Bring the Pain

6 angst-ridden TV scenes that blessedly haunt me forever.

Hello there on this 14th of February!

I don’t think it will surprise anyone that I’ve always found Valentine’s Day to be complete bullshit—though I do love conversation hearts more than almost any other candy on the planet. And one time a then-boyfriend brought me a trophy to my office as my Valentine’s gift which was high key hilarious and appreciated.

Otherwise, I just find it all dumb, whether you’re single or coupled. This is slightly ironic in that I’m also about as gushy and romantic on the inside as they come. But what really gets me going is angst and simmering heartbreak. You know, the true signs of an absolutely emotionally healthy and not at all unwell person…right?

Anyway, to celebrate this whatever day, here are six television scenes that never fail to gut me in a way that I absolutely seek out and enjoy—in no particular order.

Dylan + Brenda’s OG Breakup

I still feel the pain of this scene like the teen I was watching it live on Fox that night back in the early ‘90s. Everything about it is heartbreaking and perfect (if by perfect you mean devastating and life-defining for a young Scorpio who’d never really had a boyfriend at this point in life)—from the setting to their clothes to, of course, the REM song. (Don’t even get me started on that scene where Dylan breaks into his family’s old cabana at the beach club and they deployed “You Are the Everything”.)

Naturally, rewatching anything with Luke Perry is all the more devastating now that he’s gone. A loss I hold Gen X will never quite recover from.

Bren and Dylan are this show’s OTP and I will never be swayed from this notion. In my mind, they are living in London while Bren still dabbles in the theater and Dylan (over) writes novels, but not in a toxically masculine way or anything.