WEBVTT - What Did We Just Watch? (S1 EP 28 "The Test") 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:09.400 Still the Place with Laura Layton, Courtney Thorn Smith. 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:17.520 And Daphne's Aniga an iHeartRadio podcast. Hello everyone, are you guys? 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.560 So good to see you, Always good to see you. 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:24.000 The recap today another recap, So wild. 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:26.760 How this show is not what I in my mind 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.280 thirty whatever years later. The show is so much more 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:31.360 than I thought it was. 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:34.560 It's this episode especially, is very different from what we've 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:36.320 gotten used to in our Melrose world. 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.800 Well, yeah, and like the last one too, Like we've 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:41.760 had now had two and row that are kind of 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:44.440 like a little darker, little heavier. 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:47.080 Yeah, it's such an interesting change of pace. 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.960 Our expectations are they've gotten going in one direction and. 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:53.080 It we're like I think, because we're still from like 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.320 Melrose whatever it was one point zero, we're getting into 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.200 the Melrose You know, we're still in season one and 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.000 the show really hit I think in season two and three, right, 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.600 so we're not quite to all the like craziness. 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:07.640 But I don't know if I've mentioned the ratings were 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:09.760 very bad in the beginning. I mentioned that before, you know. 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:11.800 You've mentioned it once or twice. 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:13.679 The miracle we're still on that air. 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.080 Something about this I think it was from you. 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:19.360 Court It's good great, Courtney was in the studio head 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:23.360 you that much we would gone would have been so over. 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.160 As you mentioned, this is a serious one. This is 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:31.440 episode twenty seven. It's called the Test. 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.560 And we're not talking about college admission testing. No, we 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:38.120 are not, or like this is an athletic prowess test. 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:42.039 Not yeah, No. This aired in nineteen ninety three, March 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:45.600 thirty first, and the test we're talking about is an 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.000 AIDS test. And this is sort of the height of 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:53.920 a lot of AIDS awareness going on in our media 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.000 and on our show, thanks to Aaron and Darren and 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.000 the writers, in the world and in the whole world 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:04.480 old after a decade of not enough attention. Okay, so 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:09.160 this episode, episode twenty seven, the test refers to our 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:13.480 a storyline which opens the show with Joe and Jake fill. 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:17.400 In the blank in ind bed but his time not 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.120 in the not in the pink satin sheets, no. 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:24.079 But sort of move sheets manly plaid manly move and 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:25.600 the plaid it. 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:29.200 There was maybe move. 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:32.880 He has a sensitive side, Jake, so I supposed I 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:34.760 think his actual pillowcases were plaid. 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.359 So it's like sort of a preppy. 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.960 At any rate. Joe has to. I had to utter 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.040 the cheesiest line ever. Yes, you did. What is it? 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:45.359 Cringe alert? 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:46.680 It was a sex pun. 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:49.200 It was a sex pun. We were as if we 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:51.919 had just done it. And then Joe says, I like 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.680 it better in the morning, and he says, yeah, why 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:58.720 use it gets my day out? Started with such a bang, 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:01.120 such a guy line. 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:03.280 I admitted, jaff you committed. 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.720 I was so impressed with read it. I had this 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.800 sort of like this memory stored in my cells, going, 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:13.280 oh my god, I remember that moment, and I'm sure 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:15.799 when I did it, I was like, who the hell 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:18.160 wrote this? Like I would never have said that. 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:21.920 But but you guys, the characters laughed at all and 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:24.640 made it fun and funny, like Joe knew she was 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.440 telling a dad joke and was getting a kick out 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:29.680 of telling it. Like you played it in such a 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:30.960 way that it was fine and we. 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:31.480 Did all laugh. 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:34.359 Oh well, thank you, Laura, and thank god. 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:35.920 Jake. 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:39.680 I'll say grant aka Jake, We're so was so loving 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:41.880 and it didn't turn him off. He just rolled over 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:45.440 me said, you're crazy girl. You get me going again. 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:46.560 I love dad jokes. 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:51.400 It was so sweet. Anyway, all right. So we're in 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:55.000 the middle of seeing what happens next with the two 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.400 of us, and the phone rings and we hear on 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:04.560 the voice machine his ex girlfriend Perry's voice, which was 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:08.920 on the show several seasons, several episodes back, and she 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:11.360 just says, Jake, I need you to call me right away. 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.000 And we do know that we're going to find out 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:18.080 later that she was a drug user, but she got 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:20.800 clean and she was ready to turn her life around. 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:24.400 And that's when the doctor says, you have AIDS. So 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:28.719 when she finally does get him, she tells Jake that 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:33.440 because they had unprotected sex, he needs to get tested 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:36.599 and he should also ask his current girlfriend Joe to 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:40.080 get tested. So at this point, Jake is like, he 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.360 represents all of us. I think that in that year 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:44.400 ninety three, you know, those of us who are not 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.920 in the gay community, who had friends and lovers and 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:52.760 everybody getting hit with this. We didn't know the masses, 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.360 so there there's a lot of misinformation. There was a 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:57.880 lot of fear about it, you know, thinking you could 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:02.360 catch it casual touch, et cetera. So Jake is kind 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.240 of scared. He's like, well, I didn't do anything like, 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:08.680 what does does this mean for me? And he's pissed. 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:13.200 He's pissed. Yeah. He has a very aggressive reaction to her, like, 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:17.480 look what you know? It's your fault and and and 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:20.960 then he's says he's as I said, he's terrified, and 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:24.440 he can't bring himself to tell Joe kind of avoids 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:26.360 her one night, says I always want to be alone, 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.800 and she knows that Perry is called, so she's kind 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:33.760 of misunderstanding what went on with them on that phone call. 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.320 And then Jake actually talks to Matt about it and 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.679 asks advice, and Matt, you know, says that he lost 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.560 a lover to AIDS. And Jake finally realizes that he 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:48.080 has to break this news to Joe, and he takes 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:51.159 her up to Mulholland at night on his motorcycle and 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:54.120 he breaks the news to her. And I remember shooting 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.080 this scene, you know, as you said, this is a 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:01.560 very serious scene, and uh, I just remember shooting it 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:05.520 very well and talking about AIDS, And as you know, 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.960 I was aware that we were bringing to our audience 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.560 a real issue in the zeitgeist in the world. Right then. 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:18.400 It wasn't just melrose Place drama. I definitely remember that anyway. 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:22.000 So he says, do you remember that time when we 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.240 were at that restaurant which we all saw on a 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:25.520 few episodes back when they. 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:27.520 Were at the rest sex capades, the sex. 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.760 Capaid and before the food comes, are like, we got 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:31.880 to get out of here, and they run home. And 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:34.200 neither of them wanted to break the mood with pulling 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:39.080 out protection as they talk about there on the overlook 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:46.559 of Mulholland, and so again this is very common. People 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:49.200 didn't want to break the mood, you know. So people 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:53.360 did have unprotected sex, which is exactly how you can 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.640 get it. So Joe at the very end of that 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.359 scene says, we'll get through this together, Jake, don't worry. 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.719 So they get tested and they have to wait twenty 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:06.039 four whole hours, and they escape to the desert to 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:08.960 try to get their mind off it. As we all 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:10.920 know when we try to escape, especially to a place 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.760 where there's no distractions, getting our mind off it is 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:19.400 a last thing that happens. But very distracting, is it, No, 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:21.520 But it was a really sweet scene, I thought. By 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:25.600 the campfire and they talk about, you know, they have 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.680 a new perspective of life now because they don't know 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:30.920 what this test is going to tell them. They either 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:36.600 have a potentially deadly disease or not. And he says 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:38.720 he talks about how he doesn't want to take life 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:43.240 for granted anymore, and then he uses the L word 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:46.960 for the first time. He says he loves her. She 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:54.480 says she loves him. Good, he said it first. And 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:56.800 then the light, you know, the camera pulls out and 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.560 we have that lovely campfire in the desert scene under 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:06.040 the stars, and then he has a nightmare. Jake dreams 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.640 that he's tested positive. Of course, we'd use that recently 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:12.720 in another episode where somebody had it. We didn't know 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.440 it was a bad dream. I don't remember offhand, but 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.040 it's a great device, you know, where it's just a 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.520 scene opens and the doctor comes in and says, you know, 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.360 you've tested positive, and he's like what, and then boom. 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:27.560 He wakes up in the morning in the desert in 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:31.320 the sleeping bag and gets Joe up and it's like, 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:32.920 come on, we're out of here. Let's go get some 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:34.920 breakfast at a diner, and then they're going to head 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:38.440 back to the city and hopefully get there negative results. 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:42.480 They do both test negative. They each go to their 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.080 separate doctor and we have a cut back and forth 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:49.840 where each of them ask very pointed questions about it 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.480 so that our audience can get the answers, just as 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.840 our characters Joe and Jake will get answers. Doesn't mean 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:59.080 you're immune to it. Keep having sakes, save sex, you 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.320 should come, you should get tested again in six months 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:04.520 because it could be in you but not showing up 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:09.400 the virus. So that's another chance to tell our audience about, 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.720 you know, about the details of AIDS that they want 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:16.520 them to know. So to finish off the whole, I'm 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:18.520 just going to jump ahead for a minute because Jake, 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.800 the good man that he is, ends this whole episode 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:25.280 with going back to Perry after he's gone through this 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:31.400 whole journey and is apologizes for his initial reaction, apologizes 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.800 and asks how she really is, and she says, I'm okay, 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.199 I take my medicine, and you really get a sense 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:41.000 I thought she Michelle Johnson was it, Yes, Yeah, that 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:43.000 she was really good in this. She just you know, 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:46.040 she's living with it and she takes her medicine. But 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:49.840 some days are bad and most days are okay. And 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:52.720 he says, look, we've never given being friends to try. 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:54.560 Let's give being friends to try, and gives her a 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:57.520 big hug and they have that kind of closes out 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:00.760 the whole show. That's that story. Then come back to 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:04.040 the top and we'll see Alison, who we know from 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:09.320 last episode, has decided to stay and so she wants 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:13.600 her old job back. Makes sense, but unlucky for her. Lucy, 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.640 after rolling her eyes, says, well, you have to go 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.199 interview for your old job with none other than Amanda, 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:26.079 because she's made Amanda in charge of hiring. So we're like, great, 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:31.360 so we will see this storyline. We'll see Amanda, you know, 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:37.960 totally insulting Allison's work throughout the episode, and Alison trying 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.960 to you know, suck up to Amanda and you know, 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:46.400 trying to appease her because Amanda says, well, I think 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:48.440 I can put you on the phones while I interview 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:50.760 all these other people. Of course I don't think we 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.040 see any other interviews. But she's just putting her through 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:54.320 the ringer, you know, she's. 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:56.679 Just like, go back to being a secretary. 0:10:56.480 --> 0:11:01.480 Yeah, be a secretary. Still. Finally, after a while, Lucy 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.760 finally tells Amanda, look, you need to hire her back. 0:11:04.960 --> 0:11:08.160 There's no reason to not. This is not a sorority. 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:09.720 I don't care if your best friends or not. You 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:13.640 have to hire her back. So she calls a man 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:18.600 Alison in and lets Amanda take credit for deciding to 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:19.839 bring Alison back. 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:22.400 She makes Amanda take her credit for it. 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:26.240 Yeah, he makes her decide to take her back, and 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.560 so she does. I mean, I really noticed the shoulder 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:33.160 pads and you Courtney talked about that just recently in 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.560 real life, how you would order them from home Shopping 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:37.440 network or something bulk. This was it. 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:38.120 It was the look. 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.000 It didn't have a normal shoulder. That was just like, 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:45.760 you had to have this. So she did, and she 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.320 did this one. And I especially made a note of 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:50.960 that lime green suit with the corset ties at the back. 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.000 I'm sorry, you did it very well. You wore it 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:59.040 very well. But at any rate, So she finally confronts 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.040 Amanda and says, look, let's have it out. I know 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.560 this is about Billy, and then Amanda insinuates, as she 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.719 always does, that she and Billie are still talking and 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:12.079 we're actually talking seeing each other and talking, and Allison's 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:17.480 like what, and she is so gullible and huffs off, 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:21.000 and then we're going to go back to the top 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.600 and we're going to see Billy who. His first scene 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:29.800 is with Alison where he is applying his quote, applying 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:34.360 his creative writing skills to his resume without any ethics. 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:38.800 So this resume is full of exaggerations and lies that 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:44.559 he's making for applying for job at Escapade Magazine. And 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:47.840 one of the lies is that he went to Columbia 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:49.480 University for journalism. 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:50.720 I mean just a little while. 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.560 Yeah, just you have to have a whole session about 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.320 if we've ever like fluffed up a resume or just 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.400 tweaked something, because I know people do it, but that's 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:05.560 so obvious. Anyway, he takes this resume. Oh, and then 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:09.920 he says something to you know, Alison, about yeah, I 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:12.480 put you as a reference, but it made you like 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:15.160 the senior editor in charge of something something or other, 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.080 like a very high position, and Alison's just like what. 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.920 So anyway, he shows up at Escapade Magazine with flowers 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:29.640 and this resume, and he gets past the desk by 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:31.480 saying he has to sing to the boss. 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:31.920 So she. 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.200 Says, okay, go on, it is through there, and he 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:40.319 shows up into the boss's office, so she's very actually impressed, 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:43.640 I think, with the the baldiness of that, and says, Okay, 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:47.080 I'm gonna read some of your stuff, and I can't 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:49.480 take your flowers, but yeah, I'll read some more stuff 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:51.880 and maybe gave you something. I'll let you know. And 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.839 then sure enough she brings him on and introduces him 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:59.319 to his coworker Cameron, who actually did go to Columbia 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:03.720 and he busted him for lying on his resume, but 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:08.680 the sexy boss doesn't care and keeps Billy anyway and 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:13.000 then hits on him with weird questions about if he 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:17.120 saw her sweating at the gym and stuff. Very inappropriate woman. 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:19.840 Yeah, I mean, I think the overall feeling of. 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:23.320 The episode was really heavy, so it is definitely the 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:28.000 primary storyline, and it's the primary like feeling. 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.120 I thought of the episode like it was kind of 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:30.640 a downer. 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:34.720 I mean, obviously a very important topic, but just a 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:37.920 total energy shift from where we thought we were going 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.520 in the show. And it's definitely like a super important 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:42.440 topic that was. 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:45.800 I think all of us sort of felt like it 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:46.840 was a little bit. 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:50.760 Of a one long episode of a PSA for. 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:54.640 It was in this issue. You know, it was important 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:59.520 to Aaron Spelling and Daron but Aaron Spelling this very 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:02.920 year produced and the Band Plays On, which was the 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.520 Discovery of AIDS, starring Matthew Modine, and it had a 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:07.840 stellar cast. I don't know if you guys remember that 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:11.160 back the day. I remember everyone auditioning for it, and 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:14.560 this cast was amazing, you know, with Matthew Modine and 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.600 Richard Gear and Lily Tomlin and I mean Ian McKellen. 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:21.920 It just went on and on and I got an Emmy. 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.520 It was, you know, an amazing show on a TV 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:30.040 movie or series on HBO. So I know that, you know, 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:32.680 Darren produced that and this was kind of like a 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:35.880 he really which I really admire him for. You know, 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:36.440 he brought that. 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.560 And I think the reason because we've been just having 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.840 two couples making out all through the in the last 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:45.160 few episodes, right like you guys we're making out, they're 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.640 making out. One episode it was you and Jake and 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:51.640 Amanda and Billy and me Keith. It was like so 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:54.680 many and I think they couldn't counter this storyline right 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:59.280 with a lot of casual sex and normally in other episodes, 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.200 if they had a real heavy, intense storyline, they'd have 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:04.960 a light storyline to counter it. But I think they 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.840 didn't want to break the mood with this because they 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:11.560 really wanted to make this point, and every scene was 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:16.440 an education, right, Like for sure, they really had something 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.800 they wanted to say. And I think they maybe they 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:20.760 were feeling, I wanted this just camp. Maybe they were 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.080 feeling that there was so much casual sex on the 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:27.360 show that they felt a responsibility to say, be careful 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:29.760 because they talked a lot about protected sex. They talked 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:32.520 a lot about the risks. They really talked a lot 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:35.760 about specifically what you should do, how you should handle it. 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.320 Like they were saying, you know, it takes six months, 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:40.320 so you get tested now, you get tested later. And 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:43.520 do you guys remember I remember going for that first 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.720 HIV test? Do you remember that? And it was five days. 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.840 It was terrifying, and you thought of every person you'd 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:50.440 slept with. 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:52.560 You had to wait for five days. 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:55.000 In the beginning, like all of a sudden, you're remembering 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.760 everybody you'd slept with. Yeah, Like in my early twenties, 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:00.400 the first time when it went on, Oh my god, 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.160 there are there are people getting it. Like when we 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:05.160 finally came out of the dark and went, oh, wait 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:08.359 a minute, this is real for everybody. Everybody has to 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:09.960 be aware of this, right. 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:13.480 Yeah, And I think that that And again I think 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:16.400 not only did he want everyone, did they want everyone 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:20.960 to know the details. There's a lot of misinformation and 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.960 stigma too, like if you could get it casually, then 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:27.680 you don't want to touch certain people's gaze were being hired. 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.280 And you know, thousands and thousands, hundreds of thousands of 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.360 gay men had died at this point because it went 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.959 all through the eighties pretty much silent. So this nineteen 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:40.879 ninety three was really a time. And then you know, 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.160 the drug interfere on I think came on, but there 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:46.200 was more and more in the zeitgeist, and then more 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:50.119 acceptance and compassion, because that's really what was missing. So 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:52.280 I really I liked that it was a story of 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.200 two heterosexual couple. 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:59.320 Absolutely, wasn't that. Yes, it was so smart to do 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:03.760 it that way. And when Jake calls Matt to ask him, 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:05.880 sort of in a vague way about what happened, Matt 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.399 is this great line. He said, testing positive isn't a 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:11.480 death sentence, ignorance is. And I thought that was such 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:13.600 a great way to say because people were like, you know, 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:14.879 they didn't want to know, didn't want to know, and 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.360 they were really trying, you could feeling show they were 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.919 trying to get people to test and be conscious and 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.600 to understand because you know, Jake was this guy he 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.159 didn't do ivy drugs, but he happened to have a 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:31.480 sexy affair with a woman who did and he didn't know. 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.800 They're saying, look, you don't know. It's not you're a 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:35.560 good girl, you're a good guy. You can't get it. 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.760 They really wanted people to be aware that to stop it, 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:43.680 we all had to be active participants in prevention. 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:48.400 Yeah, and it was totally understandable how no one wanted 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:50.160 to break the mood, you know, I mean, who wants 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.080 to break the mood? It was a big hurdle they 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:57.920 had to. People had to accept and live with this 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:00.760 idea that this thing is out there. Yeah. 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:03.080 And I think what you're saying about like breaking the 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:06.280 mood is that they put that dialogue in the character's mouths, 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:09.560 you know, to say these things that an audience of 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:14.560 all sexualities and orientations and experiences can relate to. Sort 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.479 of like all the things like, this is not just 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:20.000 a disease that affects one group of people or whatever. 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:23.199 These are relatable things, and so by having our characters 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:26.720 say this dialogue, it's like, oh, yeah, I get that, 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.479 or I've experienced that or whatever. It made it feel 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:34.399 very much like a PSA, but it was covering really 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.600 a lot of information, whether the doctor was saying it 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:39.480 and being really specific about now you need to get 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.680 tested again in six months, because it was very very 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:47.200 informational in the in the dialogue. But you know, like 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:51.280 like you said, the movie, the HBO movie came out 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:53.720 in the very same year as this, as this storyline 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.719 on Melrose's Place, So I was thinking, like, it almost 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:00.119 feels like, you know, we've already made the turn on 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:04.000 Melroe's Place into thinking, okay, we need to definitely make 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:07.000 this more soapy and whatever Heather's already on, we've already 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.320 started to see the storyline starting to do this. It 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.760 almost feels like these storylines were planned all along Billie's 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:17.679 father passing and this really important storyline, and it almost 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:20.120 feels like they needed to make sure that they were 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.280 still telling these stories that they'd planned to tell, even 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:25.440 though it's sort of not consistent with the. 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:26.879 Flow of where they were going. 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:29.760 So it did feel a little jarring as an audience 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:34.440 member to suddenly have this really important, heavy hitting topic 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:38.560 when we've come to expect sort of like fun and this. 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:42.760 And to your point, Court like, it's really hard to 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:44.600 mix it up and just have a little bit of 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:48.040 this storyline and just get enough so that you can 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:50.560 have a balanced, you know, fun and funny thing. 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:53.240 On the other side, it's really hard to strike that balance. 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:55.880 So it felt really heavily all right, let's just tell 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:58.480 this whole story in a really big Yeah. 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:00.240 I watched it. I was watching it with a friend 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:02.199 and I was like, I'm prepping for a pop washing thing. 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:04.120 It's so much fun and I was like, oh wow, 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:06.960 this was not the funn Yeah. 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:08.600 Yeah, but they had to get it in and so 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:10.399 they just they did the whole thing, and like, we 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:13.080 don't even see Jane and Michael at all in this one, 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:14.800 or or Kimberly. 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:15.720 Which they were very committed. 0:21:16.080 --> 0:21:18.399 We just started to see them maybe heating up in 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:20.760 the prior episode, and then they're not even in this 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:23.320 one because they really needed to cover this aid storyline. 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:25.280 Yeah, I bet they had to fight the network to 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:27.400