"Blind Spot" is a 1994 episode of the American television series ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

''. The episode follows two stories. In the first, series regular David Silver finds himself attracted to his blind piano teacher, causing a strain on his relationship with girlfriend Donna Martin. In the second, series regular Steve Sanders discovers that Mike Ryan, the president of his college fraternity, is gay, and

outs In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When a batter or runner is out, they lose their ability to score a run and must return to the dugout until their next turn at bat. When three outs are recorded in a h ...

him to the rest of the fraternity. The 26th episode of season 4, "Blind Spot" originally aired on April 6, 1994 on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

Plot

David Silver (

Brian Austin Green Brian Austin Green (born Brian Green; July 15, 1973) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of List of Beverly Hills, 90210 characters#Main characters, David Silver on the Television show, television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1 ...

) is having trouble practicing a

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

sonata so he seeks out help from Holly Marlow, a piano teacher who he quickly realizes is blind. He develops feelings for her, slighting his girlfriend Donna Martin (

Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress. Her first major role was Donna Martin (character), Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', from 1990 to 2000. She has appeared in made-for-television films, including ''A Fri ...

) in the process. Holly explains to David that he is confusing feelings of protectiveness because of her disability for romantic feelings. Steve Sanders (

Ian Ziering Ian Andrew Ziering (; born March 30, 1964) is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Sanders on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', which he played from 1990 to 2000. He is also the voice of Vinnie on ''Biker Mice from ...

) and Brandon Walsh (

Jason Priestley Jason Bradford Priestley (born August 28, 1969) is a Canadian-American actor and television director. Priestly starred as virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–1998, 2000). His other television roles in ...

) are on their way to

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...

for a baseball game when Brandon's car breaks down. They go into a nearby coffee house to call for help and Steve figures out that it's a gay establishment. He spots Mike Ryan, the president of his fraternity, and Mike spots him as well. Back at the fraternity house Mike asks Steve not to mention his sexuality to the fraternity brothers. At a wardrobe fitting for a charity

beefcake Beefcake is a performance or a form of glamour photography depicting a large and muscular male body. Beefcake is also a publication genre. A role a person plays in a performance may be called ''beefcake''. The term was believed to be first used ...

calendar, fraternity brother Artie Devers gay-baits Steve, who in response outs Mike. Artie leads an attempt to expel Mike from the fraternity but Steve, extolling the principle of brotherhood, persuades the fraternity to keep Mike.

Guest cast

* Jack Armstrong as Mike Ryan *

Cress Williams Cress Williams (born July 26, 1970) is an American actor, known for his roles in ''Prison Break'' and ''Close to Home (2005 TV series), Close to Home''. His most recent roles include Mayor Lavon Hayes on The CW Television Network, The CW series ' ...

as D'Shawn Hardell * Todd Bryant as Artie Devers * Sydney Brown as Holly Marlow

Impact

Gender theorist Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field no ...

E. Graham McKinley has examined "Blind Spot" for its portrayal of gender relationship dynamics between diverse pairings, specifically David's interaction with the disabled Holly and a date between Donna and recurring African-American character D'Shawn Hardell. In partnership with the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

chapter of the

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ex ...

, the producers of ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' sponsored screenings of "Blind Spot" at three gay and lesbian youth centers in the Los Angeles area. Following each screening, executive producer Chuck Rosin and guest star Todd Bryant participated in a question-and-answer session.Tropiano, p. 172

Notes

References

* McKinley, E. Graham (1997). ''Beverly Hills, 90210: Television, Gender and Identity''. University of Pennsylvania Press. . * Tropiano, Stephen (2002). ''The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV''. New York, Applause Theatre and Cinema Books. .

External links

"Blind Spot"
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{Authority control Beverly Hills, 90210 (franchise) 1994 American television episodes American LGBTQ-related television episodes Television episodes about anti-LGBTQ sentiment Television episodes set in Beverly Hills, California 1994 LGBTQ-related television episodes