Recap: Nat is staring nostalgically at a bunch of framed photographs of old Hollywood that are hanging on the wall of the Peach Pit. Brandon, meanwhile, is playing a game of table hockey on the counter with Dylan and Steve. Brandon wins, but accidentally breaks a small bowl in the process...and Nat picks up the shards and snipes at Brandon for being so careless with his dishware. He then snappishly orders no one in particular to start cleaning up the place, then rhetorically asks if he has to do everything himself. After he stomps off in search of some Midol, Steve sarcastically jokes how the Peach Pit is L.A.'s newest fun spot...and Brandon tells his friends that Nat has been behaving like a little bitch for the past two weeks. At quitting time, Brandon goes to the back room to get his jacket and reminds Nat that they need to order some mustard. Nat gets all snarly again and snaps that he's been running the place for twenty years and knows what he's doing. By now, Brandon is fed up with Nat's bitchitude and challenges him to fire his ass if he's just going to bite his head off every time he opens his mouth. Nat immediately apologizes for acting like such a douchenozzle lately and assures Brandon that his problems that have nothing to do with him. He's struggling financially, particularly after shelling out so much money to remodel the diner several episodes ago. On top of that, the recession has been so bad for business that Nat is doubtful he can afford to keep Willie, his full-time cook, on the payroll for much longer. The Walsh house. When Brandon arrives home, Mama Walsh urgently reminds him that he's supposed to be attending the "preliminary meeting of the teen advisory board", which is already in session in the Walsh's living room. Brandon tells her he finds it impossible to get himself psyched about being a teen consultant for a new shopping mall, but Mama Walsh reminds him that he promised Papa Walsh he'd do him this favor, then lets viewers know that one of Papa Walsh's wealthiest clients is spearheading the development of the shopping mall. Brandon and Mama Walsh peek inside the living room to see how the meeting's going. The facilitator is a girl with dark fuzzy hair, and when she briefly excuses herself from the meeting, she spots Brandon in the hallway and gives him an appreciative once-over. Brandon immediately looks smitten, as he does anytime a remotely attractive female happens to stumble into his line of sight. Papa Walsh notices Brandon lurking nearby and urges him to join the group. The facilitator, whose name we learn is Marcie, returns to the living room, and she and Brandon engage in some flirty banter. Brandon is impressed when he learns that her father is Dixon St. Claire (of the St. Claire Development Company), and that he's Papa Walsh's heavyweight client behind the shopping mall project. From across the room, Brenda observes Marcie hitting on Brandon and remarks on it to Kelly. Kelly, however, is doubtful that an attractive college student who's also president of her sorority, would have the slightest interest in a teenage boy with barely any chest hair yet - but Brenda insists that she recognizes the tell-tale signs of a woman shamelessly throwing herself at her brother. West Beverly High. The gang is busily disseminating questionnaires about the proposed shopping mall to their schoolmates. Brandon gives a questionnaire to Ahn-drea, and immediately regrets it when she starts griping in her usual rambley way about why there needs to be another mall. Across the lawn, Brenda assures Donna, who's acting even more dim-witted than usual in this episode, that the questionnaire isn't a quiz...meaning there are no right or wrong answers. She explains that the developers merely want to determine the types of stores that Beverly Hills teenagers like the best. A light bulb then goes off inside Donna's big head, and she tells Brenda that her favorite stores are the ones that accept credit cards. Thank you, Donna. Now relinquish your BMW and start taking the special bus to school. Back across the lawn, Ahn-drea is railing about the negative impact that a new shopping mall is likely to have on the environment, and asks Brandon if the development company will be conducting an environment impact survey. As she babbles about traffic control and noise abatement, Brandon's eyes glaze over, and he asks her in a really fatigued way if she's planning on filling out the fucking questionnaire or not. Across the lawn, Kelly reports back to Brenda and Dylan about the feedback she's gotten back from the rest of the gang. Most of the suggestions are reasonable things like fashion and music stores, movie theaters, and coffee bars...but Steve also wants a Ferrari dealership. In a shopping mall. What a stupid wanker. Marcie shows up at the school and approaches Brenda, Kelly, and Dylan. She tells them that she's been to all of the nearby high schools, passing out questionnaires and gathering input. Kelly hands her the stack of completed questionnaires, and Marcie asks how Brandon is doing. Brenda tells her that he's across the lawn, discussing the questionnaire with Ahn-drea...which is the equivalent of beating his head against a wall. She derisively adds "it could take hours". Hee! Across the lawn, Brandon points to Marcie and tells Ahn-drea that if she has a problem with the new shopping mall, she can take it up with the fuzzy haired girl...and like the obnoxious, sucky baby she is, Ahn-drea retorts, "Maybe I will." Marcie invites Brenda, Kelly, and Dylan to attend a joint sorority-fraternity party on the university campus. Brenda and Kelly are definitely into the idea, and Kelly is especially impressed to learn that Marcie is a Tri-Gam, and reverently refers to the sorority as "the best in the west". The theme of the party will be Am I Blue? Marcie, who incidentally has to be somewhere in her early twenties, grins excitedly and announces to her new teenage friends that she's going to extend a personal invitation to Brandon. Dreamy as Brandon is, he's a junior in high school and therefore can't be older than seventeen...so this May-December hook-up could end up with some legal implications for Miss Marcie. The Peach Pit. Brandon arrives for his shift and is delighted to see that Nat hasn't given Willie the boot yet. He expresses his approval to Nat, who sardonically jokes, "Who needs to make a profit?" He then points out a framed photo of his father and reminisces about the old man's Hollywood connections...but then laments that nothing lasts forever. I wonder if Nat has ever considered the possibility that the Peach Pit is doing way suckier than it did during his father's day solely because it's now under his shitty management. The St. Claire Development Company is conducting a visual, 3D presentation of the proposed shopping mall to an enthralled audience. Afterward, Brandon looks over a scale model of the project and tells Marcie he's thrilled about the inclusion of an ice-rink, which was his suggestion. As Marcie rushes off to mingle with the gals, Papa Walsh strolls over with Art Peters, St. Claire's project manager...and during those few seconds, Brandon is looking over details of the plans for the new mall and suddenly looks troubled. He rudely blows off an introduction to Art Peters and tells Papa Walsh that he urgently needs to speak with him in private. Apparently, the location of the new mall is written all over the plans, and he's shocked with the realization that the Peach Pit will likely be torn down! Oh nooo!! Turns out Papa Walsh is fully aware of this, but he doesn't care enough about the demise of a failing diner to risk making a scene in front of his fancy rich client...and firmly orders Brandon to stuff a sock in it until they get home. The Walsh house. As they arrive home, Brandon is arguing with his father about how tearing down the Peach Pit will surely "rip Nat's heart out", and says it like it's a bad thing. Papa Walsh admonishes him for getting carried away - which he totally is - then sternly reminds him that this information is confidential. He cannot breathe a word of it to Nat, since it's possible that the development company may already be in negotiations with him. Er, OK...so the proposed location of the new shopping mall is written all over the development plans, which were accessible to every person who attended the 3D presentation that evening, but yet it's still considered to be highly confidential information? Whatever, writers. Papa Walsh stresses that millions of dollars are riding on this project, and that keeping quiet about it is not a request. An irked Brandon stalks off and heads upstairs to bed. Brandon's room. Brenda barges in, ignoring Brandon's warning that he doesn't want to talk. She lectures him about how a choice between Papa Walsh and Nat really isn't a choice. Brandon then extols the virtues of St. Nat and tells Brenda that he's such a swell guy he couldn't bring himself to fire Willie the cook. Please. That only proves he's too much of a gutless pantywaist to deliver bad news to an employee. Brenda points out that the development company will probably offer Nat a lot of money for the Pit, but Brandon argues that money isn't the issue; Nat loves the diner because his family built it. He pissily declares he wants nothing more to do with the teen advisory board and, by association, Marcie. He also tells Brenda that he no longer wants to go to the sorority-fraternity party...but then easily relents when Brenda reminds him that the rest of the gang is going. LOL. Sorority-fraternity party. The gang, dressed all in blue, enters a large house. They're greeted in the foyer by a weird-o named Mike, who acts like a mental patient who's been skipping his meds. When Steve inquires about a keg, Mike informs them that there's no alcohol at the party because: a) the fraternity is still on suspension for their last blow-out party, and b) the writers have already dealt with the issue of underage drinking in Season 1 and the made up U4EA drug earlier in Season 2 and don't want to beat the substance abuse issue to death. Marcie suddenly sneaks up behind Mike and tells the gang not to pay any attention to him, then invites them to check out the coffee bar. Brandon enters the house and has clearly ignored the party's recommended dress code and is wearing a red sports jacket. Mike complains about his non-blue outfit, but Marcie waves him away and tells him it's fine. As the gang starts to mingle, Brandon grimaces and remarks to Marcie how she'll probably want to dance with him - but she's also not into dancing and tells him that some people just weren't made to boogie. Brandon jokingly tells her he's in love. Kelly and Steve are dancing together. He's being very touchy feely with her, but she's totally not into it. She's too busy surveying the room for cute frat boys, and remarks to Steve that she could totally see herself going out with a guy in a fraternity...and Steve tells her he could totally see himself being in a fraternity. Give it up, Steve. Across the room, Brenda gushes to Dylan about the beautiful campus...but Dylan's not impressed with any of it. He hates the attitude of the frat boys and tells her that he has no intention of ever attending this university. Brenda wants to know why he's so down on the school, so he enlightens her about how his father threw a bunch of money at the university to buy respectability, hence the recently constructed McKay Student Center. Dylan then tells her that she's lucky to have an honest father like Papa Walsh, who's always such a straight shooter with no ulterior motives. Mmm hmm.. Marcie takes Brandon to a private room, which is filled with scale models of various building projects. The two smooch it up, and Marcie tells him that she thinks her father will really like him. She says that once the shopping mall project is approved, things will move very fast...and the fact that Brandon is "right in on the ground floor" makes it likely that her father will offer him a position in the company. I'm starting to wonder if Marcie doesn't realize that Brandon is still a teenager and several years away from needing a full time career type of job. She tells him she's in the mood to celebrate, so naturally he drives her over to the only diner in town...I'm sure you can guess which. The Peach Pit. Brandon gets behind the counter and, with running commentary, prepares a mega-burger for Marcie. Nat butts into the conversation and starts blathering about how Marilyn Monroe used to eat at the Pit all the time and really liked mega-burgers. That sounds like a giant load of bullcack, but OK. He then whines about how movie stars don't frequent the Pit so much anymore...they get the occasional celebrity, but business isn't nearly as good as it used to be. With that said, Nat wanders off dejectedly - LOL - and Brandon tells Marcie that the Peach Pit is on the chopping block because of the shopping mall project. She's surprised to hear that - but surprise quickly turns to anger, and she accuses him of bringing her here just to make her feel bad. Well, d'yuh. He explains that he figured maybe once she came into the diner, ate a mega-burger and got a feel for the dump - and she snarks, "I'll what? Talk to my father?" and Brandon's like, "Well, yeah. Sort of." She admonishes him for being a simpleton, thinking that her father would actually halt two years of research and development for a stupid hamburger joint that is, by Nat's own account, long past its heyday. She snarks that the real world doesn't work that way and storms off. The Peach Pit. The following day, Brandon arrives for his shift and encounters a depressed looking Willie. He then sees Nat sitting at the end of the counter, looking glum and dressed in a fugly, ill-fitting suit. Brandon approaches him and asks what's wrong, so Nat tells him that a developer has big plans for the neighborhood, which will likely mean the end of the Peach Pit. There's a meeting about it later, which is why he's dressed in his Sunday best. Brandon admits that he already knew all about it, but that Papa Walsh kept him muzzled 'cause it was confidential. Nat doesn't take issue with this and tells Brandon he understands that it's just business. However, he's not very confident that he'll get offered a lot of money for his property, and worries that he'll have to get a job at McDonald's. He should be so lucky in this recession. He suddenly decides to bail on the developer's meeting, since the Peach Pit will most likely be history whether or not he attends. Developer's meeting. Art Peters gives Papa Walsh a quick rundown of exactly how the meeting will unfold. Brandon suddenly enters the room, much to Papa Walsh's surprise. He asks his son what he's doing there, so Brandon tells him he wanted to meet the great Dixon St. Claire. He saunters over to the old man, who's standing beside his daughter Marcie...and she looks on nervously as her father and Brandon engage in an awkward chat. Dixon is actually pretty gracious, while Brandon behaves like a total dick, talking in passive-aggressive riddles about how history is his favorite subject in school. Sensing disaster, Marcie cuts the conversation short and tells her father that the meeting is about to start. She shoots Brandon a look of warning. Dixon St. Claire kicks off the meeting by thanking Marcie for organizing the teen advisory board. He proudly tells everyone that she didn't find one teenager who had a negative response to the proposed shopping mall. As that's happening, Ahn-drea quietly slips into the room and takes a seat. Blech. Suddenly, Brandon interrupts Dixon and blurts out, "There may have been one." He goes completely rogue and rises to his feet before announcing that he's having a lot of second thoughts about the shopping mall project, and says that the development company needs to hear what "the little guy" has to say before bulldozers start rolling in. Papa Walsh looks as though his balding head is going to explode, while Ahn-drea has that horrible smug look I always want to wipe off her face. Brandon then gets all preachy about how the city needs to save its history. After the meeting, Papa Walsh angrily reprimands Brandon for speaking out against Dixon St. Claire's shopping mall plans, and Brandon barks back that he did it to stand up for Nat. Papa Walsh snaps that Nat is a grown man who didn't even bother coming to the meeting. Good point. Brandon then reminds his father that he had promised to take care of Nat, and Papa Walsh retorts that the development company will surely offer Nat a fair price for the diner, not to mention that he'll have a permanent location in the new mall. Brandon grumbles that that will take years, and what is Nat supposed to do in the meantime? Frustrated, Papa Walsh barks at Brandon to get off his soapbox and consider how he may be damaging his relationship to a very important client. Brandon apologizes for that, but still doesn't agree with how St. Claire is railroading this project through, and refuses to keep his mouth shut about it. West Beverly High. Brandon enters a classroom and is stunned to find the gang making "Save the Peach Pit" signs and posters. Ahn-drea explains by telling him, "You don't have to fight this all alone, Ace." OMG, I fuuuuuuucking hate it when she calls him Ace. The others tell him they never would have agreed to be on the teen advisory board if they knew it meant tearing down the Peach Pit. David bursts into the room and announces that he's going to be broadcasting his pretend radio show live from the Pit that afternoon, and that he'll only play songs from Nat's jukebox. Not sure how that's going to help anything. Ahn-drea adds that The Times may be able to free up a reporter to send someone to the diner. Brenda appears in the doorway and tells Brandon she needs to speak with him privately, then lays into him for getting all of their friends involved in his crusade to save a crappy diner. She overheard their parents talking about the whole mess, and tells Brandon that Papa Walsh got chewed out by Art Peters after the developer's meeting. But as cheesed off as Papa Walsh was, he remarked to his wife that he was proud of Brandon 'cause he reminded him of grandpa. Brandon suddenly looks very thoughtful and returns to the classroom to tell the gang he needs to go and take care of something. Somewhere downtown. Brandon is on his way to see Art Peters to apologize to him for interrupting the meeting, and to make it clear that Papa Walsh had nothing to do with his outburst. He runs into Marcie outside the building, and the two have a nonsensical conversation about loyalties and an accusation that she's afraid of being her own woman...blah blah. The Peach Pit. Brandon enters the diner, surprised at how quiet it is. David isn't there DJing (yay!), and there's no sign of any reporters. When he asks Nat whaddup, he tells Brandon he sent everybody home because the St. Claire Development Company made him an offer he couldn't refuse. He now has enough money to give Willie a small severance, and is contemplating buying himself a boat and sailing away. That is, by far, the best idea I've ever heard come out of Nat's mouth. Sail far, far away, Nat. And when you're done that, keep on sailing. Brandon is pissed off that Nat caved to the developer and gives him a big guilt trip him for letting him down. He had assumed they were fighting for something important...something bigger than just the two of them. The Walsh house. Brandon has just finished making himself a sandwich when Papa Walsh walks through the back door. He comments that the sandwich looks tasty, so Brandon hands it to him and remarks that he's not hungry. He starts to stalk off sullenly when Papa Walsh stops him and asks him how long he's going to shut him out...and Brandon doesn't answer, but instead tells him that the development company offered Nat a bunch of money. Papa Walsh is like, "What's wrong with that?" and then cites the realities of living in the grown-up world: paying mortgages, bills, and putting food on the table. He points out that the shopping mall will create thousands of jobs. Well...yeah, but mostly minimum wage type jobs, Jim. Brandon gets all sanctimonious about how everyone has sold out, then storms out of the kitchen. Mama Walsh enters the room and clucks, "Poor Brandon" and Papa Walsh is like, "What about me?" so she explains that Brandon's upset because he lost a hero today...in Nat. Good grief. The Peach Pit. Papa Walsh stops by the diner to pick up a pie he had ordered in advance, and Nat boxes it up for him and gives it to him on the house. He then asks Papa Walsh if he wouldn't mind looking over the papers he received from the St. Claire Development Company. Papa Walsh agrees...and is stunned by the paltry sum the developers offered him, so he rushes over to the phone to call Art Peters to complain. Art explains to him that Nat stupidly accepted their first low-ball offer and didn't even try to negotiate a better price. What a dumbass. Art then says that it's probably a moot point anyway and orders Papa Walsh to come by the office so they can discuss it. The Walsh house. When Brandon returns home after a bicycle ride, Brenda informs him that the funding for the shopping mall project has just fallen through. She feels bad for Papa Walsh, but she's also happy that the Peach Pit won't be torn down and that she can continue to poison her body with Nat's diner junk food. Brandon assures her that she was right to stand by their father. Living room. A little later, Papa Walsh is guzzling a brandy, recounting for Brandon how the deal fell through. Art Peters was a real tool and accused Papa Walsh of not being a team player when he warned him that the funding might not be approved. Well that's just nonsensical. Anyway, Papa Walsh is fairly confident he won't get fired, and philosophizes about how he may never earn the big bucks, but at least he's learned how to play the game. He then refers to Brandon as a "chip off the old block" and says that grandpa wouldn't have it any other way. Brandon suddenly asks if Nat knows that the deal fell through. He doesn't. The Peach Pit. Brandon enters the diner and pretends he's there to help Nat clean the place out. Nat immediately gets defensive and explains how he never intended to sell the Peach Pit, but only made the decision to do so when the developer offered to buy him out. It's painful watching a grown man so desperately seek approval from a self-righteous teenager. Brandon advises him to auction off all the crap inside the diner, starting with the autographed celebrity photographs on the wall - but Nat doesn't like that idea and tells Brandon there's no price for stuff like that, which prompts a lame joke about how everything has its price. Nat laments how disgusted the gang must be with him, and is about to start wringing his hands when Brandon finally tells him that the funding for the shopping mall fell through. The Peach Pit will remain standing! Oh joy. Nat is elated and gives Brandon a hearty hug. After that, the gang and a whole schwak of extras stream inside the diner to congratulate him. Nat barks at Willie to fire up the grill. Poor schlub. I hope he's getting overtime pay. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!
5 Comments
MTCIII65
3/19/2019 04:43:30 am
It was pretty nice of the Mike and the Tri-Gams to let Marcie have a room in their house solely for her father’s building models.
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Myriam
12/11/2019 12:17:33 pm
Noticed something funny in this ep... it'd the second time a rich character makes a not-so-subtle hint at being able to "buy" or help an admission a Stanford (the other time was in S1 in the episode with Chandler from Friends, and it was even more directly said than in this ep). I'm VERY surprised the writers/producers allowed those things to be said on TV with the name of a real university - that's the kind of things you can easily get sued for. A lot of businesses/institutions took TV shows or movies to court for much less than that... like a bar that was mentioned in SATC in which Carrie was seen buying a joint (or smoking a joint inside), the writers had used the real name of a real bar, and that bar sued the show for defamation because it gave the impression to viewers that this bar was ok with drugs being used/sold in its establishments.
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Sonya
11/29/2020 05:52:26 pm
"the writers had used the real name of a real bar, and that bar sued the show for defamation because it gave the impression to viewers that this bar was ok with drugs being used/sold in its establishments."
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Sonya
11/29/2020 05:50:00 pm
Boy you really hated this episode didn't you? ROFL!
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Lily
4/28/2021 09:13:08 am
Um, I can do without the extra menstruating over bashing Nat. I don’t care if you want him dead, but goodness, get over yourself. As someone who’s had friends with families who had lost their long-time homes due to big shot developers replacing their homes with condos and foreign businesses, I can sympathize with Nat’s situation. You don’t seem like the type who cares about nostalgia or history and would rather have them replaced with cleaner, modern architecture. Or the type who calls a 3rd world area a “crappy” place if it didn’t look like the damn Buckingham Palace. Like how you dissed Anna’s home in that episode where her niece was hiding out after witnessing a descriptive murder on Season 1. There are some people who love Nat and also those who can relate to his situation. No need for the extraness.
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