This one has a long back-story so bear with me.
In season 3 of Beverly Hills 90210, Dylan’s dad Jack died in a car bomb explosion.
In season 6, Dylan found out who was responsible for Jack’s death–Tony Marchette. As a way to get closer to Marchette (so he could enact revenge), Dylan befriended Marchette’s daughter Antonia (aka Toni). They ended up falling in love and marrying.
Marchette wasn’t having it and decided to put a hit on Dylan. Things went awry and Toni ended up taking the bullets, leading to her death. Following the funeral, Dylan leaves town.
In season 9, Dylan returns to Beverly Hills and again wants revenge on Marchette. He is shocked to find out Marchette actually killed himself not long after Toni’s death.
In season 10, Dylan is shocked again when he finds out his father is actually alive–he’s been in the Witness Protection Program all these years.
Here’s the question: Was Jack’s death purposefully faked/staged or did the government (or whoever), knowing about the bomb, rescue him at the last second and put him in the program?
That then begs the following question: Was Marchette responsible for Jack faking his death (as in, did Marchette help him do it) or did Marchette actually try to kill him and think he succeeded?
The writers in season 3, I’m sure, didn’t specifically plan for the season 6 or season 10 storylines (I know this for a fact, actually). Season 10 probably rolled around and they came up with the idea that Jack has been alive all this time and went with it. But doing that had major implications for the past storylines.
Was Toni’s death in vain? It certainly seems that way. But for which reason: Was Marchette trying to keep Dylan from finding out the truth–that his father was still alive? Or, as far as Marchette knew, Jack was dead and, yes, he was responsible, just as Dylan thought, and wanted Dylan dead, too?
Another thing that bothers me: at the end of the episode where Toni dies (6.10, One Wedding and a Funeral), Dylan says to Marchette “My father is dead. Your daughter is dead. We’re even now.” Dylan lost his father AND his wife! How the hell is that even?
It’s a very complicated series of storylines and raises some interesting questions. Would love to know Luke Perry’s take on all of this. Maybe one day I’ll get to ask him! Fingers crossed…
TeenDramaWhore 
I was in elementary school during the original run of BH90210 and even though I watched faithfully with my grandparents I didn’t fully understand the storylines, but thanks to the DVD sets I was able to rewatch season 6 and you have raised a lot of great questions.
I’m replying to this from iPhone and haven’t had the chance to research if any writers carried over in each storyline, but I think the decision to reveal that Jack had been alive all along was a great injustice to the story that was told in season 6. In my opinion the Toni/Dylan storylines was one of the most well acted and tragic storylines from the show’s later years.
I guess those types of decisions makes me think of the new show and the changes these new writers have brought to the lives of the original characters. When it comes to how Dylan is portrayed in the new series, he obviously hasn’t been a great father to Sammy. And that character development could work since we know Dylan didn’t have a great father either, but I believe Dylan would have wanted to be there for his son because of the way his father treated him.
Anyways this was a fun read and I hope you get to ask Luke Perry.
Take care!
Brandon–Thanks for a such a long, thoughtful response! It is so interesting to me that you watched with your grandparents! I would love to hear more about that sometime.
Season 6 marked the first season with a new showrunner–Charles Rosin was no longer the top dog–and there might’ve been new writers as well. By the time season 10 rolled around, there were likely new writers again. I agree that it was an injustice–unless they can answer my questions above with an explanation of what is the “true story” behind Jack’s death that makes both the season 6 and 10 storylines make sense. I know the way Jack died was purposefully done to leave it open for the future, but they certainly didn’t have the future storylines planned at the time. But if you’re going to make such a monumental change, at least have an explanation for it to cover the past.
I do agree it is one of 90210’s best and saddest (see: https://teendramawhore.com/2009/02/26/top-10-saddest-moments-4-and-3/) storylines, although many felt it was rushed, didn’t see/believe the connection between Dylan & Toni, and served no other point than to accommodate Luke Perry wanting to leave the show.
In regards to Dylan in the new show, well, I don’t even think about it. The last we saw and heard from of Dylan, IMO, was in the series finale for BH90210. What this new show has created doesn’t exist in my mind. It is not the real show, not the real character, etc. so I personally don’t draw any comparisons.
It would seem that Toni’s death was in vain, but I don’t think that Marchette was involved in helping Jack fake his death. I think that the feds were tipped off about the bomb in the car and felt that would be the chance they were waiting for. You are right that the writers did not plan on seasons 9 and 10 so we can only hope that they were doing justice to the original storyline. IMO I feel like we the viewers were short changed and were left scratching our heads.
I flet sorry for Dylan when we learn that Jack had been alive the entire time. He went through so much as a result of Jack’s death: His drug addictions, losing the money, Tony’s death, his few brushes with death and so many more are a result of his pain for losing his father.
Vegas, I completely agree with you. Your assessment is right on. Thanks for commenting!
Thanks for the blog TDW, I am adding this site to my favs. 😉
No, thank you for visiting! Feel free to spread the word. =)