Did Season 9 destroy Valerie Malone?

[Dylan McKay]

For all the hardcore TAT/90210 fans

What do you think about the way they ended the character of Valerie Malone? Sure she has done bad things in the past. She had sex with a lot of guys. Just so people who never saw it get the idea, here's a list of some of the people Valerie Malone (TAT on 90210) had sex with.
Dylan McKay
Steve Sanders
Ray Pruit
David Silver
Noah Hunter
Colin Robbins
Rob Andrews
Kenny Veterman
Tom (from Buffalo)
Agent who was looking for Colin Robbins
you get the idea? She slept with all of them from Season 5-8... 4 years.

However she ended Season 8 showing what a good person she really was when she was dating David again. Yet when he broke up with her at the end of that season everything went to hell for that character and she became the most unlikeable person on the show.

Suddenly she killed her father. The story line for 4 years was that he killed himself. She has unprotected sex with a photographer who has HIV because she's depressed that David broke up with her. Then she has sex with her mothers fiance for no reason at all.

On Thanksgiving she leaves the show after 4 years and 3 months. What a horrible ending to her legacy. Why did they do this to her character... why destroy the character that brought a whole new audience to your show? I don't think it was right and I always dismiss anything from 90210 Season 9 from my memory of Valerie Malone.

Your thoughts...

[tatfan]

i actually didnt think val in season 9 was bad. im a hardcore tiff/90210 fan too. i thought it explained a lot more of why she was the way she was. it showed that when she did these things she was mad at someone and this was sort of her revenge. it wasnt right but thats just the way she knew how to deal. i really dont think it ruined the character. it tied up a lot of loose ends and she left on a high note. granted i would have loved if she had stayed till the end of the series. but since she didnt i like the way she left. nothing unsaid.

[Dylan McKay]

She also read Kels journal and tried to destroy her friendships with Donna and Clare. However that's Season 5-8 Val style.

Let's not forget that her killing her father completely ruined her past storyline...
She told Dylan she killed her father with sadistic conviction. She also had dreams of running down a checkered hallway to her father behind the bathroom door. Only to see David behind it at the end of the nightmares.

So if she killed her father then why those dreams? Are we supposed to think she convinced herself that she didn't kill her father? Are we supposed to think the forensics team couldn't tell the difference between a suicide and a murder?

It's all just too much for me. I'm afraid my position can't be swayed. It killed her character as far as I can tell.

I do agree however that her sleeping with her moms fiance was a result of paying her back for not going to the police when her mom found out her father was raping her.

[tatfan]

i do agree that it is a bit off from what they had said in earlier seasons. but i dont think it ruined it. they did it in a way so that she could have killed him or he could have killed himself. but at the time we dont know that she killed him so your not thinking in that way. it was probably an afterthought by the writers. but i still think it flowed ok in the end and it made even more sense as to why she was so messed up. thats just me though.

[Dylan McKay]

I actually agree with what you're saying. We as fans have to try and make sense of the writers after thoughts. Yet I just can't.

I cant watch season 5-8 thinking everything she says is a lie. Her dreams are a lie? It's just crazy. When I watch those seasons I put my self in the head space that everything she is saying is real. I basically have to disregard season 9 and think in the real world of writers after thoughts. I cant get lost in the show at that point.

The storyline is just so great that I cant believe it was all a lie. It was a great moment in TV and time and my life that I can't let bad writing take it away from me.

[elvis]

to me it was the big bad finale for her character at least she faced her demons and moved on. in the series finale she looked in peace with her self.