SPOILER ALERT: 90210 REVIEW
nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh. nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh. chh chh.
We've done it! We've had our 9/02 viewing party and the premiere didn't disappoint (well, yeah it did), in it's 2 hour long glory.
Ian made his promised peach pie, mega burgers and milkshakes in nat's honor (see pics) and we all gasped together at our first, disturbing sightings of Kelly and Brenda's mangled faces. We thought it best to review the episode collectively... so without further ado... I'll pass this laptop around the room for shonde reactions in real-time.
Louisa: My favorite moment was when Kelly and Brenda talked about catching up, but OH MY GOD did I miss something? What is up with Kelly's baby? Is Brandon the dad? HELP?
Temim: I spent a good deal of the episode wracking my brain to try to figure out which Kelly relationship involved the weird craggy principal guy back when they were in high school. Who WAS he?? The weird violating cowboy man? Grant Show's less-attractive twin?? Also: my heart quite literally stopped when those fateful words were uttered: "Hi, I'm Hannah Zuckerman Vasquez."
Eli: OMG Hannah *killed* me! But then of course she never recurred... anyway we spent a good part of the episode trying to find ways to create obviously much-needed near death trauma experiences for Annie. What happened to Brenda's face?
Louisa: I think what happened to their faces is the question on everyone's mind. Brenda is hard to look at. Kelly is too, but in a more successful sort of way. And no, Temim, I don't think he's supposed to be the cowboy-rapist! In terms of key consistency/inconsistency issues --on the plus side, no old characters are recurring with DIFFERENT ACTORS. That would be heinous. But I do think that the glaring absence of central characters who didn't want to appear is problematic. At least MENTION the whole original gang - come on! Like, Brandon was discussed, but not Donna?? Jeesus... On another topic, I can't say I'm surprised to see that one consistency they've wholly MAINTAINED is the lack of character development for the one or two POC characters. SPOILER ALERT: WE just confirmed the paternity of Kelly's baby online.... holy shit!!! Bring back Dylan! This totally makes the series finale more gratifying!
Ian: I don't know how many episodes of this i'm gonna make it through. So far, besides the characters from the original series, it doesn't have much going for it. Is this what they said when Star Trek the Next Generation premiered? Cos that ruled and was way better than the original series (begin Trekker flame war here...). Ugh, this show looks a lot like The OC.
Louisa: God you are such a fucking DOWNER, Brannigan!
Eli: No it's totally true. Next Generation totally ruled and I'm pretty certain this isn't going that way. Highlight- Dad/Principal says "I mean, I don't know what to do about my adopted baby out there. I mean what if DIXON'S parents came back? I wouldn't want them anywhere *near* us... because they're BLACK!"
Temim: Well, you guys, to be fair. Some really great things happened to build on the original. For one thing, "Brinda" has now finally come into her own as "Brenda." And the guest star possibilities! Brother David might come by to consult on Erin's next "blogisode!" Jesse might come storming in to provide legal support to the nameless identical Gossip Girl Lite cast members as they pull the next generation 'Donna Martin Graduates' when Dixon is permanently disallowed to play Lacrosse! But I have to say, the Annie parts were really hard to make it through. Also, the real heartbreak?? What in tarnation has happened to the original peach pit?! It's not even a shell of its former self? And poor Nat, his only line being about the "confounded newfangled espresso machine," as though he's been waiting behind the dusty peach pit counter since 1993 just to say that line. Once again, my heart stopped, but in the bad way. Also, how many episodes until the requisite Christmas episode with the requisite homeless slash Vietnam vet Santa with the mysterious twinkle in his eye??
Louisa: oh good lord. Maybe it's better for the world if this show fails....? Seriously the 'improvement' re: race politics consists of adding a poc cast member -- ONE PERSON OF COLOR in the gang. You know? There are actually ( a few ) shows these days with semi-believable multiracial casts... 90210 is clearly not on board...
In any event... friends and fans - we welcome your opinions on the new 90210. It was mainly enjoyable in the scream/shock/horror-inducing sort of way, but the jury is definitely out on loyal viewership. For my own sake, I fear the Star Wars prequel phenomenon. That I will be sucked in for a joyless-ride, perking up only slightly at each reference to characters from the original 3 movies (or "have you talked to Brandon lately?")... Looking back on star wars - it wasn't worth it! But i had no choice. Not seeing them? THAT"S IMPOSSIBLE>>>>>>>>>
this collective post has degenerated......
We've done it! We've had our 9/02 viewing party and the premiere didn't disappoint (well, yeah it did), in it's 2 hour long glory.
Ian made his promised peach pie, mega burgers and milkshakes in nat's honor (see pics) and we all gasped together at our first, disturbing sightings of Kelly and Brenda's mangled faces. We thought it best to review the episode collectively... so without further ado... I'll pass this laptop around the room for shonde reactions in real-time.
Louisa: My favorite moment was when Kelly and Brenda talked about catching up, but OH MY GOD did I miss something? What is up with Kelly's baby? Is Brandon the dad? HELP?
Temim: I spent a good deal of the episode wracking my brain to try to figure out which Kelly relationship involved the weird craggy principal guy back when they were in high school. Who WAS he?? The weird violating cowboy man? Grant Show's less-attractive twin?? Also: my heart quite literally stopped when those fateful words were uttered: "Hi, I'm Hannah Zuckerman Vasquez."
Eli: OMG Hannah *killed* me! But then of course she never recurred... anyway we spent a good part of the episode trying to find ways to create obviously much-needed near death trauma experiences for Annie. What happened to Brenda's face?
Louisa: I think what happened to their faces is the question on everyone's mind. Brenda is hard to look at. Kelly is too, but in a more successful sort of way. And no, Temim, I don't think he's supposed to be the cowboy-rapist! In terms of key consistency/inconsistency issues --on the plus side, no old characters are recurring with DIFFERENT ACTORS. That would be heinous. But I do think that the glaring absence of central characters who didn't want to appear is problematic. At least MENTION the whole original gang - come on! Like, Brandon was discussed, but not Donna?? Jeesus... On another topic, I can't say I'm surprised to see that one consistency they've wholly MAINTAINED is the lack of character development for the one or two POC characters. SPOILER ALERT: WE just confirmed the paternity of Kelly's baby online.... holy shit!!! Bring back Dylan! This totally makes the series finale more gratifying!
Ian: I don't know how many episodes of this i'm gonna make it through. So far, besides the characters from the original series, it doesn't have much going for it. Is this what they said when Star Trek the Next Generation premiered? Cos that ruled and was way better than the original series (begin Trekker flame war here...). Ugh, this show looks a lot like The OC.
Louisa: God you are such a fucking DOWNER, Brannigan!
Eli: No it's totally true. Next Generation totally ruled and I'm pretty certain this isn't going that way. Highlight- Dad/Principal says "I mean, I don't know what to do about my adopted baby out there. I mean what if DIXON'S parents came back? I wouldn't want them anywhere *near* us... because they're BLACK!"
Temim: Well, you guys, to be fair. Some really great things happened to build on the original. For one thing, "Brinda" has now finally come into her own as "Brenda." And the guest star possibilities! Brother David might come by to consult on Erin's next "blogisode!" Jesse might come storming in to provide legal support to the nameless identical Gossip Girl Lite cast members as they pull the next generation 'Donna Martin Graduates' when Dixon is permanently disallowed to play Lacrosse! But I have to say, the Annie parts were really hard to make it through. Also, the real heartbreak?? What in tarnation has happened to the original peach pit?! It's not even a shell of its former self? And poor Nat, his only line being about the "confounded newfangled espresso machine," as though he's been waiting behind the dusty peach pit counter since 1993 just to say that line. Once again, my heart stopped, but in the bad way. Also, how many episodes until the requisite Christmas episode with the requisite homeless slash Vietnam vet Santa with the mysterious twinkle in his eye??
Louisa: oh good lord. Maybe it's better for the world if this show fails....? Seriously the 'improvement' re: race politics consists of adding a poc cast member -- ONE PERSON OF COLOR in the gang. You know? There are actually ( a few ) shows these days with semi-believable multiracial casts... 90210 is clearly not on board...
In any event... friends and fans - we welcome your opinions on the new 90210. It was mainly enjoyable in the scream/shock/horror-inducing sort of way, but the jury is definitely out on loyal viewership. For my own sake, I fear the Star Wars prequel phenomenon. That I will be sucked in for a joyless-ride, perking up only slightly at each reference to characters from the original 3 movies (or "have you talked to Brandon lately?")... Looking back on star wars - it wasn't worth it! But i had no choice. Not seeing them? THAT"S IMPOSSIBLE>>>>>>>>>
this collective post has degenerated......
posted by The Shondes at 10:08 PM
8 Comments:
i haven't yet seen it, but i'm not sure whether to say that's fortunate or unfortunate. i think my favorite editorial comment that temim made was "gossip girl lite". while it relieves me that the new characters aren't re-hashes of old characters and that some original cast members are involved, it doesn't surprise me that there is now only a token person of color. b/c it's, like, beverly hills, right? aye, scary. i don't see loyal viewership of original fans in this show's future, but what does scare me is loyal viewership of this show in general... eesh. hope tour is treating ya'll well! xo
Just found your hilarious blog.
Aside from Jar Jar Binks, the Star Wars prequels were awesome, especially the third one.
The Lexington show tonight will rock.
OK. Through the majick of teh interweb I HAVE SEEN IT. ALL of it. and...
1-I personally find Kelly way harder to look at than Brinda. Brinda was always hard to look at, and her new face is kind of what I'd expect (shawn comments: "well, we know she's still doing her own make up") Kelly on the other hand looks like skeletor with cheek implants and a nose job where I can't figure out what they did to it, just that it looks different.
2-also, the real heartbreak?? What in tarnation has happened to the original peach pit?! It's not even a shell of its former self?
TRUE! Come on, there are still diners in LA. Nat did yell for Willie, though, so we know he kept his job through the transition. Also awkward: Brinda and Nat's enthusiastic but REALLY BRIEF greeting. MORE NAT LESS INTERCHANAGABLE KIDS.
3-wtf is up with Silver's blog???? And as Shawn pointed out, why does everybody assume that everything she says on it is true, besides that it advances the plot? Is there going to be a webisode every time? I mean, Silver is obvs my fave of the kids (other than Hannah...where'd she go?? What brough A & J back to BH? I wanna know!) but I don't know if i can take any more puppet theater. Also, isn't this theme just a bite of Gossip Girl's entire premise, minus the anonymity?
4-I didn't hate Annie as much as you all. Overall the girls are more entertaining than the guys, who I mostly cannot tell apart, esp on the tiny low-res window I was watching this on. Ethan is no Dylan McKay, wet suit or no.
5-I don't think the teacher KElly went to HS with is supposed to be anyone who we actually saw on the original series.
6-When Brinda offered to watch Sammy while Kelly dates, was that foreshadowing that she's going to kill him? She said it really menacingly. Also: they did not have "old friend" chemistry. And Shannon still cannot act.
7-the Star Wars analogy is apt. Shawn says he may be done after the 2 hour premiere but how am I supposed to know that (some of) the characters live on, their stories continue, and I'm not watching??? However much total shit I have to wade through to hear a passing reference to Donna's successful designing career? And why is Brandon in Belize?
Right, exactly! We'll be watching this shit for a long time, no matter what we think of it. And D, Jar Jar is not the only bad thing about the prequels!!! IMHO. But also, to be optimistic, check it out. It takes some serious time to develop investment in shows like this. We gotta give it 6 eps before making the call.
I will SPAM you:
Shameful Promotion:
Top 5 songs *missing* from the DVDs of Beverly Hills, 90210 by ME.
OK, #3, Silver's blog...what is up with it as in like is it like early representations of "virtual reality"? how is she like tappity-tap oh now it's a puppet show with the people I want to make feel like shit?! WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH IT LIKE LITERALLY?!
-claire
totally true, claire. tappity tap i have really sophisticated/instantaneous animation softward/skills. It ruled.
obviously too late to the party, but: Angel's mansion?
hope to catch you in St. Louis tomorrow!
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