Kelly Taylor was the beautiful blonde that was the main focus of most seasons of the 90's teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210. Kelly was involved in many of the show's main storylines and the writers did not go easy on her. She has been on all sides of the drama on the show and it has shown her strengths and weaknesses as a character.
The many situations Kelly found herself in either made her a more overrated or underrated character in viewer's eyes. The show often put her on a pedestal or distracted her with frivolous things just when she was becoming a character of true depth. Here are 10 times the show either made her annoyingly overrated or found a way to underrate her greatness.
10 Overrated: The Way She Acts During Her Drug Use
In season 6, Kelly begins dating the painter, Colin, whom she met while in New York over the summer. Turns out Colin relies on cocaine as his muse while painting and soon Kelly is joining him in the habit. Her character is nearly unbearable to watch at this point, as the white powder and Colin become her whole world.
It takes a near-sexual assault to serve as a wake-up call for her and she ditches Colin and checks into rehab, and somehow her friends manage to forgive her for her crappy behavior.
9 Underrated: Her Intelligence
The first few seasons of Beverly Hills, 90210 saw Kelly cast as the typical blonde beauty, but once she started college, she showed there was more to her than her looks and she started to find a real passion for learning and psychology. Her naivete leads her to join a cult led by her psychology professor, which takes away from her intelligence.
After college, the most she did with her degree was work at a free clinic for a while, but even that was clouded by a pervy boss and attractive coworkers, later on, who she briefly dates. The CW reboot of the show brought her back as the guidance counselor for the high school, so at least fans can imagine she did go on to make a career out of her chosen field, as unrealistic as it may be after all those years.
8 Overrated: Tara's Obsession With Her
While in rehab in season 6, after the Colin fiasco, Kelly befriends a young runaway named Tara and when the two get out, Kelly convinces her friends to let Tara stay with them for a bit. Tara quickly begins to become obsessed with Kelly. She sabotages Kelly's relationships, kills Kelly's fish, and even dyes her hair blond and cuts it short in an exact replica of Kelly's hairstyle.
After Kelly finally tells her she needs to leave, Tara kidnaps Kelly and attempts to kill them both by locking her and Kelly in the car and using a hose to fill the car with carbon monoxide. Kelly manages to escape, but this Single White Female-themed story will never escape viewers' brains.
7 Underrated: The Way Brandon Sees Her In The Early Seasons
In the first season, Brandon admits to Kelly that he only sees her as a sister, much to her dismay. It won't be until four more seasons later that fans will get to see the two together, when Brandon finally stars to see her as more than his sister's best friend. After the two have to pretend to be together to save Brandon's school presidency and to keep the eager Claire away, the two turn the fake relationship into reality in season 5.
The two are off and on again throughout the rest of the show, until Jason Priestly's departure from the show in season 9. The chemistry between the two is undeniable and it seemed Brandon wasted a lot of time figuring this out. It's a shame that the show never really gave them a chance.
6 Overrated: Everyone Always Falling for Her
What is it about Kelly that causes everyone to be so obsessed with her? Steve never gets over her and even David had a crush on her before they became step-siblings. In season 5, Steve has a house party and due to an overworked electrical system, the house catches on fire. Kelly and Alison, a girl she befriended at the party, get trapped inside and injured.
But due to this event, Alison begins to fall for Kelly, leaving her loyal girlfriend. It's crazy to think that after one night and the bond of surviving a fire together that someone would ditch their longtime girlfriend and be obsessed with Kelly.
5 Underrated: Her Work With The AIDS Hospice
In season 7, Kelly decides she needs something meaningful in her life after rehab, so she starts volunteering at the AIDS hospice where she befriends Jimmy. Kelly works there for the first few episodes of season 7, but after Jimmy sadly passes away, the show doesn't really bring it up again.
It would have been great to see Kelly continue to be a champion for AIDS awareness after her experience there. She does encourage a teen to give up her baby to a gay couple in season 8, after the teen tries to take back the baby due to homophobia.
4 Overrated: How She Acts Towards Valerie
It's no secret that Valerie and Kelly hate each other, but Kelly often takes the disdain a little too far. The best example of this is after Valerie contemplates suicide in the finale of season 7 and all Kelly cares about is that Brandon was late for graduation.
Kelly throws a fit when Brandon decides to let Valerie stay, after seeing how vulnerable Valerie was when he saved her from jumping to her death. Kelly should not have been so threatened by Valerie, as it was clear that Brandon only had eyes for her and never really saw Valerie as more than family.
3 Underrated: Her Relationship With Her Stepbrother, David
Even though Kelly hated the idea of David becoming her stepbrother when her mom first married his dad in season 2, by the end of the show, Kelly sees David as nothing but a brother.
The relationship between the two is a strong bond that lasts the entirety of the show and outshined the twinship displayed between Brenda and Brandon in the first four seasons. Their siblingship is a special bond that doesn't get enough credit.
2 Overrated: Her Relationship With Dylan
Many fans believe if Shannen Doherty wasn't written off the show, Dylan would have never needed up with Kelly the way he did, and it's hard to disagree with that. The two did not really have that much chemistry and even in the show, the only way to make it believable that Dylan suddenly forgets all about Brenda and is smitten with Kelly is because she called him the day his dad died, saving him from the explanation that killed him.
The relationship was forced from the beginning and it never felt right, the two only bringing out the worst in each other. If their trip to Europe didn't teach them anything, they really should have learned when he chose to be with Brenda after dealing with the death of Toni, and not Kelly.
1 Underrated: The Way She Handles Her Rape(s)
As stated above, the writers really didn't go easy on this character, as she was sexually assaulted not once but twice, and was almost assaulted another time. These events lead her to take part in a Take Back the Night Rally and learn self-defense.
Of course, she may have taken this self-defense a little too far when she shoots her assaulter multiple times, killing him after he cornered her a second time and pulled out a knife. And of course, this reaction also shows that while the writers may have made the unfortunate choice to make her a victim twice over, they also didn't shy away from the sensitive nature of the aftereffects of assault, and how traumatizing it can be. Both times showed she's a stronger character than people give her credit for and she can take care of herself.
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August 13, 2020 at 05:30AM
