21st Century Brats: Five Old Plot Themes for the New '90120'

| Print Post This | Like (0) | Comments (0)

MAYBE IT'S JUST a symptom of our ADD-riddled times, but it feels like more transpired in the first episode of the new "90210" than happened in the entire first season of the original series "Beverly Hills, 90210."

Granted, the series debut was a double-episode, but it was more than doubly action-packed. Adrianna buys drugs! Ethan gets serviced in his car by a girl who's not his girlfriend! Annie gets whisked away in a private jet to San Francisco on a first date! Dixon makes the lacrosse team, then gets kicked off the team for fighting, then gets reinstated, then gets kicked off again for a prank pulled on the rival school, then gets reinstated (again) but suspended for a game!

It's enough to make your head spin, and we haven't even introduced the parental drama of the newly revealed illegitimate child between principal Harry Wilson (Rob Estes from "Melrose Place") and his ex from high school, who's the mother of rich-bitch Naomi (Ethan's girlfriend and therefore rival of Annie, daughter-of-Harry).

It's all very incestuous, which is the thing that original "Beverly Hills, 90210" lacked early on: parents Jim and Cindy Walsh were pretty much your typical suburban parents, and other than Jim's role as custodian of Dylan's trust fund, the two had few overt ties to the lives of their children.

The new "90210" contains many parallels to the original series' characters and plot lines. Naomi is essentially the new Dylan, complete with trust fund and penchant for living in a hotel. Silver pulls a major Emily Valentine with her manic episodes. Annie bears obvious similarities to Brenda, with her interest in theater and her tug-of-war with Naomi over a boy. As for plot lines, they've recycled everything from teen pregnancy to drag-racing.

While you catch up on the details of Season 1 of "90210" (the DVD set comes out Aug. 11), here are five plot themes from the original "Beverly Hills 90210" which have yet to be recycled on the new series:

1. Eating Disorders
All the female stars of "90210" look emaciated, so it'd be an easy jump to tie an eating disorder plot line. There were several in the original series, from Kelly's addiction to diet pills in high school to Gina's overt bulimia toward the end of the show's run.

2. Gambling
In the original series, Brandon started betting on sports, which got him into some major trouble with a bookie. Bookies are kind of old-school now, but the new gang could cause some serious ruckus on a trip to Vegas. And there's the whole world of online gambling — a montage of Ethan clicking Texas Hold 'Em bets equals riveting TV.

3. Guns
Guns showed up all over the original series: Brenda is held at gunpoint when the Peach Pit is robbed; a kid at school accidentally shoots himself with his father's gun; Dylan buys a gun after he is carjacked; Kelly buys a gun after she is raped and ends up shooting her assailant. In other words, guns make for good drama.

4. AIDS
No one in the original cast actually got HIV, but Kelly did have a scare when she slept with a druggie, and she volunteered at an AIDS clinic where she tended to a patient (played by "Blossom's" Michael Stoyanov) who passed away. The kids in the new series are clearly having sex — wild, crazy, almost certainly unprotected sex. And since they've already covered the teen pregnancy angle, it may be time to throw a couple of STDs into the mix.

5. Music
There have been a few music guests on the new "90210" — and the music played during the show certainly came right off the Hot 99.5 playlist — but there has yet to be a David Silver character. Who knows if the school has a DJ booth the way it did back in the day, but David's discovery of his musical interests nicely showed his character's development, and a venue like the Peach Pit After Dark could let the series have regular music guests — not to mention Shakespearean lines of dialogue like Steve's reaction to The Flaming Lips: "It's not Michael Bolton!"

Given the density of drama in the new series, we fully expect all five of those to be crammed into the Season 2 premiere on Tue., Sept. 8.

And while we're at it, here's a plea:

Let's limit the trip-down-nostalgia-lane screen time of the original "Beverly Hills 90210" cast members. Kelly and Donna, it was great to catch up with where you are now, but we're really more interested in the goings-on of the manic younger generation.

Written by Express contributor Catherine Lewis
Photos courtesy Bender/Helper Impact