Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (December 30, 2021)
In fall 1990, Beverly Hills 90210 launched, and a sensation started – eventually. The series didn’t ignite immediately, but it appealed to a highly desirable demographic and made a definite cultural impact.
With this massive 74-disc “Complete Series” set, we find all 290 episodes of 90210 across ten seasons. We also find the six shows from 2019’s short-lived BH90210 spinoff.
Given the scale of this package, I won’t watch all the shows. Instead, I’ll sample a few per season. The plot synopses come from IMDB.
SEASON ONE:
Pilot Parts 1 and 2: “The Walsh Family moves to Beverly Hills, where twins Brenda (Shannen Doherty) and Brandon (Jason Priestley) meet new friends during their first week at West Beverly High School. Brandon falls for the most popular girl in the school while Brenda pretends to be a college student to romance a young lawyer.”
Like most pilots, this one comes with characters we would never see again. This mainly stems from school faculty, as the principal and the featured teachers didn’t come back for subsequent episodes. Brandon’s love interest Marianne Moore (Leslie Bega) also was one and done.
We also don’t find Dylan McKay (Luke Perry), soon to be the series’ breakout star, as he didn’t appear until the season’s second episode. Also, Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) plays a pretty minor role here, though she’d become more important in the future.
Beyond these casting curiosities, “Pilot” feels like a competent intro to the characters. As drama, it doesn’t seem especially stimulating, but it manages to kick off the series in an adequate way.
Casting footnote: look for Djimon Hounsou in a small part as a nightclub bouncer.
Spring Dance: “Everyone scrambles to get dates for the big annual spring dance.”
After almost a full season of teasing, “Dance” finally puts Brenda and Dylan in the sack together. If I recall correctly, this got viewed as a big deal 30 years ago, mainly because it was semi-daring for a teen-oriented series to deflower a female character.
Beyond That Big Event, “Dance” mixes the usual melodrama and minor comedy. Some other character relationships come to the fore as well in this decent episode.
SEASON TWO:
Beach Blanket Brandon: “With school out for the summer, Brandon decides to abruptly leave the Peach Pit and go work as a cabana boy at the posh Beverly Hills Beach Club which is run by the tough-minded Henry Thomas (James Pickens Jr).”
90210 barely made a dent in terms of viewership during Season One, but then the producers came up with an inspired decision: they ran new episodes during summer 1991.
“Seasons” no longer matter in 2021, but 30 years ago, summer existed as a dead zone of reruns. With brand-new programs, 90210 found an audience – or at least a bigger audience, as the series never really dominated the ratings.
As I noted at the start, 90210 didn’t get a huge viewership, and it never ranked higher than number 41 for any season. However, it got that prime youth demo I mentioned earlier, and it maintained a cultural connection greater than its ratings implied. These summer episodes helped kick off the series’ ascent, and from July 1991, “Blanket” became the first salvo in that effort.
Do we find anything memorable about “Blanket” beyond that historical significance? We find some serious melodrama when Brenda fears that she got pregnant, but otherwise the show feels mainly like an intro to “Summer 90210”. It feels like a spotty show overall.
Wedding Bell Blues: “Brenda faces the wrath of her parents after her disastrous return from Mexico.”
When S1 ended, Brenda and Dylan had just Gone All the Way, and that relationship intensified during S2 – even though they split in “Blanket”, that breakup didn’t last. As the year progressed, Brenda’s parents became more opposed to Dylan and his influence on her.
That culminates with more fireworks and melodrama. I know Brenda and Dylan turned into the “It Couple” from the series, but I always thought those elements became too sappy and overwrought.
Those feelings come to the fore here, as the drippy, overdone dramatics about Brenda/Dylan remain a drag. Those factors make this a weak conclusion to Season Two.
Footnote: keep an eye out for Denise Richards in a tiny role.
SEASON THREE:
Misery Loves Company: “Brandon returns to work for the summer at the Beverly Hills Beach Club to find that his parents (James Eckhouse and Carol Potter) are new members and Andrea (Gabrielle Carteris) is now working there as the child-care supervisor.”
Given that those summer episodes in 1991 worked out so well, 1992 follows suit, as “Company” aired mid-July. This meant fans didn’t have to wait long to see the latest developments between Brenda and Dylan.
Part of the reason the Brenda/Dylan relationship wore on me so much came from the relentless up and down teeter-totter that felt too contrived. That continues here, as we get more of the same tedious nonsense among the star-crossed lovers.
At least “Company” manages a little “fish out of water” levity when Steve bets Brandon that he can handle a job at the Peach Pit. Drop the dreary Brenda and Dylan material and this becomes a more entertaining show.
Commencement: “With 24 hours until graduation, Andrea frets with Brandon over her coming valedictorian speech and her college choice of California University or Yale, as does Brenda with Minnesota.”
I always think of 90210 as a predominantly high school-based series, so it becomes a surprise to realize the characters left West Beverly after only three of the series’ 10 seasons.
Of course, the actors’ advancing ages meant they couldn’t stay in high school forever. Of the main actors, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling were the youngest, and they both turned 19 before the start of S3.
On the other side of the spectrum, Ian Ziering hit 28 before the launch of S3 – and Gabrielle Carteris was 31! Granted, the series would still ask all of them to play younger than their actual ages, but I’m glad 90210 didn’t perpetually keep these actors in high school.
Anyway, “Commencement” follows graduation with the expected forms of melodrama. When I finished high school, I went to a couple parties and had fun with friends – no overwrought theatrics involved.
I suspect that was the case for 99 percent of high school graduates, but I guess that’s why they don’t make TV series about 99 percent of teens. Much of “Commencement” reminds us about all this melodrama, as a lot of the program acts as a “clip show” that offers snippets from prior episodes.
That seems unnecessary, and the clips feel like a cheap way to extend “Commencement” to double-length. I’d prefer an episode that just focused on new material, especially because “Commencement” feels thin even when it indulges in fresh footage. 90210 should’ve sent the kids out of high school on a stronger note.
SEASON FOUR:
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye: “Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) invites Brandon to stay with him at a Malibu beach house, owned by one of his mother's industry connections. They throw a farewell party for Brenda before she leaves for college in Minnesota.”
All good things must end, so S4 drops the “new summer episodes” motif. I guess Fox felt confident that the series stood on its own feet enough to not need that boost.
After the nostalgia-fest of “Commencement”, “Farewell” acts as a bridge to the characters’ college years. We get some contrived narrative developments but not much more, though Brenda’s move to Minnesota sets up Doherty’s departure from the series.
Mr. Walsh Goes to Washington: “Brandon goes to Washington D.C. as a part of the college task force to meet the president.”
As much as I want to accuse 90210 of melodrama for the thread in which Andrea has a baby, this occurred because Gabrielle Carteris got pregnant and they had little choice. Still, the show then pushes the soap opera factor even farther when Andrea delivers a premie whose fate seems uncertain.
The rest of “Goes” offers plenty of the usual melodrama – and the “small world” tone that pervaded the series. Of course Brandon meets two former flings in DC!
No one expects realism from 90210, but it still becomes absurd how contrived so much of the series was. “Goes” acts as a competent conclusion to the season and not much more.
SEASON FIVE:
What I Did on My Summer Vacation and Other Stories: “The Walshes welcome Valerie Malone (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), a young and charming family friend from Buffalo, who moves into Brenda's room after she leaves for England.”
With Shannen Doherty formally off the series, Valerie acts as her substitute – I guess. Obviously she lacks the familial connection of Brenda, so there’s the possibility Brandon and his new goatee will try to bang her, but Valerie still feels like “new Brenda” in a number of ways.
A lot of “Vacation” lives up to the title and shows “flashbacks” to the characters’ activities since “Goes”. Of course, the intro of Valerie becomes a significant topic and the main forward motivator, as much of the show exists as “catch-up time”. It’s a surprisingly interesting intro to 90210 post-Brenda.
PS I Love You: “The gang goes to Palm Springs for the national KEG/ALPHA fraternity/sorority convention.”
Because I skip so many episodes, inevitably I miss details that cover events across entire seasons. However, it usually becomes pretty easy to connect the dots.
This becomes more difficult with S5 because it involves new characters. Whereas those first four years focused on the core roles, here we get new participants like Valerie, Ray Pruit (Jamie Walters), Donna’s abusive boyfriend, and Alison Lash (Sara Melson), a burn victim lesbian (!) with a thing for Kelly.
As such, “PS” confuses me more than the usual season finale, though I can’t say I feel my unfamiliarity with circumstances seems likely to really damage my view of the episode. It’s an off-kilter mess that seems eager to distance itself from the characters as we know them, and it becomes a weird, unsatisfying show that seems ludicrous even by the standards of 90210.
SEASON SIX:
Home Is Where the Tart Is: “Brandon returns to Beverly Hills from his summer job in Boston and at Steve's advice, he helps set up a destructive rave party in his parents’ vacant house.”
Most series go farther away from their core and get more detached from reality as they go, and that clearly becomes the trend with 90210. In particular, it acts less as a look at the life of privileged youngsters and more a soap opera.
Granted, 90210 always veered toward some sudsy topics, especially when it came to romantic entanglements. Nonetheless, the characters felt more true to themselves, whereas now, they seem to either turn into caricatures or act in illogical ways.
I saw this during S5’s finale and it continues with S6’s debut. I hoped “Tart” might reset the series and send it down an engaging path, but instead it just sends the show more into the wilderness.
You Say It’s Your Birthday: “Carl (Nick Kiriazis) hosts Steve's weekend long 21st birthday bash on the ship Queen Mary in Long Beach.”
At what point did every 90210 regular male character sleep with every 90210 regular female character? And when did half the cast adopt spray-on tans? Tori Spelling and Tiffani Thiessen look like freaking Oompa-Loompas here.
As I’ve admitted, 90210 never cared about reality, but it now feels like every episode is about wealthy parties and random sex. “Birthday” does nothing to detour from that trend, so it becomes another weak season finale.
Footnote: with cameos from Goo Goo Dolls and Pauly Shore, this episode seems ridiculously dated – even for 90210.
SEASON SEVEN:
Remember the Alamo: “Brandon is on a road trip through the USA when his car breaks down in a small town in Texas, and he encounters racism from the redneck locals after he befriends a young black girl named Mariah (Maia Campbell).”
In summer 1992, Melrose Place spun off from 90210. The latter always got better ratings, but nonetheless, it feels like 90210 became more and more like the spinoff.
Primarily, 90210 adopted more sex and adult themes. Of course, some of this made sense since the characters left high school, but 90210 seemed utterly disinterested in the characters’ college experiences, so instead it went for the tawdry soap opera of Melrose.
This seems like a mistake, as each successive season separates more and more from the aspects of 90210 that charmed in the first place. That said, “Alamo” feels a bit like a throwback to the older tone, as it comes across as more lighthearted and less overwrought than more recent shows.
Granted, the parts between Brandon and Mariah offer some trite moralizing, and “Alamo” makes David act out of character to be a jerk. The series established a theme of Donna with abusers earlier, and it seems like “Alamo” mutates David to fit the concept, even if it makes little sense based on how we know him.
Despite those issues, “Alamo” works better than other recent episodes, mainly because it does feel like a reminder of the series’ initial charms. The episode doesn’t excel – mainly for the factors I mentioned – but at least it starts S7 on a mostly satisfying manner.
Graduation Day: “On the day before commencement, Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) becomes determined to oust Valerie from the Walsh house - and out of town - and pressures Brandon to do so.”
Because I skipped so many episodes, maybe I missed something, but it nonetheless comes as a surprise to see recognition that the main characters actually attend college. Perhaps all those shows I passed on featured lots of campus life, but the ones I did view didn’t seem to highlight the university experience.
As such, this look at the end of those college years comes out of nowhere to me, but like “Alamo”, it helps make S7 feel like a throwback to the series’ better years. Of course, some of the usual 90210 melodrama results – mainly related to a suicidal Valerie – but the episode still works pretty well, as it “feels like 90210” in a pleasing manner.
SEASON EIGHT:
Aloha Beverly Hills: “Living together begins to take its toll on Kelly and Brandon's relationship.”
With all forms of schooling now formally behind the characters, “Aloha” launches the characters into adulthood – just in time for Ian Ziering to turn 33!
Snarky comments about too-old actors aside, I appreciate that “Aloha” offers a quick voice-over recap of events that took place since the S7 finale. Usually the season opener dollops out these details in clunky fashion. Granted, Priestley’s narration doesn’t seem like the smoothest overview, but it beats prior summaries.
As for the rest of “Aloha”, the highlight comes from an appearance by Hilary Swank as a young mom who Steve meets – a very young mom, as Swank was only 23 at the time, though still old enough to have a small child, if barely. Swank’s performance doesn’t demonstrate the skills that would win her two Oscars, but it’s fun to see her, even if her character and Steve follow a trite story line.
One that essentially evaporates during this double-length episode’s second half, as the trip to Hawaii makes Part 2 pretty different than Part 1. The latter feels more story-focused, whereas the former basically exists to show some tropical settings.
All of this makes “Aloha” a disjointed and kind of odd launch to S8. Most of this seems innocuous, though a major twist at the end seems likely to prompt eye-rolling.
The Wedding: “In the week before Kelly and Brandon's wedding, they get all kinds of conflicting emotions about heading toward the altar.”
“Aloha” concluded with Kelly shot by some car thieves. I guess she survived!
Not that anyone would’ve suspected otherwise, of course. I don’t know what I missed between “Aloha” and “Wedding”, but the events of this episode make me believe I skipped a lot of soapy melodrama.
I learned that Valerie and David dated, and then Valerie screwed a heroin addict and fears she has AIDS. Donna dated Hawaiian hunk Noah (Vincent Young) who she met on the island.
Since Swank appeared on a bunch of episodes, I assume she and Steve dated, but now he’s with Sarah (Brandi Andres), a married woman. All of that sounds pretty cheesy, to be honest.
Of course, “cheesy” has always been a component of 90210, so that shouldn’t come as a surprise. At its best, though, the series brought a charming flavor of cheese.
That doesn’t really seem to be the case with “Wedding”, as it leans toward the silly side of the street. For such a momentous event, I’d hoped the series could do better than this goofy mess, especially given its lame cliffhanger.
SEASON NINE:
The Morning After: “Kelly and Brandon deal with the aftermath of their decision to not marry that becomes increasingly strained for both of them.”
Whereas most season premieres offer events months after the prior year’s finale, “After” literally follows “Wedding” the next day. That gives it an unusual twist.
Beyond that, “After” seems pretty sappy. We get a lot of moping from Brandon and Kelly along with some other character plot points that seem less than compelling. “After” becomes a lackluster launch to S9, and the “big revelation” at the end takes the show into even more absurd territory.
That’s the Guy: “A paranoid Kelly begins carrying a gun given to her by Dylan.”
Luke Perry waved goodbye to 90210 with S6, but he became a “guest star” during S9 and S10, so that marks a nice return, especially since Priestley left the show before S9’s conclusion. Beyond that welcome comeback, “Guy” implies a season that went down the over the top tone seen in “After”.
Given the fact I only watch the first and last episodes of each season, I find myself confronted with lots of unfamiliar characters and situations. None of these offer much intrigue, so I don’t feel like I missed much. “Guy” limps toward the final season.
SEASON TEN:
The Phantom Menace: “In the aftermath of Kelly killing her rapist, she is arrested by the police who believe her self-defense story but they do want to prosecute her for the gun she used after a check on it reveals it to have been stolen.”
As with S9, S10 picks up precisely where the prior year concluded. This leads toward even more melodrama and a launch to the season that makes me less than optimistic 90210 will go out on top.
Penultimate/Ode to Joy: “David (Brian Austin Green) and Donna (Tori Spelling) announce their engagement in which all of their friends rush to give them the perfect wedding.”
After 10 seasons and nearly 300 episodes, 90210 comes to an end. To mark the occasion, a few departed castmembers return – though still no Shannen Doherty, as I guess those wounds hadn’t healed yet.
This accentuates one of the issues the series encountered in its final few seasons: it strayed too far from the core characters. Sure, we still got a lot of Donna, David, Kelly, Steve and eventually Dylan, but we also found lots of newer roles, and these never clicked.
As such, what should act as a big send-off to the series, the finale feels spotty and sappy. Honestly, a better finish would’ve married Dylan and Kelly, as David and Donna feel anti-climactic.
The dual episode also feels padded, as we spend way too much time on wedding basics. I guess the producers thought fans would revel in ceremonial elements, and perhaps they did, but this creates a boring series of events.
It’s tough to finish a 10-year series on a totally satisfying note, and 90210 doesn’t flop in that regard, as we’ve certainly seen worse finales from other shows. Nonetheless, this feels like a blah conclusion.
BH90210:
Not found in this package, a series called 90210 launched in 2008, ran for five seasons and lasted more than 100 episodes. It maintained some connections to the original show with occasional glimpses of those characters/actors, but it appears to have mostly existed as its own entity.
With 2019’s BH90210, we find the core original cast minus Luke Perry. He couldn’t participate due to prior commitments and then died about five months before the first episode ran.
Did Perry’s unfortunate demise cast a pall over the series? Would it have gotten more viewers and remained on the air longer than six shows without that sad event?
I don’t know. It seems possible that the basic concept alienated viewers, as BH90210 offered a “meta” take on the 1990s series’ universe.
Rather than follow Brenda, Brandon, and the rest, BH90210 asks the actors to play themselves. We follow them as they reunite and consider the possibility that they’ll appear in a 90210 reboot.
That offers a clever notion and BH90210 occasionally rises to life as a snarky look at nostalgia, stardom, Hollywood and the original series. However, the show doesn’t ever get its footing, as it can’t decide which tone to adopt.
Sure, we get a fair amount of self-mockery here, but these elements tend to feel tame, and most aim at the actors themselves, not the original series. Whereas 90210 offers ample room for lampooning, BH90210 clearly worries that it’ll alienate those old fans, so any barbs we see aimed at the 90s programs feel muted at best.
The same goes for the laughs that revolve around the actors, and that actually feels like the more disappointing choice. Rather than go whole hog, the series teases us with self-parody and tends to go down a subdued path.
That’s because BH90210 never decides if wants to offer a comedic mockumentary or a show that reflects the original series. Much of BH90210 plays matters surprisingly straight and attempts to remind us of the 1990s’ show in terms of tone and soap opera drama.
Unlike peanut butter and chocolate, these two don’t combine in a satisfying manner. The campy mockery and the sincere melodrama don’t mesh, and they create an awkward end product.
Even at a mere six episodes, BH90210 wears out its welcome. The stabs at drama and character development never fly, and the comedic side lacks the juice to sustain itself.
Ideally, BH90210 would’ve simply consisted of a 90-minute movie that focused on comedy, as there’s enough good material here for a shorter program. Stretched to six episodes, though, it becomes a drag eventually.
Even given my ambivalence toward the original series, I do enjoy our glimpses of the original cast together. Of course, it’s a shame that Luke Perry didn’t appear, and BH90210 manages tasteful nods toward his death, but it’s still a kick to get the rest of the actors back in the saddle.
It’s also possible BH90210 would’ve become more satisfying in a second season, though I suspect it would’ve been more of the same. Still, perhaps additional cameos would’ve occurred and the series would’ve found its footing.
As it stands, BH90210 offers a moderately fun reunion but not one that really satisfies. It feels like unfulfilled potential.
