Beverly Hills, 90210 Re-Watch: Take Back The Night (Season 4 Episode 11)

We are taking one look at freshman year of college in Beverly Hills in this series with a rewatch of Beverly Hills, 90210 Season 4 Episodes 11 “Take Back The Night.”

It surprises me how often Steve Sanders is at the center of the episodes I have something to say about. 

It’s often for acting horribly — but he’s not a bad guy. 

In a post-#MeToo era, it’s refreshing to see a similar storyline on an early 90s TV show that holds up, at least in the sense that it presents rape and consent as complex. 

Laura’s version of what happened between her and Steve is valid. If she felt forced, she was. It doesn’t matter whether he’s single or not — but the fact that he’s not makes matters worse because Laura really liked Steve. 

But just because Laura was raped it does not mean Steve knows he raped her.

It’s difficult to comment on what actually happened without watching the previous episode, and viewers shouldn’t judge Laura’s story on this episode against her future actions on the show. 

The complexity of the situation is effectively portrayed in two scenes within the episode. The black-and-white scenes of Laura and Steve recalling what happened the night they had sex. The scenes are so vastly different, viewers don’t have to take sides. 

Where is the truth? We don’t truly know. 

In 2019 I’d hope a TV show wouldn’t make us take sides.

In 1993, Kelly Taylor stands up at the Take Back The Night rally and tells a story about how Steve prevented a rape so that Laura Kingman can’t name Steve or tell her story at all. 

While there are very few merits of pointing this out — that’s where this episode fails to tell a rape story that could “hold up” for years to come. 

Laura is no doubt an over-eager suitor guilty of feeling too much too fast for Steve. But she’s mostly punished for that and it’s sad. 

It’s also clear there could’ve been more to this story in the scene where Steve apologizes to Laura. He says, 

Wait, I really am sorry. I knew I wasn’t going to be there for you the day after, and I knew you wanted more than a one-night stand. 

It’s not an admittance of rape. But it’s proof to me that there was a bigger story to tell if the social climate in the country were different. 

Laura didn’t say no. She didn’t say yes. But she felt taken advantage of. She has a right to say that and attach a name to it in 2019. In 1993, Steve exits that encounter with Laura as “a friend if she wants one”. 

It’s actually quite disgusting if you think about it too hard. So let’s move on. But please note that this episode’s rating is so high because its messages are important and complex. Not because they are executed perfectly. 

John Sears puts Kelly in a similar situation. But I can’t help but think that one of that storyline’s most important functions is to set up Kelly’s shock when Laura names Steve and not John as her rapist. 

We shouldn’t minimize the fact that John is an abusive jerk. But everyone is so clear on that fact that he gets a pie in the face at the end of the episode courtesy of Mr. McKay.  

Believe it or not, there’s another #MeToo storyline on “Take Back The Night.” It’s whatever is going on between Lucinda and Brandon. 

This is one of Brandon’s weakest stories. But no matter how attracted he is to her sexual abuse is about power, and Lucinda does have power over Brandon. She’s Professor Randall’s wife.

Plus, Brandon is getting pressure from Professor Randall to tutor D’Shawn and keep his grades up. When D’Shawn notices the dynamic between Brandon and Lucinda the web becomes perhaps too complicated to keep track of. 

I don’t remember how Brandon gets out of this mess and I don’t care. But in another scene on this episode Beverly Hills, 90210 pretty directly suggests that men rape women and women don’t rape men.

Brandon isn’t raped. But it’s worth noting that sexual abuse doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with gender. 

Last but not least, let’s touch on Donna and David because it’s annoying how much David is pressuring Donna to have sex on this episode. We know they don’t. Donna’s virginity is mostly brought up because sex is such a prevalent topic on the episode.  

So many of the episodes I’ve chosen happen to be good episodes for David. I just want to point out that sometimes David is really annoying. 

As this is the last episode we’ll be revisiting on Season 4, we must bid Brenda Walsh a fond farewell. She had so much potential and it’s such a shame that will forever be untapped because of drama that the fictional realm has no control of. 

What did you think of this episode of Beverly Hills, 90210? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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