#5 - Donna Martin graduates!

This was such a stupid storyline. All the kids went to prom together and Mel Silver had them over to his stupid bachelor condo beforehand and gave them champagne and then they had more champagne in the limo and because Donna was pure and virginal and had never even breathed air that had been exposed to alcohol before, she got good and wasted. They tried to sneak her out but Ms. Teasely totally busted her all hiccupping and babbling and then told her that because of some new rule about zero tolerance Donna would not be allowed to graduate. And Donna may have been stupid and had some kind of unspecified learning disability but she totally wanted to graduate! No fair making her take responsibility for her actions! And for some unexplained reason Brandon got all excited about it (something about the process the school board had used to make the rule) and organized a walkout of HUNDREDS of students all chanting “DONNA MARTIN GRADUATES” and the school board was powerless against such a massive demonstration and caved and she DID graduate. And then never used her education ever again.

#4 - Kelly chooses her

For some reason, both Brandon and Dylan are head over heels in luv with Kelly, even though she treats both of them poorly and doesn’t really do anything. This had been building for an entire season, she’s dating Brandon but Dylan is clearly still hung up on her. And Brandon goes and buys an engagement ring and asks her to marry him and then Dylan gives her a plane ticket and asks her to go around the world with him. And then there’s all this “what is she going to do they are both such wonderful men (except Brandon who is a sanctimonious tool but therefore perfect for Kelly)” and then she goes and rejects them both. I mean, “chooses her.” Which sounded stupid even the first time she said it, and then to have that become an ongoing pop culture concept, choosing oneself, is just outrageous. But it did make for a dramatic plot twist, I guess.