Again With This: Beverly Hills, 90210

YES, this is a new episode; the dance episode in S01 is just called "Dance," and yes, it was a terrible idea for two episodes of the same show to have nearly identical titles, but here we are. All our opening-credits cast nonconformists know, as Andie does, that the Homecoming Dance is coming up. Unlike Andie, they don't care, until she points out that dancing can be a form of foreplay and all their horny asses get on board. Seeing Jen in the hallway still hanging out with Abby, Joey gets concerned that Abby's a bad influence and suggests asking Jen to join them at the dance, since they're all going as friends. Dawson's not so sure until Andie asks to invite Jack, and over Pacey's strenuous urging for them not to try to set up two people who don't know each other at all and have nothing in common, it's on. Dawson could use the distraction of a dance, because his parents have told him that they're finally ready to quit their marriage, and Mitch is moving out. But if Dawson had hoped for some drama that could t

It's a full moon! Joey is pretty sure it's going to cause out-of-character behavior in the townsfolk, and she might be on to something: Mitch and Gale are so testy about one another's totally innocent visitors (Tamara in his case; some reporter colleague named Gary in hers), repeatedly making reference to THURSDAYS, that Dawson can't help noticing and demanding to know what is actually going on with their marriage. Elsewhere, a dead shift at the Icehouse gives Joey nothing to do but talk to Jack, and resume noticing that he is more sensitive than she initially gave him credit for...and maybe more sensitive than her boyfriend? Vincent and Jen make a coffee date, which is tough on Abby, who can't decide whether she actually wants to be friends with Jen, or just have someone around to bounce her crazy off. And since the coffee date isn't at the new café we keep seeing but at Grams's house, things percolate dangerously. Pacey has well learned the lessons of the previous episode and makes an age-appropriate date w

As we saw at the end of the last episode, Tamara somehow has the nerve to show her face back in Capeside AFTER EVERYTHING. Officially it's to sell her house and also a warehouse (???), the latter possibly to Mitch for his fake restaurant, which is why Dawson is the first credits-cast Capeside High student to see her. He does TRY to warn Pacey, but not hard enough, since as we keep saying, he's a bad friend. And while Andie does pick up on a vibe when she witnesses Pacey running into Tamara totally unprepared (bad friend, is what he has), she's too worried about sorting out how Pacey feels about Andie herself to interrogate why he's so thrown by a chance reunion with an old teacher. Laura continues her mentorship of Joey through an art lecture and then a drawing class, strongly encouraging Joey to consider pursuing art study more seriously. Dawson seems to think this possible new "hobby" is absolutely adorable, then can't figure out why Joey is insulted by his tone. Undeterred by Dawson treating her like a pre

Nearly all our teen leads happen to be taking the same Econ class, in which Mr. Maddock NOT ONLY demands that students pair up for a project on household finances, complete with character briefs and backstory; he's ALSO not letting them choose their own partners, which is how Andie ends up with Pacey, Jen with Dawson, Abby with a nerd named Kenny, and Joey on her own. You'd think Joey would go straight to the person she already knows as a solo head of household, but no, she rudely dismisses Bessie in favor of Laura (Tamara Taylor!), a successful local interior designer who seems all too ready to take on a protégée. Andie and Pacey predictably bicker over whether they need a comfortable house for their three children more than they need a Viper. Abby orders Jen to use her forced proximity to Dawson to try to get a leg over him (while also ordering Kenny to do the project without her and stick her name on it). Can Dawson resist the urge to touch Jen's boobs the first, third, or 47th time she finds an excuse to

Dawson and Joey are settling into the new phase of their relationship in the typical teenager way: totally oblivious that other people exist, rolling straight from Mitch and Gale catching them making out all over Dawson's bed to Dawson forgetting Pacey's 16th birthday. Pacey gives Dawson multiple chances to redeem himself -- including by throwing himself a party -- but it's Andie who actually comes through in the clutch. While this is going on, Dawson decides to help himself to a perusal of Joey's journal, in which she's written that she thinks his movie sucks. Cue the happy couple's first fight: it's "you don't believe in my talent" vs. "you violated my privacy." Andie's newly introduced brother Jack shows up in the middle of this, not that we're sure Dawson registers his existence on any level. Jen's well into her nihilist phase, which means she needs someone to hang out with who's going to join her on the dark side. Welcome back, Abby Morgan, and Abby's bottle of champagne! While all this is going on, Mitc

We're off this week but we bring you two Again With Again With This episodes full of Canadianosity. AWAWT 149: Let’s Watch Kathleen Robertson In Maniac Mansion! We're heading back to the early nineties (again) with an episode of weird, energetic cross-border fam-com Maniac Mansion, which was loosely based on the videogame -- and starred a young Kathleen Robertson as teen brainiac Tina; Mr. Weir as her dad; and a grouchy styrofoam meteor as the villain of the week. How did Robertson do? And should you watch? AWAWT 150: Let’s Watch Jason Priestley In The Series Finale Of The Fantasy Island Sequel! Nobody really watched FOX's Fantasy Island sequel except Tara, which is probably why it got cancelled, but we're contemplating the series finale -- and Jason Priestley's one-off turn as a jerky cheater who gets his thanks to a revenge spell. Weirdly abusive mermaid girlfriends with great butts, baffling timelines and memory tricks, and inconvenient beach heels all somehow added up to a fun time, and JP knew his ro

We pick up with Dawson and Joey where we left off in the S01 finale: they kissed! They like each other! They're going to talk about it a bunch, misusing a lot of five-dollar words in the process! But...what does this mean? Are they immediately boyfriend-girlfriend? Is sex on the table? Is Jen going to be weird about it -- that is, when she's not being weird about Grams doing a bad job mourning Gramps? Pacey has a literal run-in (of the automotive kind) with Andie, a new transplant from Rhode Island; after he poses as a cop to freak her out, she sees him at school and extends their relationship via Pacey's latest crush, Kristy Livingstone (Ali Larter!). And Mitch and Gale are still on the rockzzzzzz..... No need to pucker up for our podcast on "The Kiss"! JOIN THE AWT CLUB

Deep in the background, Pacey's dad is not only still being a jerk to him but enlisting Doug to do it in his absence. But in the foreground, a lot is going on with his three best friends. Joey and Dawson are still very confused about their feelings for one another following the beauty pageant, so when Joey is offered the chance to spend the next semester in France, he doesn't want her to go but also doesn't feel comfortable saying why. Joey ALSO has to make the decision about going on either side of a forced visit to her dad, celebrating another birthday in prison. And Jen's Gramps wakes up, yay! But he's very old and weak and no spoilers but it's probably a good thing he immediately goes back to the hospital for some tests. We hope you will decide to join us for our podcast on "Decisions"! JOIN THE AWT CLUB

Capeside is closing out tourist season with Windjammer Days, a town-wide festival of which we see absolutely nothing except the climactic Miss Windjammer pageant. Dawson thinks Jen should enter, which she takes to be a backhanded compliment about her vanity. Jen thinks Joey should enter, because her tips are drying up and she could use the $5000 prize as the start of a college fund. And Pacey thinks Pacey should enter, because his dad is ready for him to become an emancipated minor and move out on his own. Who will be permitted to enter? How will Dawson humiliate himself? And what Broadway standard will be slaughtered in the process? Find out as your two favorite Miss Congeniality washouts bring you a podcast on "Beauty Contest"! JOIN THE AWT CLUB

The 90s Melrose Place era has come to a close on Again With This, so before we leap into Dawson's Creek with ALL our feet, we're taking some questions and comments from our hotline. Listen to find out what your fellow listeners wanted to know, like what Kimberly could have gotten up to in Seasons 6 and 7, which props we would have bid on at the show's official auction, and whomst among our three shows' male leads is actually the most noxious. Plus: much more! We promise nothing will explode. JOIN THE AWT CLUB

The rumors about what really went down the night Kent Damarr died simply cannot be contained. At first, it seems like Eve just wants the truth to come out. But pretty quickly, she changes her mind and hatches a plot for revenge that involves tying Lexi up and dropping her in the tub before stalking Amanda and Peter with murder on her mind. (Why did she have to remove Lexi's clothes first? Presumably so that Jamie Luner could give us all one last look at that bangin' bod, and who can blame her.) Terry's kidnapping plan is foiled by her own distracted driving, and everyone decides to let bygones be bygones -- there's no time for consequences! Jane tells Kyle about her pregnancy right before her doctor tells her a little news of her own, like when Jane actually conceived and whom she was sleeping with at the time. All this and more in our EXPLOSIVE podcast on the SERIES finale, "Asses To Ashes"! JOIN THE AWT CLUB

For Mike White's second credited episode, it's Friday the 13th! Apparently, this is an occasion Dawson's friends have long known is one he likes to mark with scarifying pranks, and that telling him in so many words that they don't like it will not make him stop. Given her new status as Dawson's platonic friend, Jen assumes she will also be on the receiving end of some of this mischief, even though Dawson keeps telling her he actually had nothing planned. Cliff doesn't have anything planned either, beyond just asking Jen on a date and then immediately getting stressed out about it because he doesn't know if he'll be able to live up to the standard set by...Dawson? (Again we must ask if Cliff knows he's a character being played by Scott Foley.) Who will be at Dawson's Friday the 13th séance, and what will go down? Find out in our podcast on "The Scare"! JOIN THE AWT CLUB

You might think Lexi would decide she had enough on her plate dealing with Tony's corpse while also making sure she didn't lose the business he agreed to in his final moments. But, in fact, seeing Eve rapidly unraveling psychologically just convinces her to add a new scheme to her schedule: she can certainly take advantage of Eve's instability and use it against Amanda! Mark L. Taylor manages to cash another Melrose Place check as Dr. Visconti gets involved. Terry's feelings for Ryan continue to linger, such that she creates a seemingly awkward situation for Megan to walk in on and call off the engagement (again), but surely both McBros will close out the series deliriously happy with the blondes they were always destined to be with...right? Listen to us talk at length about all of this and more in our podcast on "Dead Men Don't Shut Up"! JOIN THE AWT CLUB

Dawson is still being such a whiny little bitch about Jen dumping him that Pacey tells him how he could possibly lay the groundwork to get her back: take her up on her request that they be friends, and prove he means it by suggesting that they go on a double date! This involves asking out the cute and friendly Mary Beth and totally not telling her what his actual intention is. (Remember: this is a person we are constantly being told -- including in this episode -- is "one of the good ones.") After Pacey bombs his marine biology midterm, his teacher offers to let him make it up by doing an extra credit project with a student from another section. That student turns out to be Joey, who isn't thrilled that a grade she's trying to earn is going to depend in part on her least diligent friend. Finally: Gale and Mitch are still here, still struggling with her infidelity, and still boring as hell. Grab three friends to stay on theme while you listen to our podcast on "Double Date"! JOIN THE AWT CLUB

Now that everyone's back from the cruise, it's time for a reckoning. Peter tells Eve he wants a divorce because of the way she maneuvered him off the ship for days so that she could bone Tony, but she yells that actually Amanda did that. So Peter confronts Amanda about that, not knowing she's coming straight from seeing the film Lexi ruined and is truly in no mood. Tony refuses to shell out for a reshoot, so Amanda assesses her life and next steps and ends up, where else, at the hospital to tell Peter that while she did scheme to keep him from getting on the launch off the island, sleeping with him wasn't part of her plan. Peter decides to end his marriage, Amanda decides to close her agency, and if Eve and Kyle aren't happy about having all their suspicions confirmed, that's their problem -- or it is until Eve seems determined to make it everyone's problem. The shuttering of Amanda's agency also clears a path for Lexi to go after Tony's business herself, and by "Tony's business," we mean...well, you know wha

Dawson is being extremely annoying and maudlin about his first-ever breakup, and nothing Joey says can snap him out of it. But when Billy (somehow) hears about the split and reappears to try to get Jen back some more, she firmly shuts him down, forcing him to take the long way around: inviting Dawson to come with him to a bar in Providence where Billy knows the bouncer and thus can get his underage ass in. (Pacey comes too, because...they needed something for Pacey to do.) Back in Capeside, Joey accepts a lift to school from cool football player Warren (Eric Balfour!), immediately regretting it when he claims that he and Joey had sex. Then Jen gets an idea for a mother of a revenge plan. Get your motor running for our podcast on "Road Trip"! JOIN THE AWT CLUB

It's time for the cruise! Tony is VERY annoyed to see that his would-be girlfriend brought her husband, and orders Amanda to run interference, which Amanda is happy enough to do, both because she wants to secure his account, and because -- as WE all know -- she enjoys spending time with Peter because he is her favorite. Meanwhile, Lexi's assistant Julie has heard all the gossip about Amanda's recent business moods, convincing Lexi to take a break from boning Michael to try to...compete with Amanda for Tony's account, which she almost has, rather than just try to scoop up all the clients Amanda just fired? Sure! Terry is furious that Ryan didn't send Sarah home as planned, and gets the authorities involved to make sure he returns her. Sarah then hatches her OWN plan to stay in California by falsely claiming she can't go back to New York because Terry is abusive. There's nothing for it but to bring Terry to town so she and Ryan can both clear her name. Jane finds out about Amanda and Kyle's divorce and heads st

After the extremely awkward events of "Detention," Dawson claims to Joey that things between him and Jen are just fine! Little does he know that Jen's ex Billy (Eion Bailey!) has come from New York to Capeside to try to get Jen back. It doesn't work immediately, so he contrives a reason to remain in town, but also cries poor, which leads to him getting billeted with...Dawson? Feels like a mistake. The addition of a crying baby to the Potter household has left Joey extremely sleep-deprived, so Dawson should be especially grateful that she has any energy to expend on his dumb whining. But when she finally hits the wall on her shift at work, Bessie orders her to go to a beach party with Pacey. Many beers are downed, and some track for one of the most memorable relationship endgame reversals in TV history is laid! Deep, DEEP in the background, Gale and Mitch are back, trying to get their relationship BACK on track. Could the answer be scuba diving?! Put on a t-shirt and boxers you stole from a beau in your past a

WELL, Sarah (McBride, to be clear) is still in Los Angeles. Immediately, she determines that the true Megan is meant to be with her dad, and is compliant with everything Ryan tells her to do, starting when he's still at her boarding school on the other side of the country, yelling at Terry about challenging her custody. Sarah ends up at the beach house where the uncle she never knew she had is imposing on his wife's employee; when Aunt Amanda comes home, she's not that interested in getting to know her new niece, but does notice that Sarah, Kyle, and Jane look a lot like a family. Lexi uses the trip back to L.A. to tell Ryan about all the scheming she and Michael have been doing to mess with Ryan and Megan, while Michael does the same for Megan back at the complex; Ryan and Megan are more determined than ever to forgive all their misunderstandings. Eve is still letting Amanda essentially pimp her out to Tony Marlin (non-sexually (so far)); Peter is suspicious about it, but still books that trip to Maui he and

Four separate disciplinary incidents have, it seems, landed our four teen protagonists in all-day detention in the Capeside High library...but it wouldn't be a full Breakfast Club homage without a fifth, which is why we're meeting chaos agent Abby Morgan (Monica Keena)! What crimes did they each commit? What terrifying admissions and world-changing challenges occur in the course of Abby's game of Truth or Dare? What's Mrs. Tringle's favorite soap opera? And how much better is this first episode from future White Lotus creator Mike White than what has come before? You don't have to block out a full eight hours to enjoy our podcast on "Detention"! JOIN THE AWT CLUB