Brenda Walsh, portrayed by Shannen Doherty, is a fictional character who was the female lead of Beverly Hills, 90210 for the first four seasons.

The series initially focuses on their stories and the cultural shock of living on the West coast, and their relationship with their new friends, Kelly Taylor, Dylan McKay, Donna Martin, Andrea Zuckerman, David Silver and Steve Sanders.

[4][5][6][7][8][9] The early development of Brenda Walsh was focused on her feelings about moving to a new town, making new friends, and trying to fit in to the new Beverly Hills lifestyle.

In the pilot episode, Brenda fantasizes about making big changes in her life, alluding to the idea that she wasn't very popular at her old school.

An example of Brenda's naivete and idealistic attitude was when she disclosed her real age to Jason, thinking that he would continue dating her, in spite of the fact that she was a 16-year-old high school student.

[10] It's in that moment that the audience is most drawn to Brenda, as the direction for the character led us to think that an honor roll student with the loving family and good looks had it all together and lived a perfect and grown up life, even while still in high school.

Brenda further displays her desire for popularity with her hot and cold relationship with Andrea Zuckerman, the nerdy editor of the West Beverly High newspaper.

The main season one arc for the character of Brenda Walsh came during a series of episodes involving a surprise romance with Brandon's solitary friend, Dylan McKay, who had long been misunderstood as an outsider and bad boy.

During a trip to Palm Springs, Brenda went to meet Dylan in a hotel room but saw him with another girl and jumped to the conclusion that they had shared an intimate relationship.

Showing her temper, Brenda stormed off but returned shortly thereafter, only to throw the girl out of the hotel room and confront Dylan.

As a result, Dylan agreed to wait until Brenda was ready, and the couple left the hotel and went to spend the rest of the holiday with their friends at David Silver's grandparent's house in Palm Springs.

In multiple episodes, Brenda proves herself to be a funny, smart, and driven young woman who cares about her friends and family and puts them first, along with her own personal goals.

As their relationship is taken to a new level, Brenda has to deal with the news that her family will be moving back to Minneapolis for her father's promotion in the season finale, "Home Again".

Brenda withdraws back to her close inner circle of friends to reclaim her identity as an individual and begins pursuing an acting class during the summer.

She keeps her distance from Dylan, not trusting her ability to end their romance for good, but after he suffers a surfing injury and has to stay at the Walsh residence to recover, the two rekindle their relationship.

In Paris, Brenda focuses on exploring the sites and soaking up the French culture, deciding to hold off from calling Dylan so she doesn't get distracted.

As the season three directors develop the other characters' storylines, the plot surrounding Brenda, Kelly and Dylan seems to be a natural progression for the series.

The love triangle that followed Brenda's return from France quickly became a milestone in the series that helped increase her popularity and gave rise to the rumors of rivalry announced between Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth off set.

This is another big step for Brenda's character, as it's the turning point where she stops running from her mistakes and the heartbreak of her past, faces reality, and takes responsibility for creating the life she wants for herself.

Despite the character's desire to be the master of her own destiny, Brenda Walsh continues to teeter between making rational and irrational decisions, and struggles with the "all or nothing" mentality that plagues most young adolescents, ironically narrowing their opportunities at the very time they are trying to spread their wings and join the world as adults.

While settling back into being home in Beverly Hills, Brenda spends the first few days of her return hanging out at the Peach Pit and cruising around town with Dylan, as he has decided not to enter university either.

Despite wanting to maintain close friendships, Brenda isn't impressed with the non-stop party scene that pervades the sorority life.

Everyone books plane tickets and flies to Vegas in an effort to stop her, but knowing how hard headed she is, they decide to persuade her using reverse psychology and pretend that they are in favor of the marriage.

During the fourth season, Brenda is interested in the drama department but it also led to problems: she spoiled her first audition and then went to the director of the play to try again and convince him.

The couple will reconcile briefly in the final scene of the fourth season, though (because of Shannen Doherty's departure) Brenda's character was removed from the script and she never returned to Beverly Hills.

Or, in the last episode of the series illustrating the marriage of Donna and David, it is alluded to a slumber party that Brenda had organized when they were still in high school.

She will have to deal with the drug problems of the high school girl who plays the lead role in the show and will help her get out of it, which will follow a mutual attachment of the latter.