Expert: Mel - 2/22/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hey Mel! I've only seen clips from seasons 9 and 10 so I was wondering if you could answer two questions for me.
1. Does Dylan start doing drugs, drinking and going to the pool hall again?
2. When exactly does he start dating Gina? How, when and where do they meet?

ANSWER: Hi Kaelyn,

Yes, Dylan does start doing drugs again.  Heroin, this time, beginning in 9.10, "The Following Options".  He's approached by a dealer late at night while burning the profits he made from selling the Porsche his late wife was shot in.  Due to his state of grief, he accepts the drugs.  This new addiction lasts for the next four episodes, ending with him in the hospital, near-death, once again.  Drinking is something Dylan continues to do throughout S9 and S10, but very casually.  It's not presented as a problem.  In S10, he explains to a former acquaintance at the Beverly Royale hotel that some people can control their drinking, even given a history of alcoholism, and he's one of them.  As for the pool hall, there's an episode where he goes to one with Matt, Kelly, and Gina on a double date of sorts, but it isn't portrayed as Dylan 'going back to his old ways' of early S5/one episode in S2 at all.

He actually meets Gina in the same episode where he turns to heroin in S9, but just moments before, so he's still clean when this happens.  Gina is at the Peach Pit AfterDark and a man at the bar starts harassing her.  Dylan comes to her defense. They start flirting a bit and are hooking up by the next episode.  He soon begins manipulating her to serve his drug habit, however, so they don't get the chance to really "date" with a clear, mutual understanding that this is what they're doing for at least a few episodes.  In other words, once he's in the hospital.  She acts like his girlfriend the whole time, however, so it could certainly be said that they began dating as of "Marathon Man", 9.11, despite his attempts to get back together with Kelly earlier in that same episode.  

Thanks for the question!

All the best,

Mel

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: So sorry to bother you again. Do you happen to know which season or episode that pool hall double date is from that you mentioned? There's a clip from it on youtube so I was just wondering. Second question: do you have the transcript from the episode in season 5 when Andrea leaves?

Answer
Hello again.  The pool hall double date is from 9.22, "I Want to Reach Right Out and Grab Ya".  I don't have transcripts to the episodes, but I do have them recorded.  If there's a scene from "Hello Life, Goodbye Beverly Hills" that you need the dialogue from, please let me know in a separate question.  

All the best,

Mel