Sweet Valley High #135: Lila’s New Flame
The Moral of the Story: If you have matches, you’re probably an arsonist.
The Big Deal: A big fire
Synopsis:
Lila is heartbroken because Bo has broken up with her. It was too hard to maintain such a long distance relationship. Lila takes all his love letters and burns them in the fireplace. She falls asleep, and when she wakes up the house is on fire. She tries to escape, but passes out instead. Meanwhile, the twins are at home preparing a big welcome for Steve, who’s coming home for a semester while he interns at the D.A.’s office. He’s also all heartbroken because Billie broke up with him for not including her in his decision to go to Sweet Valley. Whatever.
Somebody calls the Wakefields to tell them Lila’s in the hospital and her parents can’t be reached. At the hospital, Lila says her parents are vacationing on a remote island that doesn’t even have a phone. Yeah, they just needed a break. They’re such great parents. Steve goes off to his first day of work the next day and is shocked when the D.A. tells him the Fowler fire was arson and Lila is the prime suspect.
When Lila gets out of the hospital, she insists on sleeping in the pool house, turning down Jessica’s offer of a place to stay. Jessica is worried that the arsonist will come back for Lila, so she asks for Steve’s help. Steve goes over to Fowler Crest and tells Lila he’s investigating the case and is going to find out who did it. After Lila explains that she was burning Bo’s letters, she and Steve bond over their recent breakups. Suddenly, they each notice how attractive the other is. Steve goes back to the D.A. and says he really doesn’t think Lila’s guilty, but then gets all shocked and confused when the D.A. says they found an empty gas can in Lila’s car. Umm. If I had a gas can, that’s where I’d keep it, right? That way, if I run out of gas, I can take my gas can and walk to a gas station. Right?
Steve calls Lila to tell her about this new development and she insists on taking him out to dinner. This causes like five pages of Liz worrying because Steve told her he’d watch a movie with her and Todd. Shut up, Liz. Lila dismisses the gas can thing immediately, saying the chauffeur probably left it there. Steve worries through the entire dinner about his feelings for Lila. As they’re leaving the restaurant, Steve is horrified when Lila takes a book of matches as a souvenir. Now he thinks she might be a pyromaniac. Lila comes over to the house one night and Steve starts yelling at her to tell the truth about the fire. She gets pissed and starts to walk out the door, but they somehow end up making out. Jessica and Liz see them and are totally scandalized.
While all this is going on, there’s some sixteen-year-old guy named Devon Whitelaw coming to town. He’s lived in Connecticut his whole life with his rich parents, but they died recently in a car crash. Don’t worry, Devon’s not too broken up about it because they were very Fowlery and weren’t around very much. Devon has to find a guardian if he wants his multi-million dollar inheritance. He’s always hated his life in Connecticut, so he decides to head out west. He stops at an aunt and uncle’s house in Ohio and they offer him a home, but it becomes clear to Devon that they’re really after his money. He leaves Ohio to go try out an uncle in Las Vegas.
Quotes:
“We could invite everyone and have a live band, like the Droids.”
What do you mean “like” the Droids? Are there any other bands in town?
Sweet Valley’s main hospital was named after Lila’s great-uncle, so Lila was sure to get special treatment.
I didn’t think Lila had any great-uncles worth naming a hospital after.
“Oh, it’s just a little souvenir,” Lila responded lightly. “I always take matches from restaurants.”
Steven absorbed the information with alarm. Lila loved candlelight, and she collected matches…Is she a pyromaniac? Steven wondered.
Steven is an idiot. This thought process amazes me.
The Cover: This cover is horrible. Jessica looks less like she’s upset and more like she’s choking. Steve looks like he’s asleep. Even when he’s a real person, he looks like a robot. I hate Lila’s outfit.
Tags: Very Special Episode
December 15th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Steve goes off to his first day of work the next day and is shocked when the D.A. tells him the Fowler fire was arson and Lila is the prime suspect
Wait. Couldn’t Lila have just said “Yeah, it’s my fault, my bad, I fell asleep burning shit my loser ex-boyfriend wrote me”? Or “I’m Lila Flashdance Fowler and your piddly laws don’t apply to me so bugger off.”?
LILA NEEDS TO STEP AWAY FROM STEVEN WAKEFIELD RIGHT NOW! Lila is MUCH better than that.
Is Steven a fire investigator? Why is he investigating anything about Lila’s fire? Also, why is the D.A. talking to a freaking intern? Shouldn’t Steven be getting coffee and making copies?
I like taking matchbooks from restaurants and I like candlelight, I must turn myself over to authorities immediately.
Heh, the title. Lila’s New FLAME? Ha, get it? cause the book is about a FIRE at LILA’S house? Heh, lame.
[Reply]
Shannon Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Yeah, the title is incredibly lame.
They don’t believe she accidentally burned down the house because the fire really started in the kitchen or something. That’s how they know it was arson. I think. It’s all really stupid, so it kind of confused me.
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Lindsay Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 11:34 am
So very retarded.
Also, I agree with you about Lila’s outfit. The only people who would ever wear that thing are 1960′s housewives from the suburbs. And who kisses like that?
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Shannon Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Really. It’s gingham and it has little apples all over it. Our Lila would NEVER wear such a thing.
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Merrie Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Lila on this cover reminds me of Charlotte from Sex and the City.
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Shannon Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
You know, I have never ever seen an episode of that show.
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Sandy Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Shannon have you seen/read any recent pop culture things?
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Shannon Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
It really doesn’t seem like it, huh? I usually don’t feel like I’m that out of touch, but then you all comment on my blog and talk about all these things I don’t know anything about, lol.
I swear, I have seen and read other things besides Sweet Valley!
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Christine Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 2:46 am
You’re lucky…I wish I could avoid current pop culture, but even though my TV is permanently tuned to Turner Classic Movies (commercial-free!), and I try my darndest to live in the past… I somehow learn about new stuff. I blame the internet. (But I can’t give up the internet, I just can’t!)
I haven’t seen Sex And The City either. But from what I gather, it’s a tragedy wherein crazy women stampede during a BIG SALE! and trample other women to death with their pointy (and expensive) shoes. Damn chicks and their mania for shopping.
Or maybe they were chasing after HOT GUYS! In any case, it’s a massacre. And then there’s a wedding! *squeal*
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Shannon Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 8:57 am
I heard Brian on Family Guy once refer to it as a show about three prostitutes and their grandmother.
I really do watch television and stuff, but my actual grown-up tastes (as opposed to my childhood SVH tastes) run more toward the dramatic/sci-fi type stuff. Lost, Supernatural, Fringe, House, Dexter, that kind of thing. Sex and the City and shows like it have never appealed to me.
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December 15th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I collect teas and like large bodies of water. I MUST have participated in the Boston Tea Party!
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Shannon Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Ha! I can’t stop giggling at this.
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December 15th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Devon is kind of reminding me of Dylan on 90210, with all the money and everyone after him for it.
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Lorelai Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Never. Say. That. Dylan was The Man (though I never quite forgave him for what he did to Brenda), and Devon is…well…he’s Devon. He needs to turn that motorbike of his right around and go back to wherever it is he came from.
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Sadako Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Sorry! Dylan was the man indeed. And I agree his one flaw was picking Kelly over Brenda (WTF, man?!).
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December 15th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
This cover is ridiculous. It’s like the cover artist googled (or more likely for the time, looked up in the library catalog) images of rich people and created Lila’s god-awful outfit. That quote is awesome though. She loves candlelight….AND collects matches? Suspicious indeed.
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December 15th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
This whole group is as dumb as a bag of hammers. Yeesh.
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December 15th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
I live in Manhattan; was a teen in the 90s…trust me, you are so much better off living in your own world, free of pop-culture and full of Sweet Valley.
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Shannon Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Thank you! It really isn’t so bad here in my world.
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December 15th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
the guy Lila is kissing kinda looks like a young Adrian Brody to me!
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Karla Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Ohmahgod, THANK YOU, Jannie girl talk! I was starting to wonder if I was the only one who thought Steve looked kinda hot here (that’s what you meant, right?).
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December 15th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Lila, no! There’s tons of guys out there you don’t need to resort to Steven!
While your at it sue the D.A. for placing an 18 year old in charge of your case.
Why would think it was Lila instead of a Fowler servant or employee? The Fowlers suck as parents I doubt their any better to work for.
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Shannon Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 8:48 am
I really don’t get why the DA is so convinced it’s Lila. It’s like he’s got some kind of vendetta against her and he won’t even consider the possibility that someone else did it.
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December 15th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Yay! The Lila miniseries!
There is absolutely no reason why Steven should be investigating the fire, seeing as how A) he’s dating the prime suspect, and B) HE’S NOT A FUCKING COP!
Steven looks exactly how I pictured he would on the cover too, and despite her atrocious outfit, so does Lila.
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Shannon Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Agreed. He should not be anywhere near an arson investigation. I don’t know why I keep expecting the ghostwriters to actually research what they write.
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December 16th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Wait until you find out who the real villain is. You’d be surprised at what a scumbag that character is.
There’s nothing wrong to me with what Steven is doing. Doesn’t Law and Order do the same thing on SVU and the original?
I don’t understand why they changed the SV characters.
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Shannon Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 8:44 am
There’s nothing wrong with an eighteen-year-old intern investigating a case of arson, the only suspect for which is the girl he’s dating? That happens on Law & Order? (Yet another show I’ve never watched.)
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December 16th, 2009 at 1:10 am
Ew! That kiss looks very awkward. It reminds me of the way 7th graders used to kiss in the hallways at school. We all know that both Lila and Steven are more experienced than that!
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Shannon Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Seriously, that’s some half-assed kiss they’ve got going on there.
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Karla Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Yeah, it looks like the way they faked it in 1930s movies. Until GWTW came out, that is. Or maybe Intermezzo. I seem to recall some hot snogs there.
Sorry to get off topic, but shit, these stupid Sweet Valley yobs don’t make it easy to pay attention.
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December 16th, 2009 at 2:42 am
He’s also all heartbroken because Billie broke up with him for not including her in his decision to go to Sweet Valley.
Um, isn’t SVU like an hour away??
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Christine Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 3:02 am
Yes, Steven goes back and forth aaaaaall the time, so why can’t Billie? Not that she should. I kinda liked Billie in that one book I read with her, so she’s too good for Steven. She probably just grabbed the first opportunity/lame excuse to dump him, and he’s too dumb to question it. And now he’s targetting Lila when she’s feeling alone and vulnerable…the bastard! Doesn’t he prefer hanging out with high school girls anyway because they’re at his (im)maturity level? (Not counting Lila of course, but she’s not thinking clearly right now)
Y’know those innapropriate comments Jessica makes about Steven sometimes (because the ghostwriter needs to have *someone* describe how handsome he is, so we readers will know that very important fact, and why *not* have his sister notice and gush about his looks, right?!)
Well, to the casual observer, unfamiliar with the series… doesn’t that cover look like a girl walking in on her boyfriend cheating on her, and reacting with appropriate shock and horror?
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Shannon Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Ha ha, it really does. I think she’s a wee bit jealous.
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April 12th, 2010 at 2:28 am
I love how hideous their “spanish style kitchen” is. I always pictured big, bright, tiled, modern (I’m a 1989 kid so I don’t really remember much of the 90′s
) so can’t picture ugly kitchens like that.
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