Andy's '90210' Afterthoughts: Teddy's Homophobic Bullying Storyline Finally Makes This Show (Freakishly) Relevant!
Teddy calls another student the F-word and then attacks him in the hallway. I feel like I’m watching the news.
It took 90210 three seasons, but it’s finally beginning to achieve the relevance of the original Beverly Hills, 90210 — still relying on the gimmicks (car crashes, pill problems, etc.) but also having something to say about the world around it. The Oct. 4 episode launched us head-first into Teddy’s (Trevor Donovan) coming out storyline — just like Jessica Lowndes foretold in our exclusive interview — and it’s actually kind of intense. My one question, though: Considering all the possible dramatic ways Teddy and Ian’s story could have played out, did it have to involve them fighting over the choreography of an all-male group striptease?
Seriously, though, 90210 has found itself in an interesting little situation. There have been so many reports of homophobia, bullying and suicide in the news — and this episode inadvertently mirrors them all. Given the circumstances, I really think a lot more people will be keeping an eye on this show now than The CW ever imagined, and a ton of them are really going to identify with it. I’m not sure there’s ever been a storyline on the show that’s managed to do that so far.
And here are more of my important thoughts worth sharing with you:
- Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) makes way too many Twilight reference. Tonight, after seeing herself in the mirror with a pale face, she shrieked, “I look like a Cullen!” And in the season premiere, she blabbed about some ridiculous hook-up with Robert Pattinson. I know she’s dating Kellan Lutz, but come on now.
- Sasha (Mekia Cox) is back… and when she walked in and bid on Dixon (Tristan Wilds) at the high school bachelor auction, I was expecting someone to pull a Mean Girls: “She doesn’t even go here!” But then she dropped the bomb on Dixon that she’s HIV+ and he needs to get tested for it, too. Intense.
- Why would teachers left these kids perform a striptease on school grounds, even for charity? Mr. Matthews (Ryan Eggold) looked like the neighborhood pedophile watching those boys slip off their fireman jackets.
- Also, let my point of view be known — I’m not seeing Liam (Matt Lanter) and Charlie (Evan Ross) as brothers and I’m trying really hard. It’s not even a genetics or race issue, it just seems so ridiculous.
- And finally, someone please explain the inner workings of the human body to me: If Annie (Shenae Grimes) sells her eggs to her boss, does that just mean she’ll have a half-Wilson out there somewhere? That doesn’t seem like that big a deal, considering all the other story lines now.
- This storyline is a clear case of “Degrassi did it first, but 90210 did it better.” Kind of like the sexting.