90210 Recap: Riley Dies — Season 5 Episode 12 – Hollywood Life

90210 Recap: An Unexpected Tragedy Leaves Annie Heartbroken

Just when I thought Annie actually had a shot at happiness, her relationship with Riley takes a fatal turn. Annie (Shenae Grimes) apparently awoke from her coma crazier than ever, because instead of confessing her love Liam (Matt Lanter) on the Feb. 4 episode of 90210 — color me crazy, but wasn't that the whole point of her dream?! — she actually decided she was in love with Riley (Riley Smith)! Seriously, did I miss something?

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90210 Riley Dies
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She rushed to the hospital, told him she loved him, and everything appeared to be sunshine and unicorns. But because this is Annie we’re talking about — her fairytale is more likely to end with a fiery boat explosion than a horse-drawn carriage — tragedy was lurking just around the corner.

Riley’s doctor called to tell Annie that, due to complications during his surgery, he passed away. I’m not entirely sure how Riley died — I’m no doctor, let’s be real — but my theory is that a disgruntled “Lannie” shipper snuck into the hospital, dressed like a sexy nurse, and messed with his IV drip.

Real talk, though: I was really sad to see Riley go. He was a fun actor, and had he not been introduced as a love interest for Annie, maybe he would have stood a fighting chance. Heaven got a beautiful new set of wheels tonight.

Naomi & Max Call It Quits — Again

Naomi’s (AnnaLynne McCord) relationship also came to an end this week, though her story wasn’t quite as tragic as Annie’s. Basically, Naomi’s marriage counselor told her and Max (Josh Zuckerman) to focus on themselves for a little while — like Naomi needs anyone to tell her to do that — and the end result wasn’t pretty.

While Naomi realized she wanted to move to Tokyo and become a princess — I don’t have the time or energy to explain that one — Max decided he wanted to move to enroll at MIT. But because Massachusetts is cold, and apparently full of pilgrims, Naomi told him she didn’t want to tag along.

Cue the breakup. Cue Max sending Naomi a tiara. Cue Naomi doing her best impression of a human with real emotions.

Liam’s A Lover AND A Fighter

In what is clearly an early birthday present for me — or late, depending on how you choose to read your calendar — Liam spent the entire episode in full-on cage-fighter mode. I’m talking shirtless, sweaty and fighting. The whole time. “I’m not here to talk, I’m here to hit stuff,” he said, without a hint of irony. (Liam Court, my prince!)

But things got kind of dark when Liam got kicked out of the gym for getting too physical with one of the other fighters. That’s right, someone actually complained about Liam getting too physical with them. I don’t get it, either.

I don’t see this whole cage-fighter story line going very well for Liam — we all remember how well it ended for Ryan on The O.C. — but I’m willing to enjoy the view while it lasts.

Teddy & Silver Play ‘Catch’ With Their Embryos

After Navid (Michael Steger) sent him on an unexpected guilt trip — apparently if Silver (Jessica Stroup) doesn’t have babies now, she never will — Teddy (Trevor Donovan) agreed to let her keep the embryos. But wait, there’s a catch! Silver has to use a surrogate to carry the child, rather than let it live inside her stomach… or wherever babies live when they’re all gross and wet.

So ‘Operation: Make A Baby’ took a drastic turn, but at least it’s still happening. Now there’s just that small issue of how Silver is going to pay for the baby once it’s born. Does she have a job? Has she ever had a job? How much money did Jackie leave her when she died?! These are the tough questions, people.

Everybody Hates Dixon

Dixon’s (Tristan Wilds) plan to get revenge on Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes) for being a super slut totally backfired on him this week. He basically turned her into his beautiful trained monkey, forcing her to sing embarrassing jingles, etc., all the while funneling her earnings into a secret scholarship fund for Megan (Jessica Parker Kennedy.) But when the girls found out what Dixon was up to, they both stormed off furiously.

In summary: Adrianna hates Dixon, Megan hates Dixon, and at this point, I’m pretty sure Dixon hates Dixon too. Good times all around.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Were you shocked and/or saddened by Riley’s death? Do you think all hope is gone for Naomi and Max? And how do you feel about Teddy’s little trick? Drop a comment with your review of the episode!

— Andy Swift

More 90210 on HollywoodLife.com:

  1. 90210 Recap: Annie’s Twisted Dream Brings Her Closer To Liam, Sort Of
  2. 90210 Recap: Liam’s Rescue Mission Ends With A Gunshot
  3. 90210 Scoop: Arielle Kebbel Previews Vanessa’s ‘Redemption’ Episode