Kelly Taylor and Brandon Walsh
Kelly Taylor and Brandon Walsh
Kelly Taylor and Brandon Walsh
Kelly Taylor and Brandon Walsh
Kelly Taylor and Brandon Walsh
Kelly Taylor and Brandon Walsh
 

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Fanlisting?
A fanlisting is a place for all the fans of a particular topic to come together and build the biggest listing of people all around the world who are fans of that subject. ~ TFL

Kelly and Brandon?
Shortly after his arrival in Beverly Hills, Brandon met a girl named Kelly Taylor, who would become his primary romantic interest throughout his years on the series. Brandon and Kelly became friendly through mutual acquaintances, and harbored secret attractions to one another from the beginning. In time, Kelly grew eager to begin a relationship and excitedly pursued Brandon by arranging a date with him at their Spring Dance. However, Brandon restrained his feelings out of respect for his new friend Steve, who happened to be Kelly's ex, and because he eventually viewed Kelly as a sister-figure due to her friendship with Brenda. After confronting and resolving these matters, the pair acknowledged their attraction, but initially decided to simply be friends.

Years later, Brandon and Kelly's feelings for one another began to flare once again. It was during this period that Kelly had begun to outgrow her teenage roots, becoming less self-absorbed and revealing a more sensitive and mature side to her personality. This was put on display when Kelly paid Brandon a surprise visit during a trip out of town, and-in contrast to her previous approach-expressed her affections in a very discreet and gradual manner. Brandon, who had lately become closer to Kelly than ever before, was effectively touched by her actions. From that point onward their relationship evolved from simple attraction to a genuinely loving bond.

In addition to her relationship with Brandon, Kelly has had long-standing ties to his family. She received motherly affection from Cindy, and shares a close friendship with Brenda. Just before Kelly could become a Walsh herself, however, she and Brandon chose to calmly abort their wedding in the eighth season; they parted on friendly terms in the ninth.

Kelly Taylor
Throughout the course of the first series, Kelly became one of the show's most developed characters. When introduced in 1990, she was presented as, on the surface, a stereotypical spoiled type who placed high value on posh appearances and material possessions. However, the character would become increasingly layered as the series progressed.

The reasons for Kelly's behavior first started to reveal themselves in episode 7, "Perfect Mom", when Kelly was forced to confront her mother's drug addiction and alcoholism. Several of her friends, particularly the Walsh family and Andrea Zuckerman, first came to appreciate Kelly's difficulties in life when they saw her handle this problem. During episode 13, "Slumber Party," Kelly revealed that she was essentially date-raped by a senior during her freshmen year in high school, which had led to a promiscuous lifestyle and reputation which deeply hurt her self-esteem. The others then began to realize that Kelly had been through more difficulties than they were aware of, and later, she and Andrea would become close friends. When Andrea was pregnant and was contemplating an abortion in season 4, Kelly was one of the primary people she reached out to.

Toward the end of the second season, Kelly met a man named Jake Hanson (played by Grant Show), an emotionally guarded biker who was slightly older than her. While Jake ultimately resisted their romance, citing Kelly's age, he admitted to admiring her for her heart and kindness. This story line was used to launch the spin-off series Melrose Place. Eventually, Kelly was revealed to have a notable conscience during a summer fling with Dylan McKay, the boyfriend of her friend Brenda, often being the voice of reason during their affair. Kelly went through a period of minor depression during her senior year in high school in season 3. The stress of having feelings for Dylan, someone who she could not pursue because of his relationship with Brenda, added to her struggles. Even when Kelly dated Dylan out in the open, following his relationship with Brenda, it caused her to temporarily lose Brenda as a friend.

Also during this time, Kelly's mother had a new baby, Erin, got married, and put Kelly's childhood home up for sale. Self-consciousness over her figure, along with the anxiety she began to feel, caused her to lash out emotionally, abuse diet pills, and briefly lose control over her life. The character's physical appearance is shown to play a part in her development. At various points of the series, she won the title of Spring Princess at a dance, and was voted her school's most beautiful girl. Kelly is aware of her appeal, but not to the point of conceit; instead, she is sometimes shown to be troubled by it. At one point, she entered a phase where she felt that no one took her seriously, which was heightened when Dylan gave his manuscript to Andrea for review instead of to her. During this time, she began to feel that people only liked her because she was physically attractive.

Creator Darren Star has commented on the character's progression. In his DVD commentary of the episode "Spring Dance", Star notes Kelly's first attempt to romance Brandon Walsh,[16] in which she'd embraced her role as Spring Princess and used a largely forward and aggressive approach. He goes on to state that in the fourth season, when Kelly was prone to expressing her affections in a more gentle and compassionate manner, she made a greater impression on Brandon. While pursuing Jake on Melrose Place, a confused Kelly eventually asks, "Don't you think I'm pretty?" This contrasts with her attitude one year later, when she becomes more interested in having others appreciate her for what lies beneath the surface. This development is standardized one additional year later, via her aforementioned second pursuit of Brandon Walsh, which ends in success.

The evolution of Kelly's character led to developments both on-screen and off. In a 1995 article on Garth, TV Guide reported that the show's creators made a conscious decision to place her character at center stage. An anonymous producer cites "faith in Jennie as an actress," further stating that he and producer Aaron Spelling "knew she had the chops to do it." This development would gradually lead to Kelly supplanting Brenda as the prominent female lead, as the former received what the producer called "better story lines." Reportedly, these matters became a source of tension between Garth and Shannen Doherty, who played Brenda. Following Doherty's final appearance on the show in 1994, however, Garth stated, "We were friends at work, and I miss her most of the time."

The approach of season 3 marked the beginning of Kelly's rise from supporting player to the main character. Ultimately, throughout the first five seasons, Kelly gained an increasing degree of screen presence and growth. Amidst her continuing development, her role in launching the spin-off, her prominent triangle with Brenda and Dylan, her later affections with male lead Brandon, and the launch of a second triangle with Brandon and Dylan, Kelly became the character that several major events or changes were based around. Additionally, she was given varying involvement in noted story lines not surrounding her-including Dylan's family trauma, Brenda's acting pursuits, and David's recovery from drug use. Her status would become standardized throughout the course of the series' run.

In addition to Melrose Place, she would later be used to help launch the third spin-off, 90210 (with Garth being the first performer from the original show to be cast). This development would make Kelly Taylor the most prominent figure in the collective franchise, via the most appearances in episodes and series premieres. Shannen Doherty, who returned as Brenda in the third spin-off, reported that she and Garth, like their characters, had renewed their friendship, stating, "Now we're really good friends-and I love her."

Kelly faced several difficult issues and obstacles, often with the assistance of loved ones, including her occasionally difficult home life, being trapped in a fire, being tricked into joining a cult, and becoming temporarily addicted to cocaine. In addition to many other matters, she was shot in a drive-by, which led to her getting amnesia, shooting her rapist in self-defense, becoming unexpectedly pregnant and having a miscarriage, and learning that it would be difficult for her to have children because of a condition called endometriosis. In overcoming these matters, she was able to become a better person and help others.

Tori Spelling's Donna Martin and Kathleen Robertson's Clare Arnold were among Kelly's best friends and roommates. Tiffani Thiessen's Valerie, who replaced Brenda, became Kelly's nemesis, but right before Valerie's departure, the two women formed a truce.

Kelly's two most prominent romantic relationships were with Jason Priestley's Brandon and Luke Perry's Dylan. In season 5, she was faced with making a choice between the two, as a result of Brandon proposing and Dylan confessing his feelings for her and asking her to leave with him on a trip around the world. She ultimately refused to make a decision. In the seventh season, however, she finally stated that she had chosen Brandon. She nearly married Brandon, but the two decided that they were not ready. Following Jason Priestley's departure from the series, Jennie Garth became the officially billed lead, with the character of Kelly further maturing, reuniting romantically with Dylan, and starting her own PR firm.

Brandon Walsh
Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota with twin sister Brenda (Shannen Doherty), Brandon was the eldest child of Jim & Cindy Walsh. As a result of Jim's job promotion, the family moved to Beverly Hills in 1990, where Brandon and Brenda enrolled at the local West Beverly Hills High School where in the pilot they met new friends Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth). In episode two, "The Green Room," Brandon befriended loner Dylan McKay (Luke Perry). He befriends many others in his years spent in Beverly Hills. Brandon was known to have problems with gambling, which affected his relationship with his friends. He also had trouble resisting temptation when dating Kelly, shown with Emily Valentine and, coincidentally, a woman named Emma Bennett.

During the show's run, Brandon gained notoriety for having a high number of relationships with women, sometimes only for one episode, played largely by series guest stars. Among the most notable were the bigoted Brooke Alexander (Alexandra Wilson), and sophomore Nikki Witt (Dana Barron), a persistent girl who comically wore down Brandon's defenses during the episode "The Back Story." In Season Four, Brandon had an affair with university professor Lucinda Nicholson (Dina Meyer), but at the same time, he was also starting to fall in love with his longtime friend Kelly Taylor. Ultimately, his longest and most famous relationship was with Kelly. Their bond was strengthened after Kelly moved in with him once his parents and Brenda had moved away.

In between relationships with Kelly, Brandon became involved with two of his co-workers. As a junior, he had a passionate relationship with his editor at the California University newspaper, Susan Keats (Emma Caulfield). Brandon and Susan pledged to take a cross-country trip in the summer of 1996, but Susan ultimately accepted a position with the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign, leaving Brandon to instead take the trip with Steve.

During his senior year, Brandon slowly fell for the anchor at the CU television station, Tracy Gaylian (Jill Elizabeth Novick). Tracy one day found the engagement ring Brandon tried to give to Kelly in a dresser drawer, and assumed that it was for her. When Brandon explained that it wasn't, Tracy became distrusting of him. The two patched things up, and Brandon agreed to sell back his ring at the jewelry store, exchanging it for a bracelet. Once Brandon left, however, Kelly went to the store and bought the ring for herself. Brandon later took Tracy to Hong Kong to meet his father, but upon their return to the United States, Brandon realized his true feelings for Kelly and broke up with Tracy. Tracy and Brandon reunited in Hawaii in the season 8 opener, leaving Kelly perturbed, but her doubts were erased when she met Tracy's fiance.

It was revealed that Brandon's job in journalism had taken him to many locations around the world. In 2000, he sent a video to Donna and David at the time of their wedding as he could not make it to the ceremony. In the third spin-off, 90210, he was also revealed to have kept in contact with Brenda, Dylan, and Kelly. Dylan is the one who asked Brandon for Brenda's email so he could get in touch with her.

Why the fanlisting?
When I was little I used to tape Beverly Hills 90210 on vcr and watch it. My mom and I lived together in a one bedroom apartment so we share a room together. One night I was watching an episode of Beverly Hills 90210 that I taped and my mom saw me watching it and started watching it too. She fell in love with the show and we used to watch it together. Out of all the characters and relationships on the show Kelly and Brandon's relationship has to be one of my favorite next to Donna and David. Even though Kelly ended up with Dylan I still think she has feelings for Brandon. I have always wanted to do a fanlisting for Beverly Hills 90210 but there was already a fanlisting for it so I decided to do fanlistings for different Beverly Hills 90210 characters and relationships and decided to do one for Kelly Taylor and Brandon Walsh.

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