Aside from the story of this episode with Brenda finding an old diary of a former resident of the Walsh family home, which you can read in other reviews, this review is mainly my reaction to the first several minutes of the episode where Brandon nails Brenda about being unreliable and dishonest as of late.
Knowing today from the recent podcasts of Shannen Doherty and other media reports of what was actually happening in her last season on the show, hearing the dialogue kind of broke my heart. She was going through domestic violence and other hard issues in her personal life, her frequent tardiness on the set creating a strife between her and the cast, and tabloids making false reports based on rumors putting all blame on her supposed selfish and irresponsible behaviors as if they were a result of her too much partying or diva ways or what-not, despite her recently settling down in marriage. She couldn't tell the cast, as one can imagine how hard it would have been to share being a victim of domestic abuse when you're still only in your early to mid twenties, times weren't so kind to the victims of abuse, with even more victim-blaming and shaming involved than today. Doherty has still gracefully taken owned up to her causing the inconveniences for the cast however unintentionally and said that her tough, self-reliant personality was also to be blamed for her choice to not tell. Regardless, she did get kicked off of the show while none of the cast or producers knew why her behaviors changed in season 4 and they and the rest of the world at large continued to believe for decades that it was her own undoing.
Hearing the lines by Brandon basically putting his on-screen sister in her place rather harshly, it doesn't take a genius to guess probably came from writers or producers who decided to use the on-set drama and fallout between Shannen and the cast (except Brian Austin Green), as food for the script for this episode. The parallel can be seen in many subtle ways throughout the season, but boy this opening scene is so obvious, cringy to watch now knowing what was the truth, particularly in Brandon/Jason Priestley's harsh and frustrated ways toward Brenda/Shannen. To his credit Jason Priestly apologized to Shannen by appearing on her podcast recently for his treatment of her or lack of support for her in those days. That said, it is painful to see the glimpse of what battles Shannen Doherty must have had faced at the time not only at home but also at workplace where she was made a villain. I feel for her and I am impressed how well she still continued to act throughout the season to her eventual exit from the show.
Ok, so besides my personal comments on the first several minutes of this episode, the main story of the diary of the other girl from decades before, and Brenda reflecting on herself through it, is very well done. Having the cast portray the characters in the diary girl's story in the 60s is really fun to watch, too.
