SVH #140: Please Forgive Me
Previously: Liz cheated, Jessica schemed, Devon angsted, Todd punched, I wondered why they wasted a three-part miniseries on what is really just a normal day in Sweet Valley…
Until I reached this book, where a new and quite shocking moral to the story is revealed! Can it be? SVH preaching that it can be a good thing to be a free, independent and single girl? That the serial monogamist lifestyle might not be the ideal way to go? That one ought to ‘find oneself’ before flinging oneself into the arms of the nearest available hunk?
The cover of this book is completely irrelevant; I assume the girl is Elizabeth, the guy could be Devon or Todd, but either way, the scene never actually occurs. Quite a letdown after the Toddpunching masterpiece that was #139!
We open with Liz counting the peace offerings she has received from her two ex-boyfriends, Todd and Devon. They total up as follows:
Todd:a box of imported Belgian chocolates, a bouquet of Elizabeth’s favourite yellow roses (Yellow Sunblaze, if anyone’s interested!) and loads of ‘cute, funny and romantic cards’
Devon: a bottle of liquid the same colour as Elizabeth’s eyes, a heart-shaped wreath, and a leather-bound edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poems. I feel this list underlines why Todd is the better choice, but you may disagree.
Todd is currently pounding on the door, for what is implied is the umpteenth time since his and Devon’s fight in the Dairi Burger, but eventually storms off after Elizabeth won’t let him in. Yes, and this really is her better choice…
The last two books are recapped for us while Liz considers the situation. She’s particularly furious at Jess’s part in the whole affair: ‘Jessica had done some pretty sleazy scheming in the past, but nothing this hateful.’ I beg to differ, as letting Elizabeth take the rap for manslaughter seems a lot worse to me, but perhaps this just indicates where Liz’s priorities lie… Devon then phones and Liz hangs up on him.
We then flash to Devon’s point of view, which is a sad, pathetic place to be, as indicated by this classic piece of Devonian angst: ‘Devon stared at the receiver, hearing the buzz of Elizabeth’s disconnected line like the disappointing echo of his existence.’ Sudden Inspiration: Devon thinks like Elizabeth writes! Is this why they get on so well? Devon’s traumatic past is recapped for us. That’s about all really.
Jess wonders what Liz is so upset about, lounges on the sofa, and digs into Todd’s box of chocolates. She then decides that a party is the solution to everyone’s problems, and starts planning a massive one. Oh, Jess.
Todd’s point of view. He’s at school feeling humilated about proposing to Liz in the Dairi Burger. Somehow I don’t think the traditional words of wisdom ("It wasn’t that big a deal! Nobody noticed but you! They’ll all have forgotten about it by tomorrow!") are really going to help in this case. However, he bumps into a random guy called Keith, who seems vaguely hippieish and tells Todd he has to let his anger go and ‘face the fact that Elizabeth did what she wanted to do.’ He invites Todd to go mountain biking and Todd accepts. And thus begins what is the keynote of this book - self-actualisation, Sweet Valley style. I feel it ought to come with a health warning…
Devon finds out that Elizabeth has switched chemistry classes to avoid him and is annoyed: ‘Devon felt his blood boil. How could Elizabeth do this to him? They had so much in common, a real chemistry.’ Hahaha! Devon, you are so witty. Sadly, I’m not sure the pun is even intentional here. Devon storms straight out of school and has another miserable moment when he stares into the ocean and considers drowning himself. It’s, quite frankly, fairly dull.
We open with a scene of Jess talking (and flirting with) Aaron! This makes me very happy as I loved Jessica/Aaron in SVT and didn’t realise they ever showed any interest in each other in SVH. She’s talking with Aaron and a bunch of others about the party she’s planning, and secretly considers taking Aaron as her date! Yay! She reflects: ‘Devon isn’t the only fish in the sea.’ While this is a laudable sentiment… JESS COULD NOT YOU HAVE REALISED THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF #138 AND SAVED US ALL THIS TORTURE?? Sorry, had to get that out of my system.
Todd is miserable. He plays basketball.
Wakefield family dinner. Elizabeth tells her parents about ‘Project Adventure’, a trip which involves spending a week in the wilderness, firstly with a group of others and then camping overnight by yourself. She’s keen to do it so she can be ‘flung on her own resources’ and ‘find out who the real Liz really is.’ Her parents are enthusiastic. Jess is incredulous: ‘Was Elizabeth crazy? A week without telephones, TV or lights?’ But did not Jess do the same in the Death Valley books? Oh well, I suppose that’s a while ago now. Jess, with remarkable audacity, tries to persuade Liz to help her plan the party. Liz displays some surprising backbone:
"Liz, the truth is, I need someone to write the invitations," [Jessica] blurted. "No-one can write like you," she said, piling the flattery on thick in the hope of changing Elizabeth’s mind. "If you don’t want to help with anything else, just help with that," she concluded, knowing Elizabeth couldn’t refuse.
But she was wrong. Elizabeth didn’t even blink. "I don’t want to have anything to do with your party, Jessica," she said. "Find someone else to manipulate."
Go Liz!
Devon is miserable. He considers suicide.
Todd goes mountain biking and meets Keith’s friends. Sweet Valley once again displays its ability to depict those with ‘alternative’ lifestyles in a sensitive and non-stereotypical manner: ‘This is Moonraker," Keith told Todd, indicating a guy with wavy copper hair who was wearing a red, white and blue bandanna… "I’m Johnny D," a big guy with blond hair and a thick mustache said… "And the quiet one here," Keith summed up, "is Drew Black Bear. He’s into nature. He can tell you what the trees are thinking, man."
No comment. (Although, Todd and Johnny D should get on like a house on fire, as Johnny D ‘worked with Whale Save for three years up in Alaska.’ I’m surprised Todd isn’t drooling again already!)
They bike up the mountain (wow, bet you didn’t see that one coming) and are deeply impressed in a Mature and Sensitive way by the view from the top.
Elizabeth starts Project Adventure and meets her fellow teammates. She introduces herself as she climbs into the van: "Elizabeth Wakefield," she said, wondering if she was supposed to add more. She really didn’t feel like talking about Todd or Devon.’ Elizabeth, it’s ok, I really don’t think this random bunch of people you’ve just met want to hear a recap of the last two books when all they’ve asked you so far is your name. They learn about how to make camp in the wilderness. I can’t snark this as I don’t really have a clue, but it strikes me it’s probably a lot more difficult than the few precautions they mention.
Todd is feeling better. He plans another biking trip, because biking makes him feel happy and positive about his life!
Liz hikes through the wilderness. She spots two red squirrels ‘cuddling together in a small hollow tree… Suddenly her loneliness and estrangement from both Todd and Devon came racing back to her.’ How touching!
Todd is still feeling better. He feels less angry at Devon because he is now more self-actualised and can see that Liz made her own choices! Glad that one’s sorted out!
Devon is miserable. Todd turns up and is self-actualised. Devon is suspicious. Todd invites Devon mountain biking. Devon refuses. Devon is miserable.*
*this is known as the Vicious Cycle of Depression
Elizabeth is sitting round the campfire with the other Project Adventure people discussing why they decided to come on the trip. A guy called Matt says that since his wife died, he’s been trying to work out what the point of life is and what direction he should go in, as he’s always had his wife to tell him that before. ‘Elizabeth stared at Matt in amazement. That’s exactly why she was here. Even though they were generations apart, Matt and she were basically experiencing the same feelings.’ No, Elizabeth, I don’t feel that losing your partner of who-knows-how-many years at the age of sixty-odd really compares with your angsty teenage love triangle. Please to shut up. She, however, decides to spill the beans about her problems and the group are obviously sympathetic, because she’s Elizabeth Wakefield. We also have this hilarious moment of hypocrisy when one of the other members of the group, Ginny, says that her husband cheated on her with his secretary: "That’s terrible!" Elizabeth said. "Why bother getting married if you’re not going to be faithful?" she wondered aloud.’ No wedding for Elizabeth, then! What a shame!
Mountain biking. Todd discovers from the other guys that Liz is on Project Adventure and overreacts hilariously: ‘Todd jumped up from the table… "Where are you going?" Bruce demanded. "To rescue Liz," Todd shot back, starting for the door.' Fortunately the other guys persuade him out of it.
Devon is miserable. He finds out about Project Adventure from Enid and reacts badly as well: ‘a fragile girl like Liz out in the woods on her own?’ He then declares ‘my life is under some black cloud’ and looks up ‘to see Enid staring at him like he had two heads.’ Oh, I wonder why. He storms off on his motorcycle and continues to be miserable.
Jess, Lila, Maria (Santelli) and Amy are cross that they’ve had to organise the whole party by themselves and their boyfriends haven’t helped at all. (There has been a party-planning thread running through all this, but I’ve skipped it out because it’s rather dull and is basically about co-ordinating decorations and buying charcoal.) They decide to find out where the guys keep disappearing off to.
Elizabeth begins her solo overnight trip with Project Adventure. She’s worried because she hasn’t yet reached a decision about Devon and Todd, but as she hasn’t really thought about them at all so far, except to angst about how awful the situation is, I’m not surprised. Meanwhile, Lila, Jess, Amy and Maria go through a ridiculous amount of subterfuge merely to get four hall passes so they can escape from school early and trail the guys: Jess tells the principal’s secretary that they want to leave school early to buy the principal a birthday gift, and then takes the precaution of actually buying something - a plastic statuette inscribed ‘World’s Greatest Principal’. Hahaha! This plotline is so dull. What happened to Jess having to clean the whole of Bruce’s house because they lost the science fair in the last book? That would have been far more amusing. Anyways…
Devon is miserable. He decides to leave Sweet Valley.*
(*don’t get too excited…)
Jess and the others meet up and ‘co-ordinate watches’ (It’s specifically mentioned that Jess doesn’t normally wear one and has borrowed one specially, so a continuity point for the ghostwriter.) They each follow one of the guys in their respective cars, communicating with each other via their cell phones. Hilariously, they have decided to give each other code names ‘in case Bruce was listening over the airwaves with the latest technodevice for intercepting phone calls.’ Now, even supposing something like that existed, and Bruce owned it, would he really be using it now on the offchance half the female population of SVH have decided to trail him while keeping in contact by cell phone? Not really. The code-names, as far as I can work out, are:
Lila: Jane Bond (ha!)
Maria: Agent M
Amy: Sherlock
Agent J: Jessica
Barry (Amy's boyfriend):Weasel (later changed to Eagle because Amy complains…!)
Aaron: Squirrel
Bruce: The Snake
Devon is miserable. He turns up accidentally at the place where Todd and the others are about to set off mountain biking. He ponders what it might be like to be part of a group like that (but as Todd invited him along, he could have found out, couldn’t he?) He decides, that as a ‘scientific genius’ he should observe them, and convinces himself that he’s ‘gathering impartial information on the peculiar habits of the California male.’ which he later refers to as ‘the wildlife of California.’ Nice.
Todd is self-actualised. He lets Devon join them biking.
Devon is miserable. He cycles up the mountain. Devon becomes self-actualised. (‘His resentment of his parents drifted away - what happiness had they ever known themselves that they could have shared with him?’) Devon feels better.
Elizabeth is still alone in the wilderness. Then she sees a vision: ‘Her head turned towards the sound, and she saw Devon flying through the air… Crazier still, she saw Todd flying after him, as if the fight at the Dairi Burger had spiraled into surreal proportions.’ The rest of the mountain biking guys appear, and then Lila and Jess, who’ve been following them up the mountain, turn up. Elizabeth is proud of Todd and Devon for becoming self-actualised.
Todd and Devon are self-actualised. They apologise to each other and agree to give Liz some space to make her own decisions.
Liz and Jess also make up and get ready for Jess’s party.
Todd turns up at Liz’s house before the party to make sure they can still be friends. However, Devon, because he is also self-actualised, has the same idea. Oh dear!
Aaron is also self-actualised and impresses Jess by his sensitive comments as they’re setting up the party. Jess is trying to sort out the lighting and Aaron comments: ‘You want some light, but I think you want it to look more like moonbeams reflected on the water - soft and diffused, not glaring.’ Apparently, his experience mountain biking has made him think more closely about nature, to the general improvement of his mind. Yay! You can tell the series is winding up here - the ghostwriters really aren’t bothering to maintain the illusion of Sweet Valley as a place where Nothing Ever Changes any more. They’re also violating the SV Code of Conduct by promoting independence, thinking for oneself, and giving your partner space in a relationship! Oh horrors!
Todd turns up at Liz’s and tells her he’s still there for her. Liz realises that she’s forgotten to pick up some trays of food from the deli for the party. Todd volunteers to go instead and takes the twins’ Jeep, which we have been informed some pages earlier has been having brake problems. Dun da dun! Devon turns up as Todd is driving off. Todd jumps out of the Jeep and storms towards Devon with clenched fists. Todd, where is your self-actualisation? We then practically have another Toddpunch: ‘With that he shoved Devon, unable to contain himself any longer.’ Devon’s self-actualisation hasn’t had as long to wear off as Todd’s has, so he remains calmer: "I’m not going to fight you, Wilkins." Todd eventually drives off to complete his errand.
‘What was that about? Devon wondered as Todd sped away. Not twenty-four hours ago the two of them had been laughing and talking together in the mountains… And now, suddenly, Todd was flying off the handle like a crazy man.’ Devon Whitelaw, meet Todd Wilkins. You don’t know him at all yet, do you?
Devon turns up at Liz’s house just as she gets a call from Jess telling her about the Jeep’s brakes. Devon and Liz jump on Devon’s motorcycle and speed after Todd along the cliff road, just in time to see him smash into a barrier. I wonder if Todd’s having flashbacks to Return of the Evil Twin? I swear that accident was identical. Anyway, Devon climbs in to rescue Todd while Liz leans her weight on the Jeep to stop it plunging over the edge. (This, by the way, is partly why I think Devon’s out of character in Earthquake! - he’s annoying and emo, but he’s willing to risk his life to save Todd here, while he suddenly becomes a coward in the latter book when Liz is urging him to save Enid). They pull Todd out, naturally just as ‘the barrier broke completely, sending the Jeep smashing into the rocks hundreds of feet below.’ RIP Twins’ Jeep!
Todd is rushed to hospital where everyone waits to hear news of his condition. There is a surprising nod to continuity (though not Double Love continuity) when it is reflected that they’ve known Todd since ‘grade school’. The doctors appears and tells them Todd will be fine in a few weeks, to general rejoicing. Liz is on the verge of deciding to go and tell Todd that she’s chosen him and that she’ll stay with him until he gets well, but then has an epiphany: ‘It was time for Elizabeth Wakefield to choose Elizabeth Wakefield, to get to know who she was on her own - without a boyfriend.’ Rather heartlessly, she continues ‘Todd didn’t need her to sit by his bedside. There were doctors and nurses in the hospital who would take better care of him then she could. And maybe Todd needed time for himself too. Maybe they all did - time to sort things out, to learn to stand on their own.’ Well, if they’re all going to enter therapy for the repercussions of the last 139 books (not forgetting Super Editions et al) then it’s going to take a long, long time.
Elizabeth hence breaks up with Todd and with Devon, to Jess’s shock: ‘Elizabeth without a steady boyfriend? Was that even possible?’ I am left rather surprised (and impressed) by the ‘message’ of this book, even if it was unbearably preachy, irritating and dull: we have learnt that one can stand on one’s own without a boyfriend, that there is value in being single, and that one needs to work out what one truly wants before one can have a complete relationship. Perhaps this opens a new era for SVH; one in which the girls will no longer be defined by who they’re dating, and guys will no longer be the most important things in their lives -
‘It’s prom time at Sweet Valley High, and there’s only one thing on Jessica’s mind - who will be her lucky date? Meanwhile Elizabeth has chosen to stand on her own, but that doesn’t do her any good when it’s time to find an escort for the biggest night of her life! Will the twins snag their dream men in time for the dance? Find out in Sweet Valley High #141, A Picture Perfect Prom? - the first book in a magical four-part prom miniseries!’
Or perhaps not.