Andrea Zuckerman


Andrea Zuckerman, portrayed by Gabrielle Carteris, is a fictional character who was one of the female leads of Beverly Hills, 90210 for the first five seasons.
Andrea was the intelligent but sometimes socially awkward editor of the school newspaper the West Beverly Blaze. She was politically and socially conscious, and often dealt with storylines concerning gender, class, race, and politics. Early in the series Andrea was befriended by Brandon Walsh, who served as her entry point into the "Gang". Though initially an outsider to the female trio of Brenda, Donna, and Kelly, Andrea gradually became good friends with all three.

Conception

lied about her age in order to get the role.

Beverly Hills, 90210

Season 1-3

Andrea was introduced early in season one as living with her parents in Van Nuys and secretly commuting from there to West Beverly High, using her grandmother's small apartment in Beverly Hills as her mailing address. Her parents were only shown once during the show's run. Also, in season one Andrea states that she has a sister, but this sister is never seen and never mentioned again.
During the summer of 1991, while attending summer school with Brenda and Donna, Andrea and Brenda briefly became competitive when they both developed crushes on their drama teacher, the teacher decided to make inappropriate advances toward Andrea, which she encouraged and engaged in, until she found out the teacher had another girlfriend. The following summer, she worked as a day-camp counselor at the Beverly Hills Beach Club and became especially interested in helping a young deaf boy named Cameron. She was injured in a hit-and-run while walking home from West Beverly during the fall of her senior year. Though all she could remember was the color and size of the car, she remained positive and upbeat during the aftermath.
Andrea's senior year improved when she received an acceptance to Yale University and developed a crush on Gil Meyer, a young AP English teacher and journalism advisor. But she accused him of sexism when he picks Brandon to be The Blazes editor-in-chief. Later Andrea and Brandon became the paper's co-editors and made peace, and Andrea sees Gil with his girlfriend. Gil is last seen during Andrea's farewell party at the end of the fifth season.

Relationship with Brandon Walsh

Andrea and Brandon were teased as a possible couple throughout seasons 1-3. Early on it was established that Andrea had feelings for Brandon, but that he initially looked upon her more as a friend.
They first shared a brief kiss in the season 1 episode "B.Y.O.B", with a drunk Brandon initiating the kiss, and Andrea rejecting him for his inappropriate behavior. What could be considered the height of the romantic side of their relationship occurred in the season one finale "Home Again", which featured the infamous scene of Andrea offering her virginity to the supposedly leaving Brandon while they rode a carousel. Throughout the episode Brandon and Andrea share several make-out sessions in anticipation of their "big night", and Brandon is shown finally expressing his attraction to her, telling his sister that he thinks she is pretty, and fantasizing about a "sexy Andrea" in a tight red dress, no glasses, and a serving apron. The episode concludes with Andrea deciding not to go through with a sexual encounter, persuaded instead by Kelly Taylor to turn the promise of their sexual rendezvous into a way to get Brandon to a surprise goodbye party at the Peach Pit. Despite Brandon's insistence that he would still like to go through with their plans, Andrea decides it's best they stay friends. Brandon, whose parents decide not to move away after all, again brings up the possibility of them starting a relationship an episode later, at which time Andrea again shoots down the idea in favor of preserving their friendship.
Season 2 brought another impaired kiss on the part of Brandon, this time while he was high on the drug "U4EA" given to him by his then girlfriend Emily Valentine, and more pining by Andrea for Brandon, including serious jealousy on her part over him and Emily. Kelly Taylor encourages Andrea to take the initiative to go after what she wants, but Andrea simply is unable, or unwilling, to make the necessary moves.
Season 3 marks the turning point, and reconciliation of the romantic aspects of their friendship. Andrea and Brandon again work their summer at the Beverly Hills Country Club, with Brandon expressing apprehension with working with Andrea, afraid her feelings for him might hamper his ability to date over the summer. Unbeknownst to Brandon, and the rest of the gang, Andrea begins dating handsome former editor of The Blaze, and West Beverly alum Jay, an unexpected match considering he is a staunch Republican and she a fierce liberal. This sparks intense jealousy in Brandon, who can't bear the sight of them kissing and going out, which inspires Steve to suggest he make his move before it's too late. One day after her shift, while on the way to meet up with Jay, Brandon asks her not to go, and leans in for a kiss. Furious, Andrea rejects him, asks him "What makes you think you're so damn irresistible?", and accuses him of only wanting her because she's finally taken. They end up mending fences by show's close, with Andrea teasing Brandon over his poor timing, and Brandon lamenting "you don't know what you've got until it's gone".
From that point on much of the romantic tension between the characters subsides, with Brandon dating a fellow student named Nikki, and Andrea continuing to date Jay in an offscreen, long distance relationship. Both happened to get dumped on the same day, and while watching "It's a Wonderful Life" together, they begin to passionately kiss. Andrea stops the kiss, accusing him of thinking of Nikki, he in turn accuses her of thinking of Jay, and things spiral quickly into a heated argument. They, once again, reconcile by the end of the show.
The last romantic tease between the characters happens at the Senior Prom. Andrea's then boyfriend, and Brandon's friend from another high school, Jordon Bonner, supposedly gets sick right before he was due to take Andrea to the prom. Brandon, who had no plans to attend, is encouraged by friend Steve Sanders to ask Andrea. They go to prom together, with him breaking his "no dancing" rule for her, telling her that there was no one else in the world he'd rather be there with than her, and generally having a wonderful time. Through events started by Brenda's date, who presumptuously booked a hotel for them to spend the night in, and her subsequent rejection, Brandon and Andrea end up with the key to a suite. Andrea and Brandon find themselves on the bed, contemplating sleeping together. The episode ends without us knowing the outcome, which is revealed the following week. We learn that Brandon decided that their friendship was far too important to ruin with one night of sex, which, after getting over hurt feelings, Andrea agrees is for the best. This marks the ending of a three season long romantic push-pull between Brandon and Andrea. While they would continue to have a very close friendship, even sharing a few more completely platonic kisses, all of the romantic tension between the pair is resolved by the close of season 3, with neither shown to be pining after the other again.

Season 4

Andrea turns down Yale to attend California University with the gang. She forged a bond with Donna Martin when they shared with one another their decision to wait to have sex. Andrea eventually breaks this pact while in college at California University when she has sex with her RA, Dan Rubin, which becomes a part of the issue leading to a minor hormonal tiff between the two friends. Andrea and Brenda found themselves on opposite sides once again in 1994 when Brenda joined a group which tried to free the animals from a CU testing lab facility. Andrea worked at the facility and felt betrayed that Brenda would do such a thing since the lab actually didn't do anything to harm animals in the first place and instead conducted studies to be used in an effort to make medical advancements for people. This season, more so than any other, shows Andrea growing closer to the girls in the 90210 gang, with the famous Kelly/Brenda/Donna trio widening a bit to include Andrea, who was previously mainly close friends with just Brandon and Brenda. She forges her own strong bonds with both Donna and Kelly, which last the show's run.
Soon after starting her relationship with Dan Rubin, Andrea met Jesse Vasquez at Jim and Cindy Walsh's 20th anniversary party, at which Jesse was working as a bartender to help pay for college while he attended CU for a law degree. The two clicked instantly. Soon after, while still technically with Dan, Andrea began a relationship with Jesse. She soon officially broke off the already cooling relationship with Dan. Incensed because he was in love with her, Dan directed inappropriate racial comments toward Jesse. Dan eventually moved out of the dorm, and Jesse and Andrea continued to date.
This led to the most controversial, and unexpected, storyline development in the character's history. Andrea Zuckerman, having slept with Jesse only once without protection, soon found that she was pregnant. This development was designed to coincide with Gabrielle Carteris's real-life pregnancy, and allowed the issue of teen pregnancy to be explored fully by using one of the series' regulars, not to mention the most unlikely member of the group. After considering an abortion, Andrea eventually decided to keep the baby, which forms the previously mentioned close connection with Kelly Taylor, who helped Andrea through the decision. Andrea married Jesse in a civil ceremony, and she later gave premature birth to their daughter, Hannah Vasquez.

Season 5

After Hannah spent months in the hospital, Andrea and Jesse were finally able to bring her home. Andrea's early season 5 storylines were mostly limited to minor daycare issues, and the struggles she faced as a young mother trying to juggle a new marriage, child, and keeping up her excellent grades. The early marriage and child story, while a high point for the character a season before, began to alienate Andrea from the gang, and she began to fade into the background.
Attempts were made during the second half of the season to inject some life into Andrea's waning story. She was thrust back into the political arena, again sharing screentime with Brandon, a move designed to keep her more involved in campus life and remind audiences of her once-strong political passions. Her marriage was thrown into trouble when she and Jesse had difficulty getting past their religious differences as she was Jewish and he was Catholic. Later a complete physical makeover of the character was allowed; though she'd already shed the glasses a year before, Andrea's hair was suddenly blonde, and she was allowed to wear more body-conscious fashion, perhaps in an attempt to visually mesh her with the rest of the women on the canvas. All aspects of the once socially-awkward borderline "nerd" were now wiped clean.
Andrea was given another unexpected story when she cheated on her husband with medical intern Peter, who tried to pick her up at the laundromat when he assumed she was little Hannah's babysitter, not her mother. She threw away the phone number he gave her, but several episodes later, after running into him at the laundromat again at a time that her marriage was in serious trouble, she finally decided to call him. They began a torrid affair, sneaking around at work to be together and going as far as booking a motel room for sex. Finally, Andrea was with Jesse when they ran into Peter and his wife Adrian; they ended up having dinner together, during which Andrea and Peter share a fantasy that paints them as silver-screen dance legends Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Andrea finally decided that she was in love with Peter; she informed him that she was leaving Jesse for him and expected him to leave Adrian. Peter was taken aback and told her that he had no plans to leave his wife and that he was happy with their "arrangement." Livid and devastated, Andrea ended the affair and was comforted by her friend Dylan McKay, who by chance had discovered and confronted her about the affair weeks earlier. Eventually both Andrea and Jesse confess to affairs: he had been with a fellow law clerk while away on business. That seemed to be the end of their year-long marriage, but despite deeply-hurt feelings and a mounting custody battle, both decided that their family is worth them trying to find their way back to each other.
Andrea also fulfilled a life-long goal when she was able to appear on Jeopardy! in the show's 5th season. It is suggested by the end of the episode that Andrea won.
At the end of the season, Jesse received a clerkship at Yale Law School and Andrea decided to transfer to Yale as well to enter their pre-med program, a plot decision necessitated by Carteris' decision to leave the show. This represents a full-circle character arc, as Andrea had been shown pining after Yale ever since high school, and after she was actually admitted but declined because of the high tuition and an ailing grandmother. After a tearful goodbye with her friends, she is shown finally driving off to her dreams, family in tow, as she remembers brighter days from high school.