Just before Annie went into surgery — she was actually awake and fine, so I’m not sure what surgery she was even having — she told Liam (Matt Lanter) he’d be better off if he’d never met her, which obviously meant she was destined/doomed to dream about an alternate universe in which she’d stayed back home in Kansas.
It’s A Not-So-Wonderful Life
At first, things seemed pretty OK. I mean, who in their right mind would complain about waking up engaged to the perfect human specimen known as Chris Zylka? But as soon as she found out she was estranged from now-famous rapper Dixon (Tristan Wilds), Annie was on the first flight to California to set things right.
Upon arriving in Bizarro Beverly Hills, Annie found her friends to basically be exaggerated versions of their season-one selves: Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes) was a fame-whoring boozehound, Silver (Jessica Stroup) was a bitchy gossip blogger and Liam was a law-breaking badass with Ty (Adam Gregory) as his beautiful sidekick.
Annie’s absence in this universe apparently prevented Ade from losing her part in Spring Awakening, thus allowing her to be discovered, and keeping her from getting pregnant and dating Navid (Michael Steger). Some might say Ade would have been better off in this universe, but whatever.
Oh, Teddy (Trevor Donovan) was also “straight” in Annie’s alternate reality, but it seemed like Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) was the only person incapable of seeing past his facade — so, naturally, she agreed to become his beard!
After an evening of life-ruining — Annie somehow caused Dixon to lose his street cred, Liam to get arrested, Silver to re-think her entire life, and Naomi to shack up with big gay Teddy — she called everyone together to drop some straight-up truth bombs. My favorite line of Annie’s was definitely to Silver: “If somebody had been around to reach out to you, then maybe you wouldn’t have stayed such a colossal bitch.”
(Side note: If every one of Annie’s dreams includes a subtle Secret Circle reunion — Chris and Jessica Parker Kennedy were both present and accounted for — then I say, “Keep dreaming!”)
Back To ‘Reality,’ Which Also Sucks
In true Wizard of Oz form, Annie awoke from her dream with inadvertent words of wisdom and encouragement for her dumb-ass friends — but in true 90210 form, nothing went as planned. Silver tried to take back the signature she forged, but Teddy found out and got pissed; Naomi tried to reconcile with Max (Josh Zuckerman), but he didn’t look too happy to see her; and Liam tried to move on from his recent tragedies, but ended up breaking some dude’s headlight with his helmet.
I have to say, I really enjoyed all the call backs to previous characters and story lines in this episode. In fact, this entire season — from the West Bev reunion to the surprise return of Annie and Naomi’s moms — has felt like a gift to long-time fans, thanking us for our loyalty in good times and bad.
(Now if only Liam and Annie would get back together, our giftset would be complete!)
So, did you enjoy this week’s episode as much as I did? Do you think Annie and Liam will finally see they belong together? And how do you predict Naomi and Max’s little ‘reunion’ will go? Drop a comment with your predictions, and your favorite part of Bizarro Beverly Hills.
— Andy Swift
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