West Coast Story

West Coast Story is a two part episode and the 9th and 10th episodes of season 4 and the 75th-76th episodes overall in the Sweet Valley High TV series. It was directed by Steven Markowitz. The episodes are written by Peggy Nicholl and Barry Stringfellow.

Part 1
Renata joins the Sweet Valley High Cheerleading Squad much to Jessica's dismay in order to win Todd's heart. Meanwhile a prank war is brewing between Sweet Valley High and Big Mesa High. Principal Cooper warns Todd and his teammates not to pull any pranks or face suspension and sitting out on the next few basketball games.

Jessica meets and falls in love with her surfing instructor, Christian Gorman, whom unbeknownst to her attends Big Mesa.

Devon and Elizabeth continues to face relationship problems. Liz is concerned over Devon's volatile tendencies. He tries to reassure her things will be fine until Winston and Enid informs everyone of a fight between a Big Mesa student and Todd. Everyone heads to the back where he is given a black eye and almost knocked out cold. Liz is truly concerned for Todd and making Devon believe she still has feelings for him. Jessica is surprised to see the assailant is none other than Christian.

Part 2
Christian visits Jessica and apologizes for his behavior. She wonders how he could've done this to Todd. Despite the obvious dislike for each other, Jessica is still respectful of him mainly due to his previous relationship with Elizabeth.

Todd and his teammates swears revenge on Gorman and his school. Principal Cooper warns the guys not to fight or else they will be expelled. Todd, Ken, Winston and the others later humiliate Jessica by writing on the school board about her traitorous ways due to her relationship with Christian. This doesn't go unnoticed as the guys are sent to Cooper's office to face proper punishment. However, this doesn't seem to dissuade Todd and his friends.

While Jessica ponders what to do, Devon asks Liz if she still has feelings for Todd. She doesn't answer him truthfully, but admits she's just concern for Todd as a friend after he was beaten up. Liz is more concerned over Devon's recent behavior and fears the worst. He reassures her that he's going to talk to Todd about this and that he does respect Jessica's relationship with Christian. Devon promises Liz that he will get a truce between both school and she relaxes knowing he's more mature than Todd is right now.

At the house, Renata asks for Jessica's help in winning Todd over. She doesn't want to help Renata right now. Jessica is worried over not only her standing at school, but also Todd, Ken and the others harassing her for her relationship with Christian. Cheryl, Enid and Lila come to Jessica's aid.

At school, Devon confronts Todd and warns him not to go through with the fight with one of the Big Mesa students because of Mr. Cooper's warning of expulsion. When he accuses Devon for siding with Jessica for her traitorous relationship with Christian, he is annoyed by this. Devon points out that he's confronting Todd for Elizabeth's sake. This surprises him because he never thought that Devon would actually care about her. He mentions that he refuses to lower himself to Todd's level in his senseless needs for revenge because his nanny raised him better than his parents did when he was growing up. Devon also reveals that he refuses to make Liz choose between him and Jessica, after learning his lesson in what he tried to do with Enid and Manny.

That night during Jessica's date with Christian, they both witness Devon's fight with a Big Mesa student. He attempts to apologize to them, claiming they have the wrong idea. However, Jessica is freaked out by this because it was already bad enough that Todd and his friends were attacking her because of her relationship with Christian. Devon calls an ambulance to get the kid to the hospital and get proper treatment.

After she comes home, Jessica tells Elizabeth about what he's done to the Big Mesa student and how he put the latter in the hospital. She is shocked by this as Jess explained that she and Christian witnessed this unfolding. Jessica warns Liz to break up with Devon soon because she's worried that one day her sister will be the victim of his abuse. Elizabeth asks Jessica to let her talk to him about it and reassures that he won't betray her. Jessica is not convinced though because she has seen his earlier behavior.

The next day, Robin, Amy and Cara confront Jessica and strip her of her cheerleading leadership. In the end, she tries to convince Christian to let her attend Big Mesa with him. He tells her that he has a better idea and that he will talk to Todd and the others.

Tired of being smothered by Renata, Todd breaks up with her. She is left wondering where she went wrong in her pursuit of him. However, Jessica suspects that Todd still has feelings for Elizabeth and tells Renata to stay away from him.

Outside the Wakefield house, Devon tries to explain to Liz what happened on that night. He confronted the student from Big Mesa High, explaining that he doesn't want any trouble from anyone. Devon mentions all he wants is a truce between both schools, mentioning that he understands how much Todd and his friends are immaturely behaving. Only then Elizabeth sees the truth in Jessica's warning against him and this made her question why he would do that. She points out that he promised her that he wouldn't be involved in that fight and that he would respect Jessica and Christian's relationship. Devon also explains to Liz that the Big Mesa student actually started the fight by taunting him. In the middle of their fight, Christian and Jessica witnessed this. Devon stops immediately and tried to apologize to them about it. Jessica got freaked out over it and Christian tells him to stay away from her. However having seen how unconcerned Devon was for the Big Mesa student, Liz asks him to leave and closes the door in his face.

At Moon Beach, Todd and Christian decide to try and call a truce for both Liz and Jessica's sake. Before the truce treaty can be signed, an angry Devon instigates a fight wanting revenge on Jessica for interfering with his relationship with Liz.

Cast

 * Cynthia Daniels as Elizabeth "Liz Wakefield
 * Brittany Daniels as Jessica "Jess" Wakefield
 * Amy Danles as Enid Rollins
 * Shirlee Elliot as Lila Fowler
 * Jeremy Vincent Garrett as Todd Wilkins
 * Tiffany Hayes as Cheryl Thomas(Credited as Tyffany Hayes)
 * Michael Perl as Winston Egbert
 * Harley Rodriguez as Manuel "Manny" Lopez
 * Manny Pope as Devon Whitelaw
 * Andrea Savage as Renata Vargas

Guest Stars

 * Joel Bryant as Nerd Gultcher
 * Bailey Chase as Christian Gorman
 * Selvyn Ward as Ken Matthews(uncredited)
 * ???? as Mr. Cooper
 * ??? as Amy Sutton
 * Amarilis as Robin Wilson(uncredited)
 * Bridget Flannery as Cara Walker(uncredited

Trivia

 * This is loosely based on Book 120
 * In this episode, Christian Gorman attends Big Mesa, while in the book it's Palisades High.
 * In the show, Ken is an African American football player. In the books, he is tanned, blond hair and blue eyes.
 * This is mainly due to Selvyn Ward's uncredited appearance.
 * Amarilis who played Jessica's friend, Patty Gilbert, makes an uncredited return as her rival, Robin.
 * Bridget Flannery who played the first Lila Fowler, makes and uncredited return as Cara.
 * The actress who played Amy went uncredited
 * The last part concludes in Rumble in the Valley.