BH90210 Review: The Reunion (Season 1 Episode 1)

If you’re coming for a vent session about all of the flaws on BH90210 Season 1 Episode 1, “The Reunion,” you’re not going to find what you need here. 

It’s not flawless. It’s a meta-revival about a reboot, just typing that is messy.

Underneath all of that, there is a spirit of fun — and that’s exactly why it works. 

Tori Spelling is a queen of self-depreciation, even Variety agrees. I know this as a fan of her short-lived, hysterically honest VH1 sitcom So NoTorious  — and Tori herself. 

I agree with Daniel D’Addario of Variety that I hope for Spelling’s next project she feels confident enough to come out from behind her name and the ditzy layers most of her characters hide behind.

For now, she’s an executive producer who helped plan the concept of BH90210. 

She has brought people she has great chemistry with into her chosen genre.

Plus, the BH91210 cast is mocking the reboot era (of which their show is already a victim) while pivoting away from it to keep their little piece of pop culture as safe as possible.

It’s a great idea if the audience is willing to receive it. So, it’s also really smart that the show is keeping its run short — this season is the only one planned so far, and it’s just six episodes.

The first hour of BH90210 begins stronger than it ends.

Easing us in with a dream sequence is ideal, and not only because fans of the original Beverly Hills, 90210 deserve to hear the words “Mr. and Mrs. Silver.” 

It’s also what most fans are there for: glimpses of the Peach Pit, references to exchanging eggs, iconic ugly prom dresses — and Luke Perry. 

The toast “to Luke” is sad. But it isn’t as emotional for me as the end of the episode, which simply features Perry on-screen as Dylan McKay saying “Welcome to paradise man, welcome to your dream come true” with a note of dedication “for our friend Luke Perry.” 

Some viewers might also be watching to get glimpses of the actors’ personal lives. The cast is playing “heightened versions” of themselves. 

So, the show is fiction. But it’s easy to spot the pieces that are true. 

Spelling has been open about her marriage and money problems on reality TV. Jennie Garth has been divorced more than once. Gabrielle Carteris is the current president of SAG-AFTRA.

Jason Priestley directs TV. Ian Ziering has a young wife with a brand. Brian Austin Green’s wife Megan Fox is arguably more famous than he is. Last but not least, Shannen Doherty is an animal rights activist.

But there are more scandalous truths exposed on the episode too. 

On the show there is undoubtedly tension between fake Shannen and the rest of the cast, most evident by the fact that she’s not at the fake Beverly Hills, 90210 reunion panel.

Plus, something definitely happened between Spelling and Green in real life. 

Every show needs a plot, so some things that happen to these characters are plainly false. But enough is true that it’s fun to guess where the line blurs.

Some actors have better chemistry with each other than others.

Spelling and Green’s chemistry alone carries the episode as far as it goes. Friendship vibes, romantic eyes, sexual tension. They have everything they need to play fake Tori and Brian and Donna and David on this show. 

Tori and Brian’s weird ritual of blowing into their hands together to calm nerves adds more intimacy to the show than fake Jennie and Jason actually hooking up. 

My guess is that the further some actors get from the truth of their lives the worse their satirical storylines will become — with the exception of Spelling, who like I’ve said, is really good at this type of comedy. 

The more “serious” the person’s career is in real-life the less suited they seem to satire on screen. I’ll just leave that sentence right there. 

I’m already impatient for the fake actors to get to the part of this mockumentary where they actually fake reboot the show I love, and I hope we get more than a few seconds of that at a time.

They do cross a line to absolutely ridiculous at the end when they all get arrested for helping Tori steal Donna’s prom dress from the convention center.

The point comes through and that’s what matters. It’s a collective low the cast reaches together while also dealing with personal issues. 

The cast’s real-life spouses (who don’t appear on the show at all) will be happy to know that none of the actors have much real chemistry with their fake on-screen spouses — save perhaps Lala Anthony and Green — though I’m undecided and bias there. 

There is potential for the show to go completely off the rails. But they’ve done a good job so far paying homage to Beverly Hills, 90210 whilst respecting the history. 

BH90210 isn’t Beverly Hills, 90210 and it isn’t trying to be. If you understand that and like comedy then come along for the ride. 

It’s already a bumpy one, but no one said it wouldn’t be. And bumpy rides are the most fun. 

What did you think of this episode of BH90210? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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BH90210  airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on FOX.

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