It’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog entry, but with the warm weather approaching, there’s one thing on all our minds: The “Palm Springs Weekend” episodes of Saved by the Bell.
SBTB is available on Hulu now, which is unfortunate only because Hulu does not offer the “skip intro” option like Netflix does. So I’ve watched that intro many times. And if you’re saying “Rachel, why not just fast forward through it?” you must not realize Hulu punishes you with several 60-second ads when you do that.
Anywho, “Palm Springs Weekend” is a two-parter. Jesse’s father is the manager of a deluxe resort in Palm Springs, and he’s getting married. Naturally, Jessie and her entire group of friends are invited to the imtimate wedding. Jessie has never met her father’s fiancée, even though Palm Springs and the fictional California city the gang lives in are approximately an hour and 38 minutes from each other.
Now, Jessie isn’t my favorite character, but I can usually at least appreciate her
intelligence and integrity.
But in these episodes, she is a next level BRAT, which puts her only a notch above Slater, whom I dislike the most.
Look at his socks:
Also, did anyone else know Jessie’s middle name is MYRTLE?!
So at the resort, Zack unknowingly ogles Jessie’s future stepmother, Leslie (who she hasn’t even seen a picture of?!), as she walks by in her aerobics leotard. Jessie responds with, “Oh please, she’s just some aerobics bimbo. If brains were dynamite, she wouldn’t have enough to blow her nose.” BURN!
Jesse, forever the feminist, sure doesn’t support women.
Zack approaches Leslie at the health spa and gets her to do this in this very TV-MA costume:
Slater meets a princess named Christina. We find out she’s from a fictional European country called Lichtenberg. I imagine the writers had to create a country because Christina’s accent is very very bad and they knew we wouldn’t buy it if we were told she was from an actual European country.
And here’s the actress, Eva Loseth, when she was in Star Trek. Fun!
Jessie finally learns that the aerobics “bimbo” is actually Leslie, her dad’s new fiancée. She immediately hates her because she’s much younger than her father, and Jessie will do anything in her power to stop the wedding.
Then…
1. Leslie asks Jessie to be her maid of honor, which means she has no friends is nice and wants to build a relationship with her future step-daughter.
2. Jessie says “Um, sorry, I can’t. I don’t have a gown.”
3. Leslie has a gown for her. 🙂
Ways Jessie Tries to Sabotage Her Dad’s Wedding:
Deceit:Jessie secretly writes a note “from her father” to Leslie, canceling their private dinner. When Leslie gets the note, Jessie says “Oh, that’s just like Dad. Always canceling,” and cruelly tee-hees into her Laura Ashley dress.
Immaturity:Jessie throws several fits, claiming she has a headache and can never hang out with her dad and Leslie. I imagine her tactic is to be so unlikable that Leslie is like “SEE YA” to David Spano.
Unkind words: Jessie calls Leslie a “gold-digging bimbo” TO HER FACE. (Someone get this girl a thesaurus.)
Murder: Most disturbingly, Jessie almost drowns Leslie during a friendly race in the pool:
Also, this makes me feel icky:
Side Plot:
There’s just something special about the Desert Springs Resort (a Marriott hotel), and Zack and Kelly revisit and rekindle their roMANCE. See below:
The ol’ “My shoulders hurt. Can you rub them?” bit.
The ol’ “I’m cold…what is that, a jacket?” routine.
The ol’ “Let me mansplain golf to you and show you how to play by rubbing up against you” trick.
They smooch and slow dance, and we think the power couple is back. But some guy’s wife catches Zack’s eye, and a hot waiter catches Kelly’s eye, and in her thirsty daze she asks for “Diet Lips” to drink. Then, simple as that, Zack and Kel are just friends.
Back to the Spano love triangle:
-Jessie runs off and says she’s not going to the wedding, which is happening IN 30 MINUTES!!!
-Zack finds Jessie on the golf course and tells her that she’s acting a fool and she’s just upset because she thinks Leslie is going to take her place, which Zack insists she’s not.
-Jessie values Zack’s opinion and they both hop in a golf cart to make it to the wedding.
Ultimately:
-They make it right as David and Leslie are at the altar. (They weren’t waitin’ for ANYBODY.)
-Jessie runs up between them to say she approves. (See: makes her dad’s special day all about her.)
-Leslie forces a smile through her porcelain veneers as she’s welcomed to the family.
Final Thoughts…
-Jessie has step-family issues.
Shameless self-promotion: Be sure to check out my post on Jessie’s monster of a stepbrother in my blog entry titled “Stepbrother Eric: Monster or Misunderstood?” 🙂 🙂 🙂
-Why are they even friends with Screech?
-Lisa is a good friend who tells it like it is. Here she is telling Jessie that if she were Leslie, she’d slap her until her hand hurt.
-Off-campus SBTB episodes are fun. Where to next…
Hawaii?
*Note: There is no laugh-track on “Saved By the Bell: Hawaiian Style.” (How do I know what’s funny?!) Also, I always thought Zack’s puffy face suggested mild steroid use, which is perhaps what led to this rumor I wrote about in my diary when I was eight:
