90210: Another One Bites the (angel) Dust

This week’s edition of 90210, entitled “Hollywood Forever,” advances a few storylines that were introduced in earlier episodes, including Harry’s illegitimate son he conceived with Naomi’s mother Tracy back when they were a couple in high school.  She wants to hire a detective to find the boy, and wants Harry to be a part of the child’s life.  She then proceeds to make a pass at Harry, which he fortunately rejects.  We don’t need to make this show any more like a soap opera than it already is, and I’m glad the writers didn’t add another unnecessary wrinkle to the myriad of existing storylines.  Plus Harry and Debbie seem to have a good thing going.  They have decided not to tell their children Dixon and Annie about Harry’s kid for the time being, but we can anticipate that it will all be revealed later.  Wouldn’t it be gross if the kid was someone they already knew, like Ethan?  Yuck!  Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, since it’s only a matter of time before he and Annie hook up.

While the long-lost son is an interesting storyline, the main plot of Tuesday’s episode involved a big drug bust at West Beverly.  Adrianna is a cokehead and a certified basket-case, if you will recall.  Apparently she and Naomi are also best buddies (news to me), and after a failed intervention Naomi agrees to take Adrianna’s coke and dump it before the cops discover it.  She ends up getting busted, and wants Adrianna to ‘fess up.  Adrianna reluctantly agrees to do so, promising to arrive at Naomi’s lawyer’s office and admit that the coke belonged to her.

I feel sorry for her character because she is under immense pressure from her mother, who is relying on Adrianna’s fledgling acting career to pay the bills.  Imagine placing that pressure on a teenager.  The actress who portrays Adrianna, Jessica Lowndes, ably conveys the desperation and sadness the role requires.  Her eyes are bloodshot, her nose is raw, and she looks like a walking zombie.  This is the “darker” element of the show and it lies in stark contrast with the sunny L.A. backdrop.  You could see it coming a mile away, and as I predicted last week – by the end of the episode Adrianna has overdosed.  As we see paramedics attempting to revive her, Naomi leaves a nasty, frustrated voicemail berating Adrianna for leaving her high and dry at the lawyer’s office.  “You’re dead to me,” she says.  This was a powerful scene and Naomi’s words were eerily prophetic.

In other news, Ethan and Annie grow closer through a class project where they must raise a baby (a doll) as husband and wife.  Has anyone ever had to do this assignment in real life?  This only seems to happen in Home Ec classes on TV.  Anyway, they are just a step away from hooking up, it’s fairly obvious.  Like I said before, I hope he doesn’t end up being her half-brother!

This was a good episode, as the show pushed the envelope with its depiction of drug use and with its character development.  I saw a softer side of Naomi, as she was willing to ruin the rest of her life to take the “rap” for Adrianna.  Not perfect, but a decent enough episode with major plot developments.

Season 1, Episode 7: Hollywood Forever (originally aired October 7, 2008)

Tuesdays, 8/7C, The CW

Photograph courtesy of The CW