‘90210’: Adrianna goes down for the count
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...but hopefully not for good!
Last night’s episode ended with shots of the drugged out drama queen splayed on the floor, eyes unblinking, paramedics shoving a needle into her chest, accompanied by Naomi’s oh-so-ironic words: ‘You are dead to me!’
Let’s rewind. Naomi had taken the fall for her friend, snatching Adrianna’s lipstick locket of coke at the very moment the school was hit with a drug bust. (Yes, cops, drug-sniffing dogs, locker searches -- the works.) Talk about your bad timing, huh? So Naomi goes down expecting Daddy, a rich lawyer, to bail her out. Of course, he bursts that bubble and Naomi tells Adrianna to be a good friend and fess up. She did give Adrianna her lucky necklace earlier. And it did help her score that role in the horror movie. (Also a big help: Annie’s painful audition. Does Annie really have to stick with the whole aspiring actress thing? It doesn’t do Shenae Grimes any favors.) But Adrianna’s mama hits her with a little too many thanks -- thanks for landing a job that saved their house -- and boom! She’s back on the stuff, going into arrest and leaving Naomi no choice but to leave that ill-timed message.
That was the good part. Sure, I need to see Naomi do a lot more than get screwed over week after week -- crying isn’t her best look -- but that portion of last night’s episode proved that maybe, just maybe, the new ‘90210’ class can carry the show. And without resting on the old familiar faces. It was just the right amount of over-the-top craziness I’d expect from ‘Gossip Girl’s’ network neighbor. Make Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes) a regular already!
Also good: Tabitha. Even when she has to say lines like: ‘I want to swim naked. I like how it feels when the water glides off my ass.... I’m letting my freak flag fly and there’s nothing you can do about it.’
Less successful, however, was new ‘classmate’ Kim (Jessica Lucas)...
She’s from Las Vegas, wears a size 8 shoe, has three piercings and likes tacos. She’s unreasonably foul to Mr. Matthews, and clearly older than the other kids. That’s because she’s a cop! (Oy.) Could her drug investigations involve a messy romance with Mr. Matthews? I could possibly get behind that. He needs to get over Kelly. And speaking of Mr. Matthews, was it just me or was it weird to anyone else that Silver invited her teacher to her half-birthday party? He is dating her step-sister and all, but she’s not even in town.
His online date was very bad, very unfunny, very unnecessary. I’ll leave it at that.
Elsewhere, Naomi’s mom, Tracy, decided to go ahead and hire a PI to search for the son she had with Annie’s dad, Harry, who she still has a crush on after these many post-high school years. She kissed him. I’ll start caring when they that kid of hers arrives and really causes a ruckus.
That leaves Annie was Ethan, who, well ... there’s no reason to root for or against them, I suppose. But here’s what we know about them: She fell for a boy in the school musical, she’s wholesome, and, er, she’s Silver’s friend. He surfs, cheats and had to wait until his girlfriend ended their relationship instead of doing it himself. In other words, they both need more to do before I can weigh in.
What did everyone else think? Is Adrianna dead? Will Mr. Matthews fall for Kim while Kelly’s away? Can Annie and Ethan make us care about their mutual attraction?
-- Denise Martin