So we’ve arrived at week 2 of 90210, and are beginning to get a better sense, perhaps, of how it’s going to shape up as a series. For sure, last night’s episode was at least as much about the adult characters as it was about the teens, which immediately distinguishes it from Gossip Girl and The Hills, two shows whose audience 90210 wants to attract (along with, it hopes for the sake of its ad sales, at least a million more viewers than those two series). I saw it as a sign of impudent strength that 90210 took a shot at MTV’s putative “reality” show, when, in the midst of emoting, Ethan told Annie he was going to “save most of that for my audition for The Hills.”
More 90210, including Ryan + Kelly, the return of Shannen Doherty, and a real-live tour of the set of West Beverly High, after the jump!
If most subplots in last night’s episode felt like we’d seen ‘embefore, it was still, well, kinda cute. It’s hard to dislike an episodebuilt around a bowling alley — bowling is noisy, old-fashioned, andfitfully fun: the opposite of last week’s straining-to-be-too-cool fortwo hours. The notion of the Wilson clan having a mandatory "familynight" of knocking down pins — accompanied, it turned out, by most ofthe Wilson kids’ friends — was initially alarming. I feared the moreseasoned bowlers on the Lucky Strike alleys would mistake thefar-too-skinny Annie and Silver for pins and start aiming at them. Eatmore of those fries, girls!
I suppose there’s some core dramatic problem with the fact that 90210’scentral love triangle (that would be Annie-Ethan-Ty) didn’t turn up theheat at all last night. Heck, the night’s biggest smooch went toteacher Ryan kissing guidance counselor Kelly, and you know when JennieGarth is still at the center of a 90210, it’s got to worry The CW about keeping its youth demo down. On the other hand: yay, Jennie Garth!
And questions of frail weight gain aside, I liked the way JessicaStroup handled Silver’s my-mom’s-a-drunk-so-I-sleep-at-women’s-sheltersplot. Silver’s got an undercurrent of anger that works nicely againstthe soppiness of that setup. Plus, just as last week Jessica Walterproved that the best acting on this show is done by mature womendepicting women with drinking problems, darned if Silver’s mom didn’tturn in the night’s best performance as a truly mean drunk. (By theway, why no Walter? We need her swanning around sarcastically. As forthe other notable absence: the coming attractions revealed that we’llsee one of Shannen Doherty’s handful of scheduled appearances nextweek.)
I also liked the slight twist on thedaughter-catching-daddy-having-an-affair scenes. Naomi’s extravagantwoe — “I saw my dad kissing another woman!” as if Naomi doesn’t cheaton guys her own young self — was countered by her mom’s calm acceptanceof it all. She knows about the affair and lives with it, because itkeeps her in the 90210 zip code. I’d say she was decadently cynical,but actually with real estate in the tank, she probably just realizesshe’d get nothing in a split-up.
Oh, and how about the fact that we must presume that Navid’s porn-producer dad showed him and his 90210 pals an advance cut of Quantum of Solace?Mind you, once again the following grade is for last night’s episodeonly. But for the slight improvements over last week and for theclever/coy Bond film reference, I’m giving it a B-.
Join Jessica Shaw on a tour of West Beverly High, and let us know what you thought of the episode below!
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Jackie is still a reckless drunk. I remember one of the most emotional episodes to watch on the original 90210 was when Kelly’s mom was drunk in front of everyone on that runway convention. Jennie Garths acting was impeccable in that episode. BTW, Silver is shaping into the best actor of the young cast. She is extremely believable and likable. I think Annie and Dixon as leads still havnt warmed up to audiences as much as they wanted to.
Kelly and Silver are shaping up to be the two most interesting characters on this new show. I loved seeing Jackie back in drunken form, but the absence of Walters was a shame. I hope she’s on next week; we need more comic relief. Keep up the Kelly/Ryan, Kelly/Silver, Silver/Dixon plotlines and I’ll be a happy viewer.
I agree with the other commenters so far about Silver. She is becoming my favorite character as well, and I hope she has big story lines to come. But, I really enjoy AnnaLynne McCord’s performance as Naomi as well, so I hope she gets something more to do too.
Need to see more George too (Kellan Lutz) as Ethan’s frenemy/rival.
so is dylan kelly’s baby daddy or what? why won’t they say his name? (Jackie reffered to him as “he”)
I like Silver the best but I think it’s because she’s David’s sister so you know she was going to love music and computers. I am disappointed that since her mom is a drunk again, she would go to live with Mel or perhaps David.
I would love to see another fashion show were Jackie gets drunk again that was a great episode. Brenda finally saw that Kelly’s mom wasn’t that cool. Annie is super annoying and I need the grandmother on to enjoy the show. I want to see the grandmother and Sue Ellen hitting the town together.
It’s definitely not the greatest show ever, but it’s held my interest so far. Um, why does Kelly call her sister “Silver”?
Can the show get anymore cliche? They covered a half seasons worth of issues done a million times on other shows in one episode. The only thing that was missing was something about the son being black.
Oh yeah and someone being pregnant
The show is not as good as the original…. but hey, I need something to watch on Tuesday nights at 8pm.
I like Silver, too…. she’s the prettiest girl on the show, but damn! The girl is so skinny, I feel like kidnapping her and forcing some doughnuts down her throat!
And you know that Sammy’s father is totally Dylan…. because Brandon wouldn’t be in the baby’s life and then disappear. I think that would completely go against his character.
I agree with the poster who said Tristan Wilds (who plays Dixon) is just warming up acting-wise. He was spectacular on “The Wire.” I think it’s the 90210 material that’s not allowing him to shine.
The girl who plays Annie overacts from time-to-time. So does Ethan. But they were both better this week. Ty seems wooden to me. The worst of the bunch — the person who’s God-awful — is the chick playing Naomie. Ohmigod, somebody please get her off the stage! Every time she has to play anger, she just scrunches her face up and arches her eyebrows. It’s laughable. I don’t think she has any talent, and she has a pug-like face.
Also, I think Silver and Dixon have a lot of chemistry. Would love to see something happen there.
Kelly’s baby daddy can be Brandon…he will not his kid abandoned unless he doesn’t know hehas a kid.
Dylan is the obvious choice but bear with me here, little guy has blond curly hair like Steve, how about they hooked up for all times sake and bang! they dated in high school?
what do you think????
* can’t be Brandon
I really hope Sammy is not Dylan’s kid. The only time I want to see Dylan on this show is if it’s with Brenda. Sammy should be Brandon’s kid. I was hoping that they would keep Brandon & Dylan out of it completely but after what Kelly said last night that looks like it’s impossible. I think it’d be kind of funny if it was Jake from Melrose Place.
As for last night’s episode, how original can you get with a teen drama? I thought they did a great job last night, and I liked the twist on Naomi’s mom knowing about the affair. You never would have seen that on 90210:The Original Series.
The most annoying character has to be Annie..her trying to sound cool and “urban” is laughable. I agree, Silver is the best actress/character on the show. Seeing Kelly’s mom again was good. I wonder what the heck happened for her to be so horrible. Dylan is so the baby’s daddy. Wouldn’t it be funny if it was Steve?
No brenda? Make her a regular already.
I am 99% sure that Brandon is Sammy’s father. Kelly and Brenda were talking about it at The Pit saying he called from Belize at 3am. right after the scene where Sammy goes into her room when she’s on the phone at 3am and tells the caller that Sammy’s been asking for him.
Kelly calls her sister “Silver” because that’s her dad’s last name. I imagine because “Silver” wants to be less associated with her mother. It hasn’t been mentioned on this show, but it goes back to the original series.
I get why Kelly calls her sister Silver, but it’s really dumb. In real life, she would call her sister Erin. Obviously Jackie thinks so too because she corrected Kelly last night.
I do believe that Steve is Sammy’s father….they are going to make it someone that will shock us (not dylan)…I am enjoying the show as a former BH90210 fan….a couple of more shows and we will learn more about these characters….
Didn’t anyone notice that little Sammy had wild, curly, blonde hair. I’m just saying wouldn’t it be the oddest thing if Kelly had an affair with Steve (whose suppose to be with Janet & has Maddie).
Kelly probably calls her sister Silver b/c she asked her to. And there’s no way Brandon can be the father of her son because she said it was someone she had a history with in high school. Her and Brandon didn’t get together until college. My guess is Dylan or Steve, leaning towards Steve because with the childhood Dylan had there is no way he would not be in his son’s life.
Did anyone else wonder why Silver had to “share” Annie’s room? Is there no other extra bedroom for her to stay in?!?
The show was enjoyable, but it feels like it’s trying way too hard. Plus, the actress who plays Annie just isn’t good enough. I’d be curious to see how she fared with test audiences, because I find her really underwhelming (just to clarify, the actress herself, not the character).
Random question: Does anyone know what song the girl was singing in the car with Naomi? That’s been bugging me.
Agreed with other comments that Silver is the breakout character. The storyline with her and Kelly is well done. Liked the overall focus of parents and kids, that’s what makes 90210 unique. Meanwhile, all the romances so far lack heat, they all seem forced. There is no chemistry between Kelly and that teacher guy, Annie and anyone, and the Naomi character is pathetic. Better to wait for some chemistry to evolve naturally…
I love how they are so coy about who Kelly’s baby daddy is. They haven’t decided if it will be Brandon or Dylan’s. I guess they’re waiting for who will agree to appear on this sinking ship.
all I could pay attention to last night was Jessica Stroup’s little stick arms. And her forced intake of something while in bed with her sister and nephew. He better not be Steve’s kid- how dare he do that to Janet and Maddie???
To mscisluv: I believe that was Love song by Sara Berilles (I think that’s how you spell her name)
Annie really annoys me on this show, and I think it is because every time I see her, she reminds me of Heidi on the Hills. She looks eerily similar to Heidi(before the plastic surgery). And because I can’t stand Heidi, I have trouble liking Annie. The Hills reference in the show didn’t help. Anyone else have this issue?