The definitive ranking of 90210 seasons from worst to best
By Reed Gaudens
Season 4
Following Rebecca Sinclair’s heroic takeover as showrunner for seasons 2 and 3, 90210 experienced some growing pains with its new creative team. Patricia Carr and Lara Olsen took over showrunner duties for the final two seasons, but the characters’ transition from high school to college wasn’t as smooth as the original series or some of the best teen shows on TV. Some went to California University and others opted out of higher education for the messiest season yet.
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In the fourth season, the new class of West Bev grads settled into their post-high school lives. While Naomi moved into a new mansion and pledged a sorority, many of her friends weren’t as fortunate. Annie once again tested her good girl image working as an escort, Silver learned she had the BRCA gene, and Dixon became addicted to prescription medication. On top of that, Liam bought a bar, Silver almost dated Liam (what?!), and Naomi nearly eloped with a trust fund faker.
It’s not that season 4 wasn’t entertaining because you could never watch an episode of 90210 and claim boredom — something’s always going on. However, the season introduced a few new characters that weren’t entirely compelling, threw the core group of West Bev alums into strange situations, and mixed up the dynamics in ways that leaned a little too unbelievably incestuous. Eventually, season 4 hit its stride but not without a few episodes of throwing things to the wall and seeing what stuck.