In the spring of 1995, I found myself in an unusual transitional stage: too old for summer camp, yet too young for a legitimate job. With no significant responsibilities, I anticipated spending the season relaxing by my aunt and uncle’s pool, consuming horror novels by R.L. Stine and Dean Koontz.

At that point in my life, I didn’t quite mesh with my contemporaries. While they were out shooting hoops or cycling, I was memorizing the TV Guide schedules, particularly the late-night horror films I could record on our VCR. Whereas my classmates were engrossed in the drama of Beverly Hills, 90210, I gravitated toward what I viewed as more sophisticated programming—David E. Kelley’s Picket Fences and reruns of Knots Landing. But nothing captivated me quite like Melrose Place. That summer, I was utterly engrossed in theories about the fate of nearly a dozen characters on the show that would come to epitomize ‘90s television for me.

The Explosion That Altered Everything

On May 22, 1995, Melrose Place concluded its third season with one of the most memorable cliffhangers in television history. It was a brilliant amalgamation of storylines that propelled the show to iconic status.

By then, Dr. Kimberly Shaw—portrayed by Marcia Cross, long before her Desperate Housewives fame—had ample reasons to resent her neighbors. After enduring betrayal, manipulation, and more than one literal slap, Kimberly held a grudge against nearly everyone in the Melrose apartment complex. She despised Michael (Thomas Calabro) for the drunk-driving incident that turned her life upside down. She harbored anger toward Matt (Doug Savant) for aiding in the cover-up of Michael’s misconduct and shaming her publicly. She loathed Sydney (Laura Leighton) for pursuing Michael, Jane (Josie Bissett) for a failed framing plot, Amanda (Heather Locklear) for diverting Peter’s (Jack Wagner) affections, and Jo (Daphne Zuniga) for having the child Kimberly never could—who she later kidnapped and breastfed in a chilling nod to The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.

And that was only the brief list.

Tormented by visions of her mother’s rapist—whom she killed in self-defense as a young girl—Kimberly resolved to take drastic action. Her plan? Plant four bombs throughout the apartment complex and blow it to smithereens.

The Explosive Wait

Although the bombs were set in the Season 3 finale, they didn’t explode until the Season 4 premiere in September. This delay was a reaction to the real-life tragedy of the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995. Still, the suspense was palpable.

When the new season finally premiered, Kimberly activated the detonator, and the explosion was everything fans had expected. The blast flung her into the pool, claimed the life of Mackenzie Hart (Morgan Brittany), temporarily blinded Alison (Courtney Thorne-Smith), and left the other residents with minor injuries—just enough to keep them television-ready.

Meanwhile, the drama persisted. Jake (Grant Show) killed his brother Jess (Dan Cortese) in self-defense, and Matt found himself framed for murder. The storytelling may have begun to buckle under the weight of its 32-episode seasons, but the spectacle was unforgettable. Had TikTok existed, the explosion would have gone viral instantly.

Inside the Bombshell Production

Melrose Place’s extensive episode orders were made feasible by “double-ups,” a production technique where two episodes were filmed concurrently. On a recent episode of the Melrose Place recap podcast Still The Place, writer-producer Chip Hayes noted that this method saved costs by maximizing the use of the rented soundstages. That extra funding allowed for the explosive Season 3 finale.

Originally, the plan was even wilder: Kimberly was meant to fly a plane into the apartment complex. Hayes reminisced about series creator Darren Star proposing the idea, which was ultimately abandoned for a more practical (but still dramatic) explosion. The production team constructed a replica of half the building in the Santa Clarita Studios parking lot and set it on fire. “We had air cannons blowing Heather [Locklear] off the balcony,” Hayes recalled. “And then we went outside and blew it up and burned it down… It edited together magnificently.”

The Aftermath

Kimberly’s explosion marked a pivotal moment for Melrose Place. It was the instant the show fully embraced its campy, chaotic genius. From that moment onward, the storylines became increasingly outrageous—and I was fully on board. While some viewers dropped out as the plots grew more ridiculous, I leaned into the bedlam and remained loyal until the series finale in 1999.

Growing up in New Rochelle, New York, Los Angeles always appeared to me as a glamorous, enigmatic place—