Sweet Valley High #97: The Verdict
Synopsis:
Elizabeth: Liz’s trial is starting, and Alice Wakefield is losing her marbles, running around offering snacks and washing windows while Liz and Ned go over their defense. A defense, by the way, that sucks ass because Liz cannot remember anything, no matter how many times the jerkface prosecutor asks her what happened the night of the prom.
Jessica: Jessica is still hanging all over Todd and ending most family scenes by running out of the room. She knows Todd feels bad about Liz, but she tells him he has to choose where his loyalties lie. The night before Liz’s trial starts, Todd and Jessica go to the Beach Disco and make out during a slow dance. A few days later, Jessica finds a letter Todd has written to Liz, and she snaps when she realizes she doesn’t really want Todd anyway. All she wants is Sam. This doesn’t make her give up, though. If anything, she hangs on to Todd more tightly, telling him Liz read his letter and threw it away. For some reason, she goes to the courthouse for the last day of Liz’s trial.
Todd: Todd sucks. He goes to Liz’s trial and it makes him feel guilty for what he’s been doing with Jessica. He tells Jessica it feels wrong to be with her, but keeps making out with her. He’s all torn up, so he goes to visit Steve, of all people, who is not happy to hear that Todd has been cheating on one little sister with the other. That night, Todd writes Liz a letter and asks her to give him a sign. He’ll go to her trial every day, and when she wears the bracelet he gave her, he’ll know it’s okay for him to talk to her.
Lila: Lila’s mother tells her the story of why she left Sweet Valley to go live in Paris: Grace wanted a separation from George, but George didn’t. When Grace took Lila and went to her parents’ house, George filed for divorce and sued for custody. Lila decides she’s going to get her parents back together.
Steven: Steve has a crush on his roommate, Billie, and she’s a really good listener when he talks about his family. When a classmate says there’s a rumor that Steve’s mom is in a nuthatch or something, Steve accuses Billie of blabbing. Billie is hurt and says she’s moving out. Then Steve finds out that Jessica told Amy and Lila that Alice was losing it. He apologizes to Billie and they make up.
Bruce: Pamela Robertson has transferred to Sweet Valley High in the hopes of getting away from her reputation as a slut at Big Mesa. Bruce still won’t give her the time of day, and Cousin Roger thinks it’s his fault because he was one of the many people who tried to warn Bruce about Pamela’s sluttiness. Poor Pamela doesn’t have any friends because everyone at Sweet Valley already knows about her, and Roger feels bad. He decides to befriend her himself, but Pamela doesn’t trust his motives. When Lila and Amy ask her to have a soda with them, she decides to give them a try. The three of them become friends, and Amy has a talk with Bruce about the way he’s judged Pamela. Bruce realizes Amy is right and feels bad. Then one day, Bruce sees a Big Mesa asshole trying to get Pamela to take a ride with him. Pamela is scared and crying, so Bruce just runs up and punches the guy in the face. Then he kisses Pamela.
Margo: Margo rides the Big Grey Dog all the way from Houston to Los Angeles, where she buys a train ticket to Sweet Valley. While waiting for her train, she sees Josh, the older brother of the boy she killed in Cleveland. Margo makes a scene, acting like Josh is bothering her, and then runs out of the restaurant. She exchanges her ticket and hops on the train currently leaving for San Diego instead. When she finally gets to Sweet Valley, the first place she goes is the mall to buy a blond wig.
The outcome: On the last day of Liz’s trial, a kid named Gilbert is called as a surprise witness. He was out driving drunk the night of the prom, and he caused Liz to crash. Jessica is all happy for a minute because that means her spiking Liz’s drink didn’t cause Sam’s death, Gilbert did. Then she notices that her whole family is rallied around Liz, hugging her and whatnot. She gets all sad and leaves with Todd. Liz tries to talk to her a few nights later, but Jessica ignores her and leaves the room.
Quotes:
But Mom’s only in Sweet Valley temporarily, Lila reminded herself. Nothing lasts forever. If I can’t count on the stability of the Wakefields, what can I count on?
If this mess hasn’t taught you that the Wakefields are even more fucked up than most families, nothing will.
Roger heaved a discouraged sigh. This was a repeat of many conversations he’d had with Bruce since he came to live in Sweet Valley after his mother’s death.
The continuity is even worse in these books than in the first ninety-four. Roger already lived in Sweet Valley when his mother died. Remember? He was poor, Lila had a crush on him, blah blah blah.
Laughing at his own wit, Bruce climbed into the Porsche and started the engine. He didn’t give Pamela another glance – that was part of her punishment…
I will kill Bruce Patman. Her punishment?
The Cover: Okay, Margo is freaking me out. She looks really scary. And the Sweet Valley courthouse is pretty imposing, too. Liz’s shirt is horrible.
Tags: Body Image/Self Esteem, Jessica: Betrayal, Jessica: Manipulation, Jessica: Psychological Problems, Plot: Farfetched, Twin Fight
August 26th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Cover Comment: “Now a hit TV series”
Was it? Was it really? I think the marketing department was trying a bit too hard with that one.
[Reply]
August 26th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I literally HATE Jessica in this series- I know she’s upset over Sam but she is acting like a devious little douchebag with no consideration for anyone else whatsoever. She knows that she did wrong! Makes me ILL! And Ned Wakefield is a sucky ass lawyer just as I always thought.
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August 26th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Liz is looking like a 40 year old divorcee more and more on these new covers.
These new covers are way too busy and whomever designed them is an idiot.
But, Steve’s mom is a nuthatch. She’s also a horrid mother.
Oh, Lila, honey, trying to get your divorced parents back together never works out the way it does in The Parent Trap. Believe me, I know. Just forget about it, move your happy ass as far away from Sweet Valley as you can because they will never let you be awesome.
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August 26th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Lila should move to Paris with her mom where she can shop all day and really work on embracing her awesomeness. She is sixteen after all, and should have a say in which parent she lives with.
I remember being so excited that Margo was coming to San Diego. I think this was one of the first few books that my hometown was mentioned and I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
Jessica and Alice Wakefield are the family sociopaths. Bonafide nuthatch’s. And Todd is a complete moron and an asshole for ditching Liz and making out with her twin sister. Why does nobody (in Sweet Valley) seem to think this is as huge of a deal as I do? Really? I’d MURDER my sister if she made out with my boyfriend! (and chop his balls off…)
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August 26th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I just figured out why the floating heads don’t look anything like the actual twins and why the covers are all weird and new. They released the covers at the same time as the tv show. I noticed that the floating heads look more like the girls on the show than the previous covers, but I didn’t realize that was the whole point. The floating heads are obviously modeled after them for continuity, but the rest of the portraits are still a bit more like the old ones.
In any case, I hate these covers!
I can’t believe how insane everything has gotten in Sweet Valley. I’m with Jenna. I’d totally kill my sister and castrate my BF if this ever happened to me — but does Liz even know about that yet? And why didn’t Steve beat the crap out of Todd when he learned about this?
[Reply]
Darren Reply:
September 29th, 2011 at 11:27 am
I wondered about that too for in book 6, Steve goes ape you know what on tODD, AND THEN ACTS LIKE a douche and talks like Victor Newman to old todd! This was just sad.
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August 26th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Josh-the-drunk-driver? I smell deus ex machina… I think they made these books to try and kill the series, but some moguls tried to revive it thinking it would bring in $$$ and ‘SVU’ and ‘Senior Year’ and ‘Elizabeth’ came along… (oh, BTW…I am/used to be “YASoup”. My new series blog is http://riverheightsgirl.blogspot.com/ ).
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August 26th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
“Laughing at his own wit, Bruce climbed into the Porsche and started the engine. He didn’t give Pamela another glance – that was part of her punishment…”
Bruce sounds like an alphhole hero (TM Smart Bitches, Trashy Books) from a bad romance novel. I know that Pamela has some self-esteem problems, but she really needs to steal Bruce’s car and run him over with it.
This cover continues the commemoration of questionable fashion choices of the day. Oh Liz, Ned should have told you that dressing like an extra from “Days of Our Lives” (that hot roller hair! that blouse! those shoulder pads) would not endear you to the court.
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August 26th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Merrie: I love how they beat us over the head with the TV SERIES!!! stuff all the time.
Jan: I absolutely agree. Jessica is horrible.
Lindsay: LOL @ Liz looking like a divorcee. She so does.
Jenna: Yes! Lila should move to Paris. She’s way too fabulous for Sweet Valley anyway.
Kate: Steve is a robot, don’t forget. He was mad for a second and then his circuitry fried because of the stress of showing emotion.
DarfurHerald: I knew you used to be “Enid Rollins” but I don’t think I knew you had another blog. By the way, your theory makes a lot of sense.
Misty: I would love to see Pamela steal 1bruce1 and run him over. And yeah, you hit the nail on the head with Liz looking like a Days of Our Lives extra. I can see it.
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August 26th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
“Then one day, Bruce sees a Big Mesa asshole trying to get Pamela to take a ride with him. Pamela is scared and crying, so Bruce just runs up and punches the guy in the face. Then he kisses Pamela.”
So they were making out while a guy was laying on the ground? Awesome!
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August 26th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Yeah, Shannon, I had my Enid Rollins alias while I was struggling with WordPress (they make it a little tricky to change usernames). Then I decided to make a Twitter extension of my Darfur WordPress blog, and I also developed a Nancy Drew blog (I also occasionally snark Lurlene McDaniel, SV, and the occassional new teen book. I’m going to start snarking my favorite cheesy girl-and-horse series)
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August 26th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Margo’s finally arrived! Now the fun can begin. Or contiune. I love that charactor.
If I found out my sister was making out with my boyfriend I would kill both. If I found out my sister spiked my drink which caused me to crash a car kill someone and let me hang for it she would be begging for death.
Steven restored a little love by laying into Todd. Of course if he were a good brother Todd probably wouldn’t be breathing.
Why was proscutor stunned Liz couldn’t remember the accident because she was drunk? Ah most people drunk don’t remember anyone.
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August 26th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
I was sad when the tv series came on, because it was on a channel we didn’t have and I couldn’t watch it! I think it was on the WB or something like that.
I’m kind of glad now that I couldn’t watch it. Lol.
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August 26th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
“I will kill Bruce Patman. Her punishment?”
LOLZ.
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August 26th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Is it wrong that I love Bruce Patman? Because I do. I realise that he has some sort of personality disorder and rightly belongs in therapy, but I think we could make it work.
PS the 1bruce1 community has some recaps of the 1st season of the TV series, if anyone’s interested.
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December 28th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
“Roger already lived in Sweet Valley when his mother died. Remember?” Maybe being poor is tantamount to not REALLY being a part of Sweet Valley…like, they don’t count the poor (and the drunks up at Kelly’s) in their population.
Hey, you forgot to mention the celebratory dinner they have at the end of the book. And of all the insensitive things the Wakefields have done, I’m pretty sure that having a dinner to celebrate the fact that Elizabeth got off scott-free for killing Jessica’s boyfriend takes the cake.
But that “surprise witness” totally deserved life imprisonment; he’s chubby, still lives at home, and *GASP!* goes to community college! Plus, he’s not FROM Sweet Valley, he was just there on the night of the accident.
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May 1st, 2011 at 10:11 am
LOVE Billie Winkler. She is the bomb. Much more awesome than St Tricia Martin and Cara Walker put together. *le gasp, how very dare i…*
Long live Billie. (I’m pretending that pile of crap Confidential never came out.)
RIP Sam, you were way too good for Jessica anyways. You should have been falling in love with and hooking up with Lila Fowler dammit.
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May 25th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
Why is Cybil Sheppard on the cover of a SVH book?
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Shannon Reply:
June 1st, 2011 at 11:45 pm
WordPress should have a Like button for comments.
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May 30th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Liz looks like a blonde Kate Mulgrew, the captain in Start Trek Voyager!….Odd
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