot of television acting of that era. Brenda could be dramatic, stubborn, reactive, impulsive — but Shannen always grounded her emotionally. You understood why Brenda felt things so intensely.
So when Dylan and Kelly start sneaking around behind her back during the Paris summer episodes? I feel that betrayal viscerally. Like I AM Brenda.
But here’s where my thoughts have evolved over time.
I actually don’t think Kelly Taylor is the cartoon villain that fandom sometimes paints her as.
Now before the Brenda hive comes for me: NO, Kelly is not innocent. She absolutely crosses lines. She continues the emotional affair despite knowing it’s wrong. And yes, there are moments where her hesitation could absolutely be interpreted as performative guilt or face-saving.
BUT.
Watching those scenes again tonight, I was struck by how convincing Jennie Garth’s performance is. Kelly genuinely seems conflicted. There are multiple moments where SHE is the one trying to pump the brakes. SHE is the one saying some version of: “This doesn’t feel right. She’s my friend. She’s your girlfriend.”
And that matters to me.
Because I think the triangle works precisely because Kelly is not mustache-twirlingly evil. If she were, the story wouldn’t still be debated 30+ years later. It would just be simple betrayal.
Instead, it feels painfully human.
Two people develop feelings they shouldn’t have. One of them is your best friend. Everyone knows it’s wrong. Everyone keeps inching forward anyway.
That’s real life.
And honestly? Part of why the betrayal hurts so much is because Brenda and Kelly’s friendship is actually believable. They really DO seem like girls who genuinely enjoy each other. There’s warmth there. There’s sleepover energy. There’s “we’ve laughed until 2 AM together” energy. And as someone who is very “girl power / women supporting women”-minded, there’s something especially tragic about watching that friendship fracture.
But the biggest thing that struck me on this rewatch is this:
Why does so much of the discourse focus on Brenda vs. Kelly… while Dylan McKay somehow escapes accountability?
Including from ME, historically.
Because let’s be honest here: Dylan is not a passive object being fought over. He has agency. He has choices. And he absolutely chooses to emotionally straddle both worlds for as long as possible.
He makes Brenda feel like she is “the one.”
He makes Kelly feel like SHE is “the one.”
And he keeps both emotional doors open until he absolutely cannot anymore.
Now, do I understand WHY Dylan behaves this way? Yes. The show does a very good job establishing his trauma, abandonment issues, emotional instability, loneliness, and tendency to self-destruct. Luke Perry also plays pain so beautifully that you almost instinctively want to protect Dylan even while he’s actively making terrible choices.
And I think that’s part of why fandom historically under-prosecuted him.
He LOOKS devastated while causing devastation.
That’s a very dangerous kind of charisma.
What’s also fascinating to me revisiting 90210 now is realizing how grounded the Brenda years actually feel compared to the show’s later reputation. I know the series eventually became full-blown Aaron Spelling soap opera insanity — cults, betrayals, stalkers, endless affairs, all of that. But these early seasons still feel emotionally tethered to something recognizable about being young.
The Brenda years especially have this coming-of-age realism underneath the melodrama. The Walsh family feels like a real family. Brandon and Brenda actually feel like siblings. And honestly, I think losing Brenda later also means losing one of the show’s biggest emotional anchors: the Brandon/Brenda relationship.
As someone very close with my own siblings, I always loved that aspect of the show.
So now I’m curious.
Where do Y'ALL stand on the Brenda/Dylan/Kelly triangle all these years later?
Did you blame Kelly most?
Did you blame Dylan more?
Were Brenda and Dylan soulmates?
Were Dylan and Kelly actually better matched long-term?
Do you think Kelly’s guilt was genuine?
And did the writers eventually romanticize Dylan/Kelly in a way that rewrote history a little bit?
ALSO: for those of you who watched Beverly Hills, 90210 all the way through its TEN-season run… what am I in store for if I continue beyond the Brenda years?
As someone whose emotional attachment is really to Brenda, Brandon, Dylan, Kelly, Donna, and David — and who has always seen the “classic era” as the Brenda era — will I still be hooked? Or does it truly become a different show after Season 4?
Convince me whether I should keep going.