90210 Recap and Videos: Episode 18, "Off the Rails"

by POPSUGAR Entertainment 23

Hey, you know what? 90210 is definitely improving! Ever since Silver's emotional meltdown last week, I've been hopeful this show would keep up the momentum. I can forgive plots that don't make sense and illogical character motivations (Gossip Girl is often guilty of this), but I can't forgive irritating main characters or boring stories, and I feel like the writers are starting to understand that — and to good effect.

This week's episode wraps up a bunch of story arcs that have been around since the start of the show. For me, Annie's the character most in need of an overhaul, and hopefully the writers will be able to focus on what — besides her relationships with boys — makes this girl interesting. She'll have to wait another week, though, as this episode belonged to Tristan Wilds, who is pretty much perfect as Dixon. He's pulling off lines that could very easily come off as cheesy, giving his character real emotional depth. Thank goodness for that! I'd still love to see him lay down the law all Wire-style, especially when Annie's being whiny.

As you know, sometimes words alone aren't enough to convey this show's funniest/weirdest/most dramatic scenes, so I've grabbed some of my favorite clips from this episode. To check out the clips and discuss the episode, read more.

The following clip is a really good example of how much better this show is getting. The editing is interesting, the writing is smart, and I even laughed. Also, this whole episode uses the older members of the cast in a more appropriate way — it's much better when they focus on the kids' drama instead of cluttering up episodes with their own inorganic storylines. Check out Harry, Debbie, and Kelly reacting to the news that Silver made a sex tape:

And, um, here's Kelly and Silver's mom being odd (was she always that crazy?):

It's hard to keep track of who's friends with whom on this show, considering it changes drastically from week to week. Last week, Adrianna and Annie were super-friendly out of the blue. This week, we're reminded that Naomi and Annie hate each other because Annie chose Ethan (who is now dumping her) over their friendship. That's the background of this epiphany, in which Annie realizes that giving up everything in her life because she thought she found "the one" in high school is unwise. Enjoy:

What did you guys think of this episode?

Photos courtesy of The CW