Beverly Hills, 90210 Re-Watch: Disappearing Act (Season 7 Episode 4)
Kelly Taylor is potentially exposed to the AIDS virus on Beverly Hills, 90210 Season 7 Episode 4, “Disappearing Act.”
As we always note in these rewatches, no Beverly Hills, 90210 episode truly holds up when it comes to authentically portraying social justice or important medical issues. But it does the best it can for 1996.
There are good aspects to the storytelling on “Disappearing Act” and downright irresponsible ones.
It makes me cringe to write about the bad moments, so let’s start with them. Steve Sanders is an absolute jerk within the first few minutes of the episode when he makes jokes about being nervous to go to Jimmy Gold’s magic show and not swapping bodily fluids with him.
It’s very hard to tell if Beverly Hills, 90210 does that on purpose to portray that it’s wrong or if they are simply trying to add off-color, irresponsible levity to a very serious issue.
Kelly’s behavior is better — she has been spending time at the AIDS hospice for some time now. But it is sad to watch her blow off Jimmy because of an accident.
Her fear is understandable, though. The reality of living with HIV and AIDS was very different than it is now.
She is also young and scared. So, while it definitely looks bad that she’s so rude to Jimmy and only goes to his magic show after her results come back negative — we can’t really blame her in this case. Beverly Hills, 90210 kids rarely have parents around to talk to about life-altering moments.
Kelly’s scene at the doctor’s office has an after-school special vibe. It’s important to get the message out that unprotected sex is what puts someone most at risk of getting the virus, though.
So, while the scene is so old-school it’s cringy, it gets another pass.
Kelly overreacts a lot about the accident while cooking with Jimmy. But at the same time, there is a point to it.
I think it’s good we are told how unlikely it is that any of Jimmy’s blood went into her body because she did not have any cuts on her hands. At the time, that is an important message to get out into the world.
Something good Beverly Hills, 90210 does is have Kelly own up to her rude behavior and apologize to Jimmy for it.
She rarely does such a thing on all 10 seasons of the series. At least, she never really sounds as genuine as she does with Jimmy.
Their friendship is sweet to watch, and Jimmy’s story does teach us an important lesson about cherishing memories with the people we love — both in the moment as we are taking pictures and in the past as we are looking back at them.
I want to end by discussing Jimmy’s magical “swan song” because the magic show is wonderful for a few reasons.
Yes, it turns out the character knows he is dying and knows he is having one of the last “best” moments of his life.
But I want to talk about the “frog in my throat” trick because it’s genius. The fact is that sick and disabled people have wonderful moments in their lives all of the time.
Society has a hard time laughing with the community instead of pitying it, but laughter is great medicine and a great equalizer.
I love that Jimmy is able to turn everyone’s fear at his coughing into a joke — it’s triumphant.
We won’t be seeing Jimmy again during the rewatch — I want to remember Jimmy Gold at his highest point in life. But I also probably didn’t choose his death episode because Beverly Hills, 90210 does not execute it well.
Notes
- I’m a disappointed David and Donna shipper — he’s very verbally abusive to her on this episode.
- Speaking of Donna, some of her outfits on any given episode are worthy of Cher Horowitz and some of it is beyond embarrassing.
- It’s a shame we never really get to meet Valerie the human being. She is always portrayed as “bad” for a very stereotypical reason.
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Esme Mazzeo
Esme Mazzeo is a lifestyle and entertainment journalist from Long Island. When she's not writing for work, she's writing for fun, or searching for something to satisfy her sweet tooth. She thinks rainy days are the best kind of days. Certified night owl.