Episode
Beverly Hills, 90210: Survival Skills
Overview
Lauren suffers a reaction to her medication. She learns that she will die if she continues to take her medication; without the pills, her schizophrenia will resurface. Lauren prepares to return to the institution, but Matt proposes that they illegally obtain more pills and spend their remaining weeks together on a second honeymoon. Kelly stops sulking about Matt long enough to buy Dylan a classic car to lift his spirits. Gina becomes extremely jealous. Donna breaks up with Noah after he confesses to sleeping with Gina. Gina later reveals that they did not have sex. Donna insults her and refuses to forgive Noah. She co-hosts David's radio show for a night and reminisces about the good times. David shows up on Donna's doorstep, and they share a passionate kiss. Steve and Janet take a pair of troubled teens on a camping trip. While trying to counsel the bickering kids, Steve and Janet end up seeking romantic advice. Janet accidentally lets her feelings for Steve slip out. They spend the n
Details
- Series
- Beverly Hills, 90210
- Season
- Season 9
- Episode
- Episode 16
- Air date
- 1999-02-17
- Runtime
- 45 min
Episode context
Survival Skills is Episode 16 in Season 9 of Beverly Hills, 90210. It aired on 1999-02-17. The runtime is 45 min.
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Episode 15: Beheading St. Valentine
Although he loves Lauren and feels obligated to help her readjust to society, Matt expresses a desire to stay with Kelly. Kelly tries to maintain her relationship with Matt, but realizes she must bow out following a plea from Lauren. Donna becomes furious upon discovering old photos of Gina kissing Noah at the amusement park. She agrees to pose as David's girlfriend at a business function, where they keep up appearances by kissing for a photograph. They later kiss in David's truck. Donna feels guilty and forgives Noah; Gina drops hints suggesting that she slept with him. Steve discovers an irregular mole and fears that he may have skin cancer. He vows to turn his life around and apologizes for taking Janet for granted. She sleeps with him, but he returns to his old ways after tests come back negative. Dylan tries to keep his mind off drugs by having sex with Gina in public places.
Music: ""My Own Worst Enemy"" by Lit; ""Declarat
Episode 17: Slipping Away
Kelly and Dylan agree to go to Mexico and obtain medication for Lauren. Kelly has second thoughts about their mission. She sleeps with Dylan, then decides that she doesn't want to buy the drugs. Dylan confuses Kelly when he starts babbling about their relationship to the customs official. Dylan explains that he got the medicine, and needed to distract the customs official to keep him from searching the car. Lauren elects not to take the pills, as she would rather return to the institution and hope for a cure. She asks Kelly to watch over Matt and help him get on with his life. Donna agrees to a date with the persistent David. She rejects Noah's pleas for a reconciliation and asks for time to make a decision. Gina discovers that her mother spent most of the money she earned skating as a minor. Donna encourages her to sue the trustee who failed to protect her interests, and is stunned to find that it is Felice. Janet hides her relationship with Steve from her father, who only wants her t
More episodes from this season
Episode 14: I'm Married
Matt flies to New York to visit Lauren, who has spent the past three years in a mental institution. She returns to Los Angeles with Matt, but he is reluctant to introduce her to Kelly. David and Gina see the couple kissing on the street. Kelly angrily breaks up with Matt, then decides that she will fight for him. Matt informs Kelly that Lauren is his wife. Dylan performs community service on a road crew. He objects to the tyrannical foreman's treatment of one of the other workers, an upstanding family man. Dylan gets into a fight with the foreman; he must smooth things over to spare his friend from an unfair punishment. Dylan angers Gina by confiding in his sponsor while shutting Gina out. David meets a woman who may be his perfect match, but she seems to have stood him up. Steve and Donna engage in a war of practical jokes with Noah after they catch him cheating at strip poker.
Music: ""Jumper"" by Third Eye Blind (#5, 1999)
Episode 18: Bobbi Dearest
Gina decides to sue Felice for $1.1 million for the money her mother misspent and ""pain and suffering."" Donna, torn apart by her family's bickering, runs crying to Noah. She doesn't believe that David has a right to be angry, but later apologizes and claims that he is just lonely. He follows her advice and uses his radio show to field offers from potential girlfriends. He loses track of the woman who most interests him, and eventually discovers that she works for a cleaning service that cleans the club. Donna convinces her mother to repay Gina the $60,000 she lost. Gina and Bobbi had actually orchestrated a scam to rip off Felice; they celebrate their success. Matt learns that Lauren has filed for divorce. Kelly wants to take things slowly, but cannot stay away from Matt. Dylan nearly dies in a Jet Ski accident. He tries to track down the guy who revived him.
Episode 13: Withdrawal
Donna is not seriously injured, and forgives Dylan for the accident. Dylan's friends encourage him to check into rehab. Kelly acts very pushy and suggests that Gina and Matt are responsible for Dylan's problems. Dylan sneaks out the bathroom window and attempts to go through withdrawal on his own. Kelly finds him lying on her doorstep and takes him to the hospital. Matt cuts a deal with the district attorney to keep Dylan out of jail, but isn't sure that he deserves another chance. Dylan goes into cardiac arrest and has to be revived through a defibrillator. Kelly realizes that she must back off and learn to respect Gina's relationship with Dylan. Matt receives a surprising call from a woman in New York. Donna designs a gown for a famous singer to wear to a nationally televised awards show. She fears that she is ruined when the woman looks like a wreck (with uncombed hair and garish accessories). However, the teenagers who emulate the singer soon flock to Donna's store. Steve gets into
Episode 19: The Leprechaun
Noah faces foreclosure after failing to make his mortgage payments on the Peach Pit/After Dark building. He accepts an offer from a restaurant owner willing to pay much higher rent, and decides to terminate Nat's lease. Noah ignores a warning from Dylan, who buys the building so that Nat can stay. Claudia reveals that her visa will soon expire; David vows to help her stay in the country. When a job offer falls through, David agrees to marry Claudia. As a promotion, Steve has a man dress up as a leprechaun and promises a ""pot of gold"" to the person who catches him. A butcher takes the offer seriously and demands a reward, then pulls out a knife when Steve is unable to pay. The man breaks down in tears and explains that his son needs heart surgery. The paper helps finance the operation, thanks to donations sent in by readers touched by the man's plight. Kelly and Donna clash when Kelly hires a public relations guru to attract more attention to the store.
Episode 12: Trials and Tribulations
Dylan storms into the Marchette mansion and holds a couple at gunpoint. They tell him that they purchased the house from Marchette's estate; he committed suicide a few weeks after Toni's death. Gina pushes Dylan away when he continues to use heroin. The cops pull him over on suspicion of breaking and entering, and find drugs and a gun on his bike. He calls Gina from jail and begs her to bring him drugs, as he cannot handle withdrawal. Steve's students demand a refund and take him to small-claims court. The case is heard on the television show Judge Mary. Although Steve loses, he believes that the publicity will help his business. David's new girlfriend dumps him after hearing him testify about using a pick-up line to seduce her. Donna and Noah house-sit for the Martins in order to gain some privacy. They invite their friends over for a barbecue. Matt brings Dylan to the party and suggests that he admit his drug problem to everyone. Gina reluctantly gives Dylan heroin, then stalks off w
Episode 20: Fortune Cookie
David and Claudia proceed with plans for their wedding, and attempt to document their relationship to avoid suspicion. Claudia realizes that David is having doubts; she elects to return to Venezuela and apply for another visa. Dylan rigs a raffle so that Kelly can have the opportunity to meet her favorite singer. Gina goes to the man's hotel room, claiming to be Kelly. She spends the night at the hotel to make Dylan jealous, although she later insists that nothing happened. Kelly helps Matt film a television commercial to solicit new clients. Matt fears that Kelly does not like him for himself, and suspects that she is hung up on Dylan. Donna designs costumes for a production at West Beverly, where an acquaintance accuses the drama teacher of molesting her during her teen years. Donna does not believe her claims, until the woman explains that she drove Donna away from the drama class to protect her. Donna and Ashley take action after discovering that the teacher made inappropriate adva
Episode 11: How to Be the Jerk Women Love
Gina finds heroin in Dylan's jacket. He throws out his stash to prove himself, but continues to get high. Dylan tries to visit Toni's grave, only to find that it has been moved. He buys a gun and heads for Marchette's house in the hopes of learning the new location. Kelly balks at sleeping with Matt. She helps out with David's radio show and advises listeners to take relationships slowly. She promptly spends the night with Matt. Steve puts on a seminar offering techniques on how to pick up women. His students express dissatisfaction at their results, but David scores with a line about a dead grandmother. Gina stirs up trouble between Donna and her mother.
Music: ""One Week"" by Barenaked Ladies (#1, 1998)
Episode 21: I Want to Reach Right Out and Grab Ya
Dylan accompanies Matt to a pool hall and helps him hustle a client who refused to pay his bill. The guys return to the pool hall with Gina and Kelly the next day, and get into a brawl. The foursome's newfound friendship comes to an end after a magician hypnotizes Kelly during his act. He asks her with whom she would want to be stranded on a deserted island, and she replies, ""Dylan McKay."" Matt is angry, but decides that it isn't a big deal. Gina slaps Kelly and runs out of the club. A man tries to attack her with a knife; she escapes, but Kelly and Dylan do not believe Gina's story until the police catch her attacker. Kelly apologizes and promises to stay away from Dylan. Gina makes plans to spend time with Olympic gold medallist Oksana Baiul, a friend from her skating days, only to find that she is instead being hired as a housesitter. Donna's parents announce that they are separating. Donna blames her mother until Felice reveals that Dr. Martin is the one who wants the separation.
Episode 10: Marathon Man
Dylan whisks Kelly away to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for the day. He buys her a hollow statue so that he can smuggle drugs back into the U.S. Kelly rejects Dylan and decides to focus on her relationship with Matt. Dylan promptly takes Gina to Mexico, and again smuggles heroin in a statue. When the statue ends up locked inside the boutique after hours, Dylan seduces Gina to get it back. Sonia and her boyfriend spend the night at Donna's store. One of Sonia's friends pulls a knife on her and warns her to stay away from her man. The store is robbed, and everyone believes that Sonia committed the crime to acquire enough money to escape the gang. She later reveals that she endured a beating to keep her friends from robbing the store, and a security guard actually committed the crime. Sonia thanks Donna for helping her get out of the gang. Steve mistakenly pledges $1000 per hour for an AIDS dance-a-thon at the club; he wanted to donate a total of one thousand dollars. He tries to keep his costs
Episode 22: Local Hero
Kelly and Dylan run into each other at the market and share a cup of coffee. They subdue a man who tries to attack a pregnant woman and her child, and help the woman get to the hospital to have her baby. When the press approaches Kelly, she identifies Steve as the hero because she and Dylan don't want to admit that they were together. Steve initially relishes the attention, but soon suffers from a guilty conscience. He confronts Kelly and Dylan and states that everyone can tell that they want each other. Kelly plans to tell Matt the truth, while Dylan considers breaking up with Gina. Gina receives an offer to become a skating commentator, but loses the job (partially because of Matt's hardball negotiating technique). Matt apologizes and offers Gina work as his assistant. Dylan cannot bring himself to break up with Gina while she is in this vulnerable state. Kelly tells Matt that Dylan was the hero, but stops short of disclosing the fact that she slept with Dylan in Mexico. Noah reveals