S1.E18

It's Only a Test

Episode aired Mar 28, 1991
TV-14
47m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

James Eckhouse and Carol Potter in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990)

Brenda is filled with horror when she discovers a lump in her breast, which calls for a biopsy. Meanwhile, the upcoming SATs put extra pressure on everyone, especially Andrea and Steve durin... Read allBrenda is filled with horror when she discovers a lump in her breast, which calls for a biopsy. Meanwhile, the upcoming SATs put extra pressure on everyone, especially Andrea and Steve during a study night together when an intimate moment happens between them.Brenda is filled with horror when she discovers a lump in her breast, which calls for a biopsy. Meanwhile, the upcoming SATs put extra pressure on everyone, especially Andrea and Steve during a study night together when an intimate moment happens between them.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

295

YOUR RATING

3User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

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Trivia
In this episode, Brenda (Shannen Doherty) has a breast cancer scare. In March 2015, Doherty revealed that she had breast cancer and in May 2016, she had a single mastectomy. Doherty later sadly died from the disease on July 13, 2024.

Quotes
Jim Walsh: [about Brenda's impending lumpectomy] It's probably noting. It could just be an ingrown hair.
Brenda Walsh: An ingrown hair? On my left breast? That's exactly the kind of response that I'd expect from Brandon.
Brandon Walsh: Response about what?
Brenda Walsh: Nothing.

Soundtracks
That's Just the Way It Is, Baby
(uncredited)
Written by Phil Solem and Danny Wilde
Performed by The Rembrandts

User reviews3

Review

Featured review

9/10

When art imitates life

Intense episode hits a little close to home when Brenda performs a self examination on her breast tissue and discovers something of concern. The episode then explores her escalating fears as she undergoes the range of tests to determine its pathology (which is reflected by her mother's consternation, whose younger sister we learn succumbed to the disease several years earlier).

On a lighter note, Steve and Andrea find an unlikely common interest in preparing for the upcoming SAT exams, a source of great anxiety for subsequent college entrance, especially amongst those vying for an Ivy League offer.

The performances are mature in deference to the sensitive subject matter, with a very brief appearance by veteran actor Bart Braverman in Brenda's dream sequence which contemporaneously might've seemed corny, but in retrospect now seems dark and poignant.

It's hard to watch this episode now, and impossible not to be moved knowing that Doherty was performing a rehearsal for an encounter with the disease that would prematurely claim her life.