BH90210 – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

The Big Reveal

Back for its penultimate episode before next week’s finale, BH90210 returns for another episode, this time gearing things up with some much-needed answers whilst leaving plenty of questions still hanging in the air. Will things be left on a cliffhanger?

Episode 5 starts in the same fashion as each episode before it, this time with Brian dreaming that he’s an international singer and ready to perform in the Pitch Pit After Dark. Suddenly a fire breaks out and he ends up using his shirt to extinguish the flames.

After waking up, we see that the reboot is all over the news because of the fire, but also because the show is already millions over budget. Meanwhile, the four girls prepare for the shooting of the first episode. Tori is nervous as her first shot with Brian is a sex scene and she thinks she still has feelings for him. Things are getting a bit awkward for Gabrielle too as Christine asks her to sign a consent form for the sexual relations they had the other day. 

The gang then meets to discuss all their potential enemies to see if they can try to work together to figure out who their stalker is. After falling down the stairs, Tori thinks she might know who it is. They all head to a bar and meet with another old actor; Jamie Walters. He was hated by fans for pushing Donna down the stairs all those years ago, and this is an interesting throwback to Tori falling down the stairs earlier.

Convinced he’s guilty, they confront him but he denies everything, explaining that he quit acting and is now a firefighter. They then receive a call from Jason, telling them they’ve caught the arsonist; none other than the crazy fan who owns the red dress Donna stole during the first episode.

As the first day of shooting approaches, Tori becomes more and more nervous about the scene so she hires an intimacy coordinator to help her feel more comfortable during shooting. However, the constant interruptions make things far more awkward for everyone.

The next day, Jenny decides to speak with a stressed Jason about his negativity and how it is starting to affect the team. He tells her he’s thinking of leaving Camille as he doesn’t believe he’ll be able to raise another man’s child. Meanwhile Brian tries to build bridges with his newly found son while Anna and Ian get closer to each other and end up kissing. This leads to Anna also presenting him with a consent form, the same kind Christine gave Gabrielle. Ian then speaks to the group about the contract and after some truth bombs are dropped, this revelation prompts Brian to introduce his son to her friends.

Despite their initial concerns, Donna and Brian finally manage to film their bedroom scene. However, Donna becomes surprised when she realizes Brian is enjoying the scene more than he should. Just as they finish filming, Jason gets a call from Camille, who has been taken to hospital in an ambulance. The episode then ends with a policeman on the set, watching the cast and picking a bottle up from the trash that Zach just threw in, placing it in an evidence bag.

BH90210 returns this week with the revelation about who the stalker is.  It does feel a little easy and anticlimactic though, which is a bit of a shame, but after the ending we’re left to wonder if there’s more to Zach than we first thought. Perhaps he is lying and not actually Brian’s son? Or could he still be guilty of harassment?

Much like the previous episodes before it, BH90210 continues on with the same tone; blending drama, comedy and nostalgia to great effect. There are some really funny jokes here too, with one in particular referencing The Handmaid’s Tale when Donna is trying to film her sex scene with Brian, constantly interrupted by the intimacy coordinator. This felt quite refreshing to see, as the injection of fresh humour hasn’t always been the case here, as the show’s relied on the same sort of jokes evident in the original.

It’ll be interesting to see how the last episode will pan out and whether things will be left open for another season. In the meantime though, the penultimate episode should be enjoyable for fans of the original show, who are likely to be the ones who will get the most out of this and stick with this through to the end.