90210

90210

Episode 16: Life's a Beach

By: Carlos Uribe

90210 is a show about wealthy kids who do business and go to college in the zip. Or something.

Spoilers Ahoy!

Liam has not had a good track record mixing pleasure with business. He's going to start a new business where he's going to create surf boards because Dixon proclaimed he would buy it if he had the money. What's his genius plan? He's going to design surf boards specifically for women. He believes that he'll be able to do what he loves while meeting hot girls. The very premise of mixing pleasure with business is built into the vision for his company. The characters don't seem to realize this so they don't forsee him sleeping with a potential investor. He does indeed sleep with a female surfer who is not only interested in investing in his business but is his first customer. It should come as no surprise that the two were going to hook up since the direction and writing basically screamed it as soon as her character was introduced. It helps that the two have an intense sexual chemistry. Liam regrets sleeping with her because he's worried about how this will complicate their professional relationship. This regret turns into remorse when he finds out that she's actually married. He is able to get over his problems with Mark tells him that relationships are meant to be complicated so he decides to accept her money and sleeps with her. The plot is basically the current show in a nutshell: business and pleasure are constantly being mixed because the writers struggle to juggle the lives of each character. It's easier to develop both their romance life and professional life if they're going to be one and the same. The world of 90210 isn't a very large one because his investor has a step-son. Who is this step-son? The head of the Cronus society.

The show is able to reunite the Navid and Liam plot. There was a time where Navid basically served as a way for Liam to set up an underground fight. Navid had basically acted as a supporting player as his plot was in service of Liam. Now it looks like Liam is there to return the favor as he overhears the head of the Cronus brother reveal his dastardly plan of framing Navid for all the cheating. This basically makes Liam a supporting player in Navid's current war with the Cronus society. A war that escalates when Navid is able to secure himself a marketing position that the head of the Cronus society swore he wouldn't be able to get. I wish to say that this was interesting but it really isn't. Navid is such a dull character that it's hard to really find any enjoyment in this plot. It also seems like it's sort of repeating Naomi's plot with Holly from last season. The only difference is that Naomi was able to make that plot entertaining whereas Navid remains as dull as waiting in line at the DMV. To state that I could care less about this plot would be an understatement. So how did he get the marketing job? He was able to take over marketing Liam's surf board company and use the big surfingevent to promote the company. He got Adrianna to be their celebrity spokesperson. It helped that the teenage daughter of the person he was trying to impress couldn't tear herself away from their product. Navid's marketing strategy, which seemed to be covering the basics, impressed the guy but he made it perfectly clear that it all depended on Navid's grades. Which wouldn't be a problem except the head of the Cronus society is setting him up for cheating.

The big surfing event provides a perfect place for Silver to apologize to Dixon. Silver, Dixon, and Michaela started to film their music video when the three learned that they needed to inseminate Michaela immediately. This stopped the production of the video before it was done. Dixon had decided that this video was his chance so he had spent all of his money on the whole production. Silver's baby basically ruined Dixon's one chance to set Michaela up before she got pregnant. Dixon might claim that he isn't angry at Silver for getting in the way of his dream but he clearly resents her for it. Silver makes it up to him by using the surfing event to set up a flash mob and finish the music video at a concert she sets up. This might be enough to keep his label going until after the pregnancy. Michaela not only gets pregnant but Dixon is able to have his dream as well. The plot had a nice happy ending but it's doubtful that Silver's baby is done creating conflict. Here's hoping that the show is able to move on for the two of them as Silver's whole baby thing has gone on too long while I'm rapidly losing interest in Dixon's music label. The only real strong point in this plot was when Dixon thinks he has lost everything and he basically admits he can't even be angry at Silver for this because sometimes people just lose out. She might have been able to make it up to him but that whole scene felt real.

The surf event as served as the perfect place for Naomi and Annie to have the big climax to a big fight they have this week. What is this fight over? Mark. Annie offers Mark the chance to try out for a chef's job in a world-famous restaurant. The problem? It's all the way in New York City and Naomi wants to connect with him. She wants him to stay in Los Angeles and decides that the best way to accomplish this goal is to give Mark reason to stay. Since Adrianna was crushing on Mark at the beginning of the episode, Naomi decided that she would push for the two of them together. Annie isn't happy that Naomi is trying to hold back Mark for her own selfish desires. The two have a big fight that supposedly threatens their friendship but it really doesn't go anywhere. The two make nice again when Adrianna walks in on them trashing her in front of Mark. They quickly realize that they are as close as sisters and put this behind them. They manage to fix any damage they did with Adrianna by taking her to Maui and allowing her to have a dog. As for Mark? He decides to stay because he realizes he was pursuing the job in New York City because he was afraid the restaurant was going to fail. He didn't want to let Naomi down because he's not used on having people having expectations from him. Isn't he supposed to have parents? I thought he was happy with the family he did have but the way the writers are explaining his motives seem to undermine this. It's basically the highlight of the episode as the two females fighting proved to be very entertaining.

Life's a Beach has it's moments: Naomi and Annie. Liam's story basically goes where you expect this show to go before turning him into a supporting player for Navid's plot. The problem is that Navid's plot is boring. Silver and Dixon face issues of trying to make both of their dreams come true but they're able to get what they want. It's okay but I'm sort of burnt out on baby drama and music label business at this point. It's an episode that was barely entertaining and manages to equal the quality of other episodes this season.