Caffeinated Clint
By Clint Morris
By Season six of “Beverly Hills 90210†most of us had tuned out. I know I was close to switching channels. But what’s funny is, having rewatched the season for the sake of this review, I discovered it isn’t half as bad as I remember – in fact, watching Season six of the old “90210†is a lot easier than sitting through the first few episodes of the newly launched “90210†reboot!
Seems even when “90210†was off – it wasn’t that off, at least when compared to its rubbishy remake.
Where “Beverly Hills 90210†worked – where the shorter-titled remake didn’t – is in its writing. Yes, it’s preachy at times, but it had something to say. You could learn from this show. Watching it every week was just as beneficial as heading to a doctor’s surgery or counseling clinic and picking up a bunch of those free flyers. By the end of an episode you felt there was hope, or simply you’d realized someone else out there was going through what you’re going through. Or maybe Brenda taught you some nifty revenge tricks. Whatever the case, audiences seem to take more away from the show than just memories of cute faces and toe-tapping pop tunes.
Where Season 6, and the later seasons of the show, went wrong though was in killing off some of those ‘message’ episodes in favour of ramping up the melodrama and sex. I guess the show was attempting to be a little more like its successful spin-off “Melrose Place†– which is understandable, that was rating it’s ass off at the time! – but the thing is, you can’t change a show that radically six seasons in and expect dedicated viewers to accept what’s new without feeling a little uncomfortable about the whole thing. Those that enjoyed “90210†enjoyed it for its realism – or touch of – not because they wanted to see Jennie Garth work her way through all the male characters on the show. At least, I don’t think they did.
Season six will probably be best remembered as the season that Tiffani Amber-Thiessen (ex-“Saved by the Bell†hottie) arrived on the scene as Brandon and (Shannen Doherty had left by now) Brenda’s cousin. And this character was partly responsible for the show’s change of tune – used to merely get the male viewers hot-under-the-collar as she bedded the best known characters of the zip code. That became very tired… and rather quickly. She just didn’t seem to fit.
The season begins with Kelly returning from New York after modeling all summer and bringing back her cokehead artist boyfriend Colin. Later that season Donna finally dumps her abusive boyfriend Ray (Jamie Walters) and Dylan falls in love with the daughter of the man who murdered his father – which ends tragically.
Its Dylan’s storyline, the one where he falls for a the gangster’s daughter (Rebecca Gayheart), that’s the most compelling of the season – but again, it’s a plotline that seems a little left-of-field for “90210â€.
Extras
Pretty much an extras-free affair, but the box-set does have some perty pictures of Dylan’s newly-cropped mop!? That’s a bonus, right?
