‘90210’: When love is worth fighting for

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Tonight’s episode of ‘90210’ was about love. No, not that stuff that froths up during the first few giddy month of courtship, but the stuff that comes after that. When people run out of good behavior and demons come out to play. And people are forced to ask themselves whether they can accept their partner as they are. Or whether the partner’s particular brand of crazy is just too much to bear.

The story centered on Dixon and Silver, who hit a rough patch last week, when Silver decided to surreptitiously film their lovemaking and edit it into a film she then screened for their classmates. Um, yeah. Dixon was suitably miffed. But that was only the beginning. After the video incident, Silver cranked up the crazy, setting fire to the remaining copy of the video, breaking her teacher’s window with a wine bottle and high-tailing it to a train station to hop a train to Kansas. Oh yeah -- and another may-jah Beverly Hills no-no; gallivanting around town with drippy eye makeup.

At this stage of the episode, Silver’s particular brand of crazy -- call it ‘Drama Queen’ -- appeared to be too much for her laid-back lover. Dixon ignored Silver’s call and let her writhe in pain for half the eppy. But then, at the end, he came around. Turns out Dixon was only pushing Silver away because her paroxysms of agony and joy reminded him of his own mother, who suffered from bipolar disorder. By the end of the show, Silver was as good as diagnosed, courtesy of Dr. Dixon, and he agreed to help her help herself, first by getting her off the train tracks and then by discussing her assumed condition with her in a gentle, soothing voice. Thus, Sixon (Dilver?) survived its first wine-bottle-smashing road bump. And lived to tell the tale.

Now on to Adrianna and Navid, who looked good as over just weeks ago, when virginal dream-date Navid learned that his ex-junkie love had been impregnated by a nameless somebody at the drug clinic he helped pay for. Ouch -- that’s gotta sting. For a while it looked like that knowledge would be too much for Navid, and Adrianna understood that. But then, like true loves do, Navid came around. Because in the end, his feelings for Adrianna were so strong that her rehab fling could not curtail them. Thus, we watched the young couple tonight, in the picture of domestic bliss, cooing and reading with a mystery child. (Their next question, of course, is whether to keep the bun in Adrianna’s oven. But note to Navid and Adrianna: baby-sitting is fun because at the end of the night, you get to give the kid back. Just saying.) For Annie and Ethan, sadly, the first relationship roadblock proved insurmountable. More unbearable still, they did not agree on this matter. While Annie believed their relationship was worth salvaging, Ethan saw their first personal differences as grounds for a split. And that tore Annie to shreds. It was painful to watch, though what Naomi was doing tangled up in their breakup was unclear, and seemed tacked on in light of the catastrophic moment. Apparently, losing Ethan hurt Annie most because she sacrificed so much of herself and hurt Naomi just to be with him and so it had to be worth it and blah blah blah... But really, losing Ethan hurt Annie because in her goofy way, Annie loved Ethan. And his ruthless fair-haired ex Naomi had nothing to do with it. Rejection hurts. Period. That’s enough to build a scene on. Even one with crying.

But by far the most believable lover’s quarrel and reunion tonight came courtesy of old fogies Kelly and Ryan, who are one for one now; with Kelly rejecting Ryan, and Ryan getting revenge, through distance (not to mention the old sleep-with-Brenda trick). When Kelly and Ryan agreed to drive home together at the end of the episode, their dynamic was one of mutual pain, a sprinkling of distrust, but also deep connection and yearning. (Good luck stayin’ in the back seat, Kel.)

In the end, tonight’s episode vastly eclipsed its vaguely spastic precursor last week, in terms of heart and sincerity. Ya see, ‘90210?’ You don’t need drag races, fist fights, broken windows and sex tapes to make us love you. Just give us five to seven very thin, very beautiful people, and let us watch them break one another’s hearts, over and over again.

Till next week, when we welcome Donna Martin back to the ZIP,

-- Stephanie Lysaght

Photos, from top: Michael Steger, Riley Thomas Stewart and Jessica Lowndes (The CW); Shenae Grimes and Dustin Milligan (The CW)