Beverly Hills, 90210 - Season 8, Episode 20

"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit taking amphetamines."

"The Girl Who Cried Wolf"
Original airdate: 2/25/1998

Episode summary: Valerie continues to accuse Noah of roofie-ing and raping her. Donna starts to get hooked on uppers. Brandon and Steve go on a police ride-along.

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Recap: Noah is in an interrogation room at the police station, being questioned for his alleged roofie-ing and rape of Valerie. He admits that, yeah sure, they had debaucherous drunken sex...but vehemently denies drugging or assaulting her. In a different interrogation room, Valerie insists that she was drugged and raped...and points out that when Noah slipped her a roofie, he took away her ability to make a decision about what she wanted.

Over in the waiting room, Donna is wringing her hands and gabbling about how impossible it is for Noah to be a rapist. Josh asks her if her painkillers are working, then recommends that she start taking another set of pills to counteract the dozy-ing effects of the first set. Donna, who doesn't appear to sense any red flags related to Josh's over-interest in her pill consumption, agrees to let him set her up with amphetamines once all the pesky Noah/rape stuff settles down.

Valerie emerges from the interrogation room and despondently tells David she wants to go home. A few seconds later Noah too is released...and when he sees Valerie he cries, "I didn't rape you!" and David gets all in his face and snarls at him to stop talking to her. He then glares at Donna in disgust and asks her how she can possibly stand by the brute. Donna pulls Noah aside and assures him she doesn't believe he did anything wrong...and Noah sheepishly confesses to consensually boning Valerie during a drunken haze 'cause he was jealous about her and David spending so much time together. Donna looks aghast and whimpers, "Tell me this isn't happening.."

The Walsh house. David calls Jasper and tells him he has to postpone band rehearsal 'cause Valerie needs his round-the-clock comforting after being roofied and assaulted. Valerie thanks him for being so thoughtful and says if the situation were reversed, she probably wouldn't do the same for him. Well that's a heartwarming message to send to your boyfriend. 

Brandon and Steve are in the kitchen, discussing the Valerie/roofie/rape situation. Brandon isn't sure what he believes, while Steve has strong doubts about her accusations and reminds Brandon that she once lied about having an abortion. The two ponder the plausibleness of Noah slipping her a roofie and then forcing himself on her, and Steve shrugs and says, "Well...one of them is lying." Suddenly - ack! - Valerie appears in the doorway, shoots him the stink-eye, and snaps, "And who that be??" Awkward.

Boat. Josh is calling on his connections in the legal world to pull strings to help Noah get off - but Noah rejects his help and insists he's innocent.

Beach house. Donna tearfully commiserates to Kelly about Noah's drunken romp with Valerie, and wonders if maybe he did get out of control and drug and rape Valerie. Kelly rejects that theory and says that while Noah is a drunken cheater, he's definitely no rapist. Donna pulls out her medication and says she needs something to numb her back pain 'cause she has a presentation for work tomorrow [has this girl even been to a doctor??], and Kelly offers to call in sick so they can hang out together and watch movies. Noah drops by and once again insists that he absolutely did not drug/rape Valerie. Donna barks at him to leave her alone...and then Kelly chides him for cheating on her friend, but assures him that neither she nor Donna believe that he committed a criminal act.
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Donna heads to the bathroom and weeps as she downs several painkillers.

The Peach Pit. Steve and Brandon are hanging with Steve's new lady cop friend, Tammy, and her partner, Glen. Steve asks Tammy out for tonight, but she has to decline 'cause she and Glen are working nights this week. Brandon asks Glen if he and Steve could join them for a ride-along and then write about the experience in The Beverly Beat...and Glen says yes, and they arrange to do it tomorrow night.

The Walsh house. As Valerie searches the want ads for a new job, David tells her to chillax and assures her that everything is going to be A-OK. She moans about how humiliating the trial will be, then wonders aloud how a doink she doesn't even remember could make her feel so terrible. Kelly, meanwhile, is in the kitchen, setting the table for dinner when David comes downstairs to get some food for Valerie. Kelly makes a snarky comment about how she doesn't believe that Valerie is really a victim, then glares at a sheepish looking Brandon and snarks, "One thing I've learned this season is that people are capable of anything." Steve mocks David for pampering Valerie and reminds him about her faux abortion, then says he's pretty sure Valerie only claimed she was raped after he (David) busted her for cheating on him with Noah. An enraged David slams the plate of food he's holding onto the floor and then lunges at Steve...and Valerie rushes into the kitchen and breaks up the fight. She glares at Brandon with a wounded expression on her face and asks him what he thinks 'bout all this, and Brandon lamely replies, "I dunno what to think." The DA's office calls to inform Valerie that they won't be filing charges against Noah due to insufficient evidence...and as she hangs up, she shakes her head in incredulity and says, "They don't believe me." She and David then decide to stay at his place 'cause she no longer feels welcome at Casa Walsh.

The Peach Pit. Kelly, Steve, Donna, and Brandon are discussing the Valerie situation when Noah enters the diner and informs everyone that the DA dropped the charges against him. Donna just glares at him and snarks, "I loved you!" and flounces off, while Brandon and Steve congratulate him. Noah shoots Brandon the stink-eye and retorts, "I didn't do anything you didn't do." Meow. Josh, meanwhile, supplies Donna with another upper so she can get herself all perked up for her work presentation. 

David's apartment. Valerie passes along a message to David that Jasper called, and he just shrugs disinterestedly and says he probably just wants to schedule studio time. Valerie suddenly starts to go all squirrelly about how men only ever just want her for sex...and starts aggressively undoing David's belt. He tells her to stop being weird and pushes her hands away, and she calms down and says he's prolly the only man in the history of men who hasn't want to use her for sex. She then rails about how she wants everyone to know that what Noah did was wrong, and that it matters...and David hugs her and reassures her that this tedious storyline too shall pass...and also gently reminds her that she can't just put all the blame on men for wanting her for sex when she has a strong track record of so willingly and frequently putting it out there. [OK - that last part was me, wishing David had had the stones to call her out on her self-piteous nonsense]. 

Donna's sitting in her cubicle at work, zonked out from the pain meds. Her boss comes over to inform her that she may need to stay late to get all of the required sketches done. Donna says, "No problem", then pulls out the upper that Josh gave her earlier, stares at it for several seconds, and swallows it.

Brandon and Steve are on the cop ride-along with Tammy and Glen. The two cops talk about their partnership, and how Glen's previous partner was killed in the line of duty a few months ago. A few minutes later, they get a call from dispatch about a crime in process and squeal off with the siren blaring. They spot a man running, and then trap him in an alley that's blocked on the other end by a chain link fence. Glen exits the car and starts beating the guy with his baton, and Brandon and Steve are all, "WTF?!" A stricken looking Brandon can't take his eyes off the spectacle and mutters, "I don't like what I see."

Donna's boss drops in on her as she's taping up all the sketches she completed while she was hopped up on the upper. He tells her he's impressed with her hard work, then informs her that the presentation has been pushed back a day, and urges her to go home and get some rest.

After Dark. Valerie storms in and snarks at Noah that she figured he'd be re-opening the club with a celebratory bash, considering how quickly the DA dropped the charges. Noah broodily says he's not celebrating anything, and Valerie snaps, "Everyone thinks I made it up!" Noah tells her he believes that she's a victim - but continues to deny that he's the culprit. Valerie's like, "Whatever" and informs him that she's filing a civil suit for $10 million 'cause she wants the world to know what he did.

Boat. Josh assures Noah that he's handled plenty of nuisance suits before and figures that a cheap slut like Valerie will be more than willing to agree to a cheap settlement. Noah objects to his characterization of her as a slut, then says he also doesn't like the idea of settling, 'cause then everyone will assume he's guilty. He then scrunches his face in misery and says that someone out there caused this and wishes he could figure it out and get his hands on him. He wracks his tiny brain to deduce who might have had access to Valerie's drink - but can't seem to crack that nut, even though the only people in the bar around the time of her roofie-ing were Valerie, Josh [ding ding ding], and himself. Donna phones over at the boat and snarkishly tells Noah she wants to talk to her new drug dealer, Josh.
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Brandon and Steve chat with Tammy and Glen about the ride-along. Glen says it's important to take charge of perps like the way he was needlessly beating on poor Louie (the guy in the alley), otherwise they think they're invincible...and Brandon sarcastically retorts, "That's where the night stick comes in, I guess." Tammy asks him what kind of article he's planning to write for the Beat, and Brandon sanctimoniously replies, "An honest one."

The Peach Pit. Donna tells Josh she could really use some more uppers for her upcoming presentation. He hands her two pills, and she immediately swallows them and assures him that this should just about do it. Josh then asks her if she heard about Valerie's civil lawsuit, and she's all, "Wha-a?!"

Jasper meets David at the Peach Pit to inform him that the record company people are worried about his commitment to Jasper's Legend, and that they're talking about dumping him. Dump him! Dump him!

Donna runs into David and snarkishly says they finally know what Valerie's price is. David says he had hoped that this situation wouldn't affect their friendship, and she looks contrite and remarks on how weird it is that Valerie and Noah hit the sheets after constantly bitching about them being so close. David points out that Noah allegedly raped Valerie, which isn't "hitting the sheets" in the consensual, non-icky sense, but Donna says she refuses to believe that and insists that Valerie's just in this for the money.

The Walsh house. Kelly greets Brandon and Steve when they arrive home after the ride-along and tells them about Valerie's $10 million lawsuit, then bitchily wonders how she came up with that outrageous figure. Valerie - ack! - once again appears in the doorway just in time to overhear the trash talk, then shoots Brandon another hurtful stare and asks him to share his opinion. Brandon stares at her like a deer in headlights and mumbles, "You're still welcome to stay here." Valerie insists that all she wants is for Noah to admit what he did, then storms out. When she's safely out of earshot, Kelly chides Brandon for being too easy on the tart, and Brandon argues that she was way too hard on her.

Donna is delivering her presentation to a buyer/designer/partner/not sure, dazzling him with her fashion expertise and charm. He applauds her performance and tells her he'd like her to deliver the very same presentation for his partners. She's like, "Er...OK" then stares into space and makes a mental note to get in touch with her amphetamine pusher asap.

Josh drops by David's apartment to offer Valerie a settlement check for $200,000 and says if the case goes to trial, it'll probably be thrown out due to no witnesses or concrete evidence. Valerie stares down at the check and mulls over the offer.

Beach house. The phone is ringing, but Donna's laying on the couch, too zonked out to answer it...and Kelly runs into the room and irritably snatches up the receiver. It's David calling, and as Kelly chats with him, she watches a desperate looking Donna tear the couch apart as she searches for her bottle of painkillers. Kelly ends the phone call and tells Donna that her pills are on the counter, and Donna bitchily grabs them from her and inhales several of them. Kelly informs her that Noah offered to settle with Valerie for 200K, and Donna scrunches her big face with displeasure and says that by doing so, Noah is sending the message that he's guilty. Kelly studies her concernedly and asks her if she's feeling OK, and Donna grunts something unintelligible as she gets on the horn with Josh to hit him up for another supply of amphetamines. 

Boat. Noah is angry at Josh for offering Valerie 200K, but Josh informs him that part of the arrangement is that Valerie will have to sign something that states he's not guilty of sexual assault. Noah's like, "No sale" and orders him to withdraw the offer and insists on standing by his innocence. Josh impatiently reminds him that he drunkenly doinked Valerie, and that the slut is not worth ruining his life over.

The Beverly Beat. Brandon is getting ready to do a final proof of the ride-along story when Tammy drops by the newsroom. She tells them that Louie ended up not being the perp they were looking for, 'cause another man was found robbing a nearby store and was promptly arrested. Brandon points out that this means an innocent man was roughed up and forced to spend a night in jail for no reason, and snarks about her partner's bad behavior. Tammy tells him that Glen is still traumatized from being in a similar situation a few months ago - but that time it ended up with the death of his partner. She says he's only a few months from retirement, and that a story about his abusive tendencies could ruin things for him. She insists that he's a great cop and that everything isn't always as it seems...and Steve softens and says they probably shouldn't run the story, and Brandon agrees. He then stares contemplatively into the distance and wonders aloud if perhaps everything isn't as it seems with the Valerie/roofie situation either. Perhaps not, Brandon. Perhaps not.

David asks Valerie if she's going to accept the settlement check, and she says maybe, since it could be the only justice she'll get. Jasper drops by to inform David that if he pulls anymore no-shows, the record label is going to drop him. Drop him! Drop him! Valerie urges David to go to rehearsal, and reminds him that she's a grown woman who can manage on her own for a few hours. 

Wyatt Clinic. Kelly is doing inventory on the clinic's supply of medications when Donna just happens to drop by. She apologizes for her bitchitude this morning, and Kelly assures her it's all good, gives her a quick hug, and offers to go see if her father is available for a short visit. While she's out of the room, Donna sneaks over to the cabinet and helps herself to whatever uppers she can quickly grab. Kelly returns a few minutes later and tells her that her dad will be done with a patient in a few minutes - but Donna says she can't stick around, then smugly adds, "I got what I came for."

Steve drops by David's apartment to apologize to Valerie for doubting her roofie/rape story. He realized from a recent police ride-along that things aren't always as they seem...and that he jumped to the most logical conclusion, considering her skanky and devious track record. Valerie stonily says she continues to remain wary of trusting him, then heads off to the marina to see Noah.

Valerie bitchily informs Noah that she doesn't want his money, and he snaps, "Good. The offer's been withdrawn" and once again denies roofie-ing and raping her. She retorts, "Tell it to the judge" and says she relishes the idea of him being put under oath and forced to admit to his crimes.

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