And now, TVWriter™ proudly presents another edition of the Better Late Than Never Dept. as Guest Contributor The Hudsonian turns back the clock to:
90210 – Season 4 Episode 1
A Review
**This episode originally aired in September 2011. If you are unfamiliar with the series, turn away to avoid spoilers, or bleeding corneas.**
Everyone’s favorite zip code is back! Are we happy about this? Should we be?
The gang from West Beverly High takes its talents, er, baggage, to college. Some of them anyway. We ended season 3 with the news that Naomi was preggers with Max’s love child. As this ep begins, turns out, she’s not. (You didn’t see THAT coming? Shame on you for not knowing how predictable this show is.) Max is overjoyed and Naomi is upset he feels this way. She’s then awakened by a stewardess on the way back to California.
Upon return to the sunshine and hopes of immense popularity at CU, Naomi realizes life in college isn’t like high school. Shocker. She then buys a big house and throws a big party – which gets shut down – to overcompensate.
Liam returns from a summer of deep-sea fishing, one in which he never called Annie. (Can you blame him? He’s knee deep in fish guts and Krakken attacks. Oh, right. That’s only in the movies. This is TV. ) Annie’s clearly not happy about it but still loves the bastard. So he proposes. She says no. (Again, you’re shocked?) So Liam gets drunk and buys a bar with his fishing trip money.
Dixon is homeless because Navid pranked him by switching his residency status to female, and he ends up fighting over a 2 bedroom beach house with Austin, the sexy cowboy that becomes the object of Naomi’s affection – but for now, the cramp in her menstruating side – as the season progresses. Dixon and Austin compromise and become roommates. Aw.
Silver and Navid are looking forward to living together alone, but they get an unexpected surprise when Navid’s younger sister refuses to move to Switzerland with their parents. (Why’d they move? Navid’s dad is shamed as a porn tycoon who hired underage chicas for talent, of course. Leila becomes a nuisance (what teenager ISN’T?) and really gets under their skin when she lets Adrianna into Silver’s house. Silver is piiiiiiiiiiiissed.
Oh, and Ivy and Raj got married at the end of Season 3 because he’s dying of cancer, and now he’s too sick to do anything. Another shocker. Sure.
Naomi is easily the best character in this show. Her blend of entitlement and arrogance fits well with her constant need for love and affection and her mother hen demeanor towards her friends. (She has all the money, so of course she’s going to take care of them.) When she’s introduced to Austin, she hates him because he’s just like her: a spoiled brat who suddenly finds himself not getting what he wants.
Let’s face it; this series is designed for young adolescents who are oblivious to what good television is. Written by adult writers who try to make sure there’s a little something for all of us to enjoy here in the target demo everyone’s favorite zip code.
Sometimes they even succeed.
