25 of TV’s messiest meltdowns

Emily Valentine (almost) Burns Down the Walsh House — Beverly Hills, 90210

If you ask me, Emily Valentine got a really bad rap. Sure, she acted like she was going to burn down the gang’s homecoming float. But she didn’t, did she? Emily, in my  humble opinion, was wildly misunderstood. Brandon (and his snotty sister and stuck up friends) treated her terribly, and then acted completely shocked when she reacted negatively.

When Emily first arrived on the scene, the 90210 girls gasped and all clutched their boyfriends a little tighter. They assumed she was there to steal their man, and immediately turned into hateful mean girls. Once everyone was convinced that she was not, in fact, there to sleep with all their guys, they reluctantly let her into the group, but still turned their nose up at her when she started dating Brandon.

The only thing Emily was guilty of was liking a boy more than he liked her, and her feelings only turned chaotic once he slept with her and led her on like he did. She may have acted out in some inappropriate ways, but who can blame the poor girl? If you ask me, she never really intended to burn down anybody’s float. It was just a desperate cry from a girl who needed better friends than Brandon and Brenda Walsh. We shouldn’t be so quick to judge Emily’s tendencies to arson. She felt lonely and rejected, and that’s a tough combination to deal with.