BH90210 – Season 1 Episode 3 Recap & Review

Familiar Friendship Drama

After last week’s teasing glimpses of a darker series to follow, BH90210 returns to the fold with another dramatic episode, one that has a lot going on but can’t quite hit the same heights as the previous episode.

We begin with another dream but this time from Jason, kissing Jenny who turns out to be pregnant. After waking up, he confronts his wife and she tells him she cheated on him. Angry, he decides to go and stay with Gabrielle. We then switch to Gabrielle herself, who is having a conversation with her husband; he is not reacting well to his wife’s revelation about exploring her sexuality.

Meanwhile, Tori heads to the studio where she has a meeting with Executive Producer Christine, who questions why everyone is so involved. Tori explains that she had to promise them important roles to get them to take part in the reboot. Concerned, Christine tells her to make sure she deals with all the drama off-camera and get Shannen on-board.

The actors meet to do a table read soon after and discuss the dolls they received. Tori quickly waves it away as they need to remain positive but none seem too happy while reading the script. Jack Carlisle, the writer of the show, arrives and Jason recognises him as the man who slept with his wife. He loses his cool and ends up punching him.

Gabrielle convinces the group to go to group therapy, which is being lead by Jason and Shannen’s on-screen Mum, Carol Potter. Tensions rise again between the group as everyone talks about their issues. The truth about Jenny sleeping with Jason comes out which makes things even worse as Tori is hurt her friend didn’t tell her. They then all end up leaving even more stressed than before.

Meanwhile, Brian meets stalker Zach who is there to be interviewed for the assistant’s position. Not knowing who he really is, Brian gives him the job. Tori’s husband feels insecure with her spending so much time with Brian as they used to date on and off the show. She tells him that she’s happy with her life and is trying hard to prove herself as a producer.

Jason meets with Tori and tells him he called Fox to give them an ultimatum – Carlisle or him. This leads to Christine summoning Tori to her office, angry because the network wanted Carlisle as a writer. Because Jason is the director and leading man, they have to fire Carlisle. She musters up the courage and delivers the bad news to him.

Jenny, who now has a bodyguard, realises that she may have feelings for Jason. She explains that he could still be a father to his wife’s baby while Brian berates his wife for not paying attention to their daughter Bryce, leading her to run away. Zach quickly comes to her defence though by blaming himself. While Jason heads home to talk to his wife and admit to sleeping with Jenny, Tori travels to Peru to convince Shannen to be on-board with the reboot.

The day of the photo shoot then arrives and Gabrielle confides in Christine about using a dating app, but not getting any matches. However, she later gets a text from Christine asking her to meet for drinks. The episode then ends with Tori making it back to the studio but with a surprise – Shannen. The gang then get ready to retake one of the iconic photos from the 90s.

This week’s episode carries on where it left off, with the gang trying to come to an agreement with the reboot while dealing with their own personal problems. The tension, present during the last episode, is somewhat missing with the story here, given the mutilated dolls sub-plot is brushed under the carpet for now. However, we see Zach slowly infiltrate the gang by becoming Brian’s assistant, leaving us wondering if maybe he was responsible for Bryce running off.

Perhaps it was all a plan to be able to get Shay and Brian’s approval? It seems to have worked though as Brian ends up giving him keys to his house. It’ll be interesting to see where the show goes with that storyline and if the tension will build a bit more towards the second half of the season.

The original series certainly dealt with in-depth, current life issues and this time around we’re seeing the same recur here too. Gabrielle exploring her sexuality is something that many people could relate to and it doesn’t feel too forced either.

BH90210 might not be for everyone though. It will definitely have more appeal to fans of the original as some references might fall flat to the non-fans watching along. Tori Spelling is again the one that stands out the most though and brings a real spark to the show. With the return of Shannen, it’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the actors will deal with this new twist and whether the dolls will be brought back up in future episodes.