I'll be there for you...

Matthew Perry takes time out of his very busy pre-Friends career to guest star. This episode, particularly the Ryan Azarian (M Perry) subplot, feels like a lifetime movie, really similar feel. He wants to kill his dad, Brandon reads a screenplay that details this feeling, blah blah blah

the superior subplot here is Donna Martin being stupid, faking her way out of tests, and taking up smoking. This has been repeated, but this is one plot thread that should have been extended, not tied up. Every group has a smoker, and that could have been Donna.