‘90210’: Jen gets hers, Navid and Ade wake up and reconciliation runs rampant

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After taking the week off, this week’s ‘90210’ was a game changer! Even though I enjoyed seeing Jen get her just deserts, there were a lot of writing problems in this episode. I’ll mention them as I review this week’s biggest clashes.

The Surf Team vs. Jen
After giving us weeks to think of ways for the Surf Team to foil Jen, I have to say they kept me guessing as they went all ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ on the older Clark. After overhearing Jen (Sara Foster) talking about her horse’s race with Ryan (Ryan Eggold), Ivy (Gillian Zinser) began hatching the plan.

At the race, Jen overhears the team talking about restoring the recording of her confession on Liam’s phone (Writing fault No.1: There was no reason to create a side story about restoring the message for Jen’s sake. She had no idea it existed in the first place. All the writers had to do was mention that a recording existed). Meanwhile, Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) receives present after expensive present from a secret admirer. Afterward, the guy who had been delivering the presents leads Naomi to a private room to finally meet her benefactor. Outside the room, Liam (Matt Lanter), who strategically led Jen to that spot, goads her into confessing the whole sorry prom night debacle. Naomi can’t believe what she’s hearing, bursts out of the room and tells Jen that she never wants to see her again. Maybe the only downer in that situation was the Surf Team handing out high fives as Naomi bawls her eyes out. Nice, people. Really sensitive.

As Jen does her walk of shame, she runs into Ryan. He informs her that Dixon (Tristan Wilds) told him that she had slept with Naomi’s boyfriend, an unnamed high school kid. As he’s talking to her, the man that Jen bought the horse from approaches and congratulates her on purchasing a winning horse (Writing fault No. 2: How convenient that the guy walks up just then). Ryan, who hasn’t been showing his intelligence much recently, actually puts it all together and concludes that Jen bought the horse with Naomi’s money without her knowing and slept with Naomi’s boyfriend. For those reasons, he dumps her. Plus, she sucked at camping.
While I enjoyed the unveiling of the Surf Team’s plot and Jen’s downfall, there were a couple things that bugged me...

I consider them writing faults Nos. 3 and 4. Why did the writers allow Jen’s horse to win? It would have been much more enjoyable to have her walk away penniless. Instead, she pocketed a couple grand! Nice message to the viewers, writers! Cheat your sister and double your money. And then there’s one of my still-unanswered questions: What the heck was under Liam’s tarp? He began building it in his anger at Jen. Even if they find a way to wedge it into a future storyline, the payoff is forever lost for me.

On the upside, Annie (Shenae Grimes) has been cleared of all charges of Liam-stealing. Dixon has forgiven her and it looks like Naomi is next. I know I’ve taken some pleasure out of Annie’s misery. (It was nice for a while, wasn’t it?) But now that she has friends again, maybe she can lose creepy Jasper (Zachary Ray Sherman)! I can’t take anymore of their make-out sessions. Also, Naomi has forgiven Liam, but Ivy looks like she’s Naomi’s next problem.

Navid vs. Jasper
Last episode ended with Navid (Michael Steger) knocked out from his tumble down the stairs at Jasper’s hands. This week’s episode begins with Navid, who is in the hospital but has regained consciousness. Everyone is there, but he wonders, “Where’s Ade?” Good question.

We then find Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes) in her bedroom just as she’s waking up from a self-induced drug stupor. Via Naomi’s voice messages to Ade, we learn that she has been absent from school for days, has missed Jackie’s funeral and had no clue that Navid was in the hospital (Writing fault No. 5: Way to be expository, people. Jeez).

When Ade finally schleps herself to the hospital, Navid comes to his senses. He doesn’t forgive her and tells her to leave. Ade then goes to Silver (Jessica Stroup) to apologize for missing Jackie’s funeral. While Silver watches, Naomi basically berates Ade for not being dependable and also sends her away. Naomi was pretty harsh, I have to say. The good news is that all that rejection sends Ade flushing her drugs down the toilet and to an AA meeting. She later returns to Navid’s bedside (looking very hot) and apologizes once again. Looking at her new resolve, I think Ade is back. Judging from his googly eyes and her current hotness potential, I think Navid will come around too.

Jasper is even more weaselly this week than usual because he’s freaking out over being found out for sending Navid down those stairs. He drills both Annie and Ade for information but gets nothing. In addition, Annie continues to see him despite her parents’ ban on the grease monkey and gets caught mid-PDA with Jasper by her dad. Even though she’s grounded, she finds ways to see him. (Writing fault No. 6: Hasn’t he spent entire evenings with Annie in her bedroom without ever getting detected by her parents? I see no reason for all the plotting for time together when they can hang and do the nasty right under her parents’ noses.)

Silver lining: The episode ends with Navid having a memory of seeing dirty boots before his fall. Of course, dirty boots means Jasper. Let’s get the Surf Team on this one!

‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ vs. ‘90210’
We didn’t get to see Jackie’s funeral. Did anyone else feel robbed? I felt like this was the biggest writing fault this week. Instead of getting to see the funeral and properly saying goodbye to Jackie, we hear about it in conversation (or worse -- via voice mail). This season, I felt that the writers underestimated the original series’ fans’ memories. Constantly, they have pointed out inconsistencies in the way Jackie was portrayed in the new series as compared with the Jackie they knew. It seemed the ultimate easy way out was to try and bury her, then leave it behind. Even Silver seems to have grieved for a total of 10 minutes before they had her forgetting her own grief and comforting Teddy (Trevor Donovan) and Naomi. It’s in Silver’s nature to be motherly, but still? I was totally dumbfounded by the way Jackie’s death was swept under the carpet. And if I am, then I’m sure some of you are too.

– Jethro Nededog (follow me on Twitter @TheRealJethro)

Related:
Behind ‘90210’s’ SoCal style: Costume designer Frank Helmer reveals the secrets of his trade
‘90210’: Telling the truth is in, but Navid is out
Complete Show Tracker coverage of ‘90210’
Top photo: Trevor Donovan as Teddy, Matt Lanter as Liam Court and Gillian Zinser as Ivy on “90210.” Bottom photo: AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi, Sara Foster as Jen and Ryan Eggold as Ryan Matthews on “90210.” Photo credits: Patrick Wymore / The CW