-Avier Wanjou Brass-

Cousins!

In the season 2 premiere of Peacock’s Saved By The Bell (2020) revival, the show welcomed back the students to Bayside High and to say goodbye to the one who started it all: Dustin Diamond, who played Screech on the original series (1989)!

As we previously reported back in February of this year, the actor passed away from lung cancer at 44.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Diamond was one of the only original cast members that didn’t make an appearance in the revival’s first season.

The show explained Screech’s absence by revealing he was living on an international Space station with his robot Kevin. Before his passing, his team told Entertainment Weekly that they were in talks to appear on the show for the second season. Unfortunately, Dustin passed away between those seasons.

The season begins after the students and teachers, return to campus after the coronavirus pandemic, including Jessie (Elizabeth Berkley Lauren) and Slater (Mario Lopez). In the episode, Jessie urges Slater to stop avoiding his feelings and join her and their friends at the Max. Slater doesn’t want to go but he gives in and decides to attend. There Jessie, Slater, Zach (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Kellie (Tiffani Thiessen), and Lisa (Lark Voorhies) enjoy the latest addition to Max’s menu (Screech’s Spaghetti Burger) and reminisce about their friend. “It’s a little weird, but great,” Slater says of the burger. “Kinda like Screech,” Lisa replies.

The episode does not go into detail about what happened to Screech. Yet, it does imply that he passed away. As everyone lifted their burgers in his name, the episode then cuts to a compilation of the character’s most memorable events on the original show.

You can watch the tribute below.