The New 90210 Is Improving

Through the first several episodes on The CW's updated 90210 , my main interest in the show was Brenda (Shannen Doherty) and Kelly (Jennie Garth) and nods to the past. But the past two weeks, the show has come into its own and I have started to care about the current crop of students at West Beverly High as well as the new core family.

The past two weeks have focused on rivalry between Annie Wilson (DEGRASSI's Shanae Grimes) and Naomi Clark (NIP/TUCK's AnnaLynne McCord). Last week it was Annie's sixteenth birthday which set the stage for the bitter revelation that Naomi knew about Annie's relationship with Ethan. Naomi flew Annie's ex-boyfriend into Beverly Hills to shake things up and mayhem ensued. The episode ended when a nasty argument between the rivals was interrupted by the arrival of their half-brother, Sean. Annie's father and Naomi's mother had a secret love child in high school (long story).

This week as the Annie-Naomi war continued, the entire Wilson family dealt with Sean's arrival. It hit adopted son, Dixon, the hardest seeing his dad with a biological son. By the end of the episode, Sean had moved into the Wilson house and was accepted by everyone. That made the mysterious phone call he placed at the end all the more intriguing. What is he up to? The show has actually made me care.

Meanwhile, the side story this week involved Brenda and Kelly and that never gets old. Brenda completely dissed Kelly and told her they had nothing in common anymore and they should move on with their lives. After Brenda injured her arm later, she revealed the truth to Kelly - that she had slept with Ryan, a teacher at West Beverly High that Kelly was interested in. Kelly walked out on her. What will happen between the two next? Again, the show left me wanting more.

I'm glad I continued to give the show a chance, mostly because I love updated high school shows like DEGRASSI and enjoy a good prime time soap. By doing so, I'm still around now that the writing has improved and the show is at a soapy high point for the season. From the looks of things, it is only going to get better from here.