As you can guess from the title and the picture, Jessica’s running away! Our dreams are coming true! Will she take Liz with her? We can only hope.
Why is she running away, you ask? Well, the caption states that the reason is she’s “had enough.” Enough of what? Her oppressive embodiment of the perfect Californian teen life? Whatever the case, it’s enough to make a lone tear sparkle in her blue-green eyes the color of the Pacific Ocean.
Steven Wakefield’s left school and not just for the 137th weekend in a row because no one at college likes his ass. He’s quit for realreal because he’s in mourning for his poor dead girlfriend Tricia Martin, and Liz and Jess attempt to cheer him up by inviting him to Cara Walker’s party, which is being held—I guess—because SVH randomly gave all the kids a week off. But Steve isn’t havin’ it and flips out on Jess: “Why can’t you just stop trying to manipulate all of our lives?” Because then she’d have no purpose in life, Steve.
In turn, Jess develops this resentment for her family that’s apparently been a long time coming. “I’m tired of being the bad twin!” she thinks, and is miserable because everyone loves Liz more. It’s all very random, considering she always gave off the impression she thrived on her bitchiness.
Newsflash: There’s another town bar in SV other than Kelly’s! It’s called the Shady Lady and it’s frequented by the likes of Nicky Shepard, a sexy drunken drug addict with a fast car. Jess loves bad boys and so throws him a smile, seeing fragility in his eyes…
Cut to Cara’s house: The party is in full swing, and you can tell by the gang of people in the corner playing Trivial Pursuit. They’re not around a grav bong, not around a keg—they are doing this stone-cold sober at a high school party with all the popular kids. Just another reminder that I’m reading fiction! I bet Enid Rollins is over there with them. Steven comes to the party after all and mopes around, which is “embarrassing [to Jess] in front of all her friends.” Jess is also having a shitty time because she keeps running into people who’d likely take a fucking bullet for Elizabeth, so she storms into a bathhouse and finds Nicky Shepard, who intrigues her by saying all these super dumb, emo things: “I like being a loner; it makes me seem mysterious” and “I like being sad; it’s easier than being happy.” He calls Jess beautiful and convinces her that they’re so much alike, and when they start to bump ‘n’ grind on the dance floor, Liz attempts to mother Jess, who just tells her twin, “You’ve got the rest of the world to watch out for. Don’t worry so much about me.” BURN!
When Liz attempts to tell Alice about Jess acting weirdly, Alice actually replies, “I agree that Jess isn’t herself these days, but I think it’s a change for the better.” That’s rich. Jess attempts to turn over a new leaf by cooking a roast chicken for the Wakefield clan, but all anyone can do is hang on to Liz’s every word and make jokes about the last time Jess fucked up dinner. She goes out with Nicky for solace and he tells her that he’s running away to San Francisco and wants her to come with him.
Jess attempts to talk to her family once last time, but they blow her off, so Jess has some “Our Town”-esque thoughts and leaves with all her clothes after leaving a melodramatic goodbye note behind for Liz with the most righteous postscript: “I’m leaving you my new jeans. I think they make me look fat anyway.” But Liz never finds the note; instead, she just sees Jess’s room clean and her closet empty, so the Wakefields all finally give a shit and rush about looking for her. Steven makes a call to his Nicky connection, learns that Nicky’s going to San Francisco and thus Jess must be joining him, so Liz and Steven stalk Jess’s bus until it stops and then they make a big scene, hugging and crying. Then all is well and forgiven.
The subplot is that Ned breaks his lawyer-client confidentiality agreements and asks his daughters for their input on how he should go about the case. OMG, what’s WRONG with these parents? The case involves Ricky Capuldo, who is one of Liz’s favorite people and yet we’ve barely heard about him, and how his mom is trying to punish his dad for not paying child support so she won’t let her ex’s parents see the kids. Even though Ricky tells Liz not to embarrass his family by writing an article about the case for newspaper, Liz does anyway, and ends up having a talk with Ricky that makes him stand up in court and beg everyone to call the whole thing off. SHUN.
Other Notes:
- At one point, Elizabeth notes that Jess is in “rare form” by “trying to turn Elizabeth’s anger into guilt.” This is RARE form and not an everyday circumstance?
- Sweet Valley has some of the crappiest named locations: Foxy Mama, Beach Disco, Lissette’s, Box Tree Café… It’s all just very unimaginative.
- Todd Wilkins attends Cara’s party wearing “pleated gray linen slacks and a tweed coat over a polo shirt.” And he is not being ironic.
—
Please leave a comment and share this content with your friends on social media—
this helps ensure the continuation of the content you love!