Expert: Mel - 3/11/2007

Question
Okay since your last response was so great I can't help but ask, as I am currently living in Eastern Europe and as obsessed with Eastern Europe as I am 90210, are there any related links between 90210 and Eastern Europe? i.e., references, hot family members, exchange students, or filming?... ok well I look forward to your response.

Answer
Okay, here it is ... every connection to Eastern Europe that I can remember on the show.  

I can say for certain they've never filmed an episode in Eastern Europe (Hong Kong was likely "Chinatown"; Mexico/Brazil, probably Baja, CA; Paris can be found at Universal Studios).   

1. I love the irony in that you asked about "hot family members" because my first reference, in no particular order, will go to Andrea's Grandma Rose, who raised her during the course of the series.  As we all know, Andrea Zuckerman is Jewish, and episode 5.11, 123 reveals that her grandmother survived the camps at Buchenwald during the Holocaust.  This leads me to believe that some of Andrea's family members might have been Russian Jews.

2.  Speaking of family members, in season four (4.17, 97), David, hopped up on codeine, falls asleep while babysitting his 2 year old sister, Erin.  She wanders off, to be brought to the police station later by a housekeeper in the area who had found her but was initially too afraid to contact authorities because she didn't speak English and there was a question about her immigration status.  Her ethnicity is never revealed (and she doesn't have a speaking part) but she always looked Polish to me.  

3.  Brandon was unable to attend David and Donna's wedding because he was said to be covering the war in Chechnya, as a journalist (10.27, 295).  This episode aired in May, 2000.

4.  Cramming for finals at the Peach Pit counter, Brandon looks up from his book and asks Nat, jokingly, "Hey, Nat ... Any words of wisdom on why Communism fell?"  Nat looks pensive.  "I think it had something to do with 90-proof vodka", he replies.  "... Can I quote you on that?" (4.27, 107).  

5.  In the next season, it seems Brandon's brushed up on his history, as he competes with Clare in a mock game of Jeopardy (hosted by Steve) in preparation for his entry onto the actual show, and answers the following question:  "Balkan city in which the heir to this Austria-Hungarian throne was assassinated in 1914, setting off WWI ..."  "What is Sarajevo?", he answers correctly (5.25, 137).

6.  To take her mind off pining for Brandon, Kelly agrees to go with Clare on a weekend retreat where, much to her chagrin, they pretend to be part of the Ukrainian Folk Dance Troupe in their hotel in order to gain the attention of two (American) guys (7.21, 198).  Needless to say, they don't say much as "Irina" and "Katarina" (a lot of "Dasvidanya!", etc), and Clare does most of the talking/accenting, being fluent in 5 languages (5.25, 137).  You'd think just ONE of them would be Slavic in origin, but no.  

7.  Not many people know this, but Prague (Czech Republic) is actually home to the "Peach Pit" bar, meant as an homage to the old 50's diner on the show.  The address is Praha 2 - Vinohrady, Budecska 22, and it looks nothing at all like the place, save an 8x10 picture of Brandon Walsh hanging up on the wall (which still doesn't apply, really).  On the locale's website, which I can't post here, you can check the menu too.  But again, don't look for anything fitting for the tribute.  There's no 'megaburger' for Steve, no tuna melt for Andrea, no turkey on rye for Dylan ... they will all have to starve, or eat something Czech ;)

8.  On a similar (and rather interesting) note, it's been my experience that the most comprehensive fan sites out there - and the ones with better pictures, as well as more traffic - are all either German or Hungarian.  This applies to both past and present, as well as the proliferation of subtitles that can be found on fan videos (though some, I now suspect, are Norwegian).  "Six Feet Under" is my other favorite show, and it seems France and the UK were more drawn to it than the U.S. and Canada - possibly.  I don't know what accounts for these cultural differences, but "90210" was re-released in Russia as of Spring 1998 (Internet Movie Database).  

9.  The most pointed reference to Eastern Europe has got to be in the episode just prior to Brandon and Kelly's Anti-Wedding at the end of season eight.  It seems my disc for these episodes is damaged, but the episode guide I use to keep track of the later seasons (no longer available online) explains that the two of them reunite a refugee (Alex Vaselic) with his wife (Katya), whom he lost when he was flown from Sarajevo for medical treatment.  This was the season they strove to become issue-oriented again, so I can tell you there was definitely talk about the war in Bosnia and that - somehow - Steve's Hollywood gossip rag was instrumental in bringing these lost lovers back together.  

I may not have seen this one (8.30, 239) since it aired in '98, but I remember the plotline serving mainly to bring our engaged couple, Kelly and Brandon, closer together, before they broke up the following week ... at the altar, for unexplained reasons.  Go figure.

10.  Flashing back to better days, there's a rather cute scene in season four where David and Donna decide, their first day as freshman on campus, that they're going to just march right into the radio station and give the program director their best pitch for a show.  Not knowing anyone there, they grab the first person to pass them, a tall, blonde, befuddled man who looks at them with patient curiosity.

Dd: Uh - uh - Mr. Program Director? Uh - don't touch that dial because standing before you is the #1 morning team from WBH Beverly Hills.  The double-D's, David and Donna, the rockin'-est jocks with the most pulsating pattern. (No reaction)  Or theee ... most refined commentary in classical stylings, if that's what it takes.  (Still no reaction)  Or we just - uh - won't talk at all, we'll just play music and  - and - and shut up ...  (The man shows them a flyer)  You're looking for the financial aid department?

Man: Dah! (smacks forehead)

As he excitedly explains himself in some Eastern European language, a type of Slavic instrumental music cues up.  The man laughs about their misunderstanding and calls out, "Thank you!" as he leaves, heavily accented.

11.  Jim Walsh passes Cindy in the kitchen as she reads Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina", clearly waiting up for Brandon and Valerie, seeing as it's her first night in L.A.  When the kids do arrive, Jim unconvincingly insists he was just hungry.  "Yeah, you were hungry, dad, and mom's rediscovering the Russian classics", Brandon replies cynically (5.01, 113).  

12.  After recalling this scene, I thought I had hit a goldmine with Dylan because, though apathetic towards school, he's considered very 'well-read', even beginning in episode two.  But - all his favorite authors are French, American, German, or English.  Except one ... almost.  

We find out in episode 7.07, 184 that he was a huge fan of German-born L.A. poet/novelist, Charles Bukowski, whose Polish last name was enough to tip/throw me off.  

In order to illustrate for Kelly his "two different sides", new supporting character, Mark Reese, gives her two books.  One, "Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters ("the straight-shooter in me"), and two, "Betting On The Muse" by Charles Bukowski ("that's the madman").  Kelly remarks that she used to go out with a guy who loved Bukowski.  "Brandon?"   "No, someone else, but Brandon is a Masters fan".  It doesn't take much to see this scene as being meant to imply that we should give Mark a chance and stop hoping for Brandon and Kelly to get back together, because here we have a perfect 'blend' of the only two men she ever loved ... an easy solution to the age old question: Brandon or Dylan?

13.  Yes, Dylan is known for having traveled throughout Europe as both a boy (on business with his parents when not abandoned at the Bel Age Hotel) and an adult, but I hardly think he'd be 'bumming around' Bratislava in place of the cities his favorite authors wrote in.  As he says to Brenda while fishing at the pier (4.03, 83), "They ['Raimbow' and Bodlair] were bums too, you know.  They know you gotta live it before you can write it".  And it's well-observable that he likes to do his fair share of writing (seasons 3, 5, 10).

14.  That is all, but I might as well mention, too, that I'm fairly certain Brandon is a fan of Chekhov, and the name Dostoevsky sounds way too familiar to have never been mentioned on the show.  I'm thinking Brandon or Steve, seasons 6-7, but I haven't found a quote to support this possibility.

I hope you enjoyed all the references.  This was a very interesting question to tackle.

All the best,

Melanie