Life's a Drag is the 17th episode of Season 1 on CW teen soap 90210.
Synopsis[]
IT IS SCHOOL TIME – In an attempt to get close to Liam (guest star Matt Lanter), Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) offers to be his math tutor, but she gets more than she bargains for when he takes her out for a wild night. Silver (Jessica Stroup) takes a class assignment a little too far when she creates a video that documents her love for Dixon (Tristan Wilds). When Silver screens the video for her fellow students, everyone, including Ryan (Ryan Eggold), is shocked when they see Dixon and Silver in an intimate situation. Upon seeing the reaction of everyone around her, Silver blames Ryan for the situation. Ethan (Dustin Milligan) and Annie's (Shenae Grimes) relationship remains rocky but more problems arise when Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes) reveals that Rhonda (guest star Aimee Teegarden) and Ethan shared a kiss at the dance. Harry (Rob Estes) and Debbie (Lori Loughlin) are surprised to learn that Annie quit the school play in order to spend more time with Ethan.
Summary[]
The episode begins with Naomi walking up to Liam in a school hallway to talk about starting over. Liam slams Naomi into a locker and the two start kissing while a phone rings. Naomi wakes up alone in bed with a smile on her face. Silver and Dixon are at school early and are trying to get dressed after having sex in the media room. Silver is unfazed as Dixon hurries to avoid getting caught, noting that the media room is better than the bleachers but not as good as the cafeteria for their hookups. Annie is still trying to smooth things over with her boyfriend Ethan, who finally admits that his problem is he's afraid of how good of an actress she is. It makes him feel like he doesn't know her or them. It's all just more proof that Ethan is looking for a reason to break up with her. Ryan assigns a poetry presentation, the kind of which usually blows up in someone's face on shows like this. Silver is still on the love crazy train and she wants to show a film with her love poem. Since Teacher Ryan thinks that she's just excited about her project, he agrees.
Liam shows up late to his and Naomi's math class. Naomi volunteers to go over past exams with him after it he shows no interest in class. Naomi and Adrianna talk about bad boy Liam and it's impossible to really listen to their conversation because Adrianna looks hugely pregnant. Naomi and Adrianna watch as Liam drives away instead of letting her tutor him. Silver films Dixon at his job and he's amused at her enthusiasm. She even manages to get him to take a break so that they can go fool around. Annie tells her parents that she quit the play because it's not good for her relationship with Ethan. Annie's mother freaks out because she's making decisions for a boy. Silver is working late on the film for Ryan's class. Her latest idea is that she wants to be a filmmaker. She asks if she can have forty-five minutes to present instead of the standard ten and he asks her if she's lost her mind. Silver then proves she's more than just feeling the love by sneaking into Dixon's bedroom to surprise him in the middle of the night. She's excited to fool around and talk about her film but he just wants her to go home. Dixon tries to talk to his parents about Silver's behavior but his mother and father are still focused on how upset their mother got about Annie quitting the play. Their mom admits she needs to find the balance between work and family again. Ethan talks to Rhonda and we find out he's ignored her since the dance. He tells her he wants to be friends with her and work things out with Annie, but Rhonda rejects his offer. She doesn't want to just be his friend.
Naomi waits on Liam's car and forces him into a tutoring session. He shows her that he knows more about their class than she does and tells her he has to be somewhere. In spite of his warning, Naomi gets in the car to go with him. Annie and Adrianna talk about why Annie quit the play, and Adrianna lets it slip that Navid saw Rhonda and Ethan kissing after the Valentine's Day dance. Annie tries to yell at Rhonda who tells her to talk to Ethan. Annie leaves Ethan a nasty voicemail. After Annie can't get her part in the school play back, she accepts a random theater guy's offer to go hang out with him and some of the cast. Elsewhere, Ethan gets Annie's voicemail. Silver's arranged a screening for her film and asks Teacher Ryan to give an introduction. Because someone has to be there to call Kelly how crazy Silver's acting, he agrees. Silver finally shows her film. It's typically artsy until it shows she filmed Dixon and herself hooking up. Naturally Dixon's pissed. Silver follows Dixon home. She admits she thought he would like it and he asks her if she's out of her mind. Dixon tells her to stay away from him. Dixon and his parents smell something burning and walk out to see Silver's film is burning outside.
Liam is doing the worldly bad boy thing for Naomi's benefit, and telling her there is so much to learn outside of school Apparently Liam's into drag racing, but Naomi's got a crush and doesn't care. Naomi rides along with Liam in a race and loves it. She's worse than the girlfriends who watch their boyfriends play videogames as she yells for him to go faster. After the race, Naomi can't open her beer and a guy does it with his mouth. The guy then wants a reward. Liam punches him and breaks his car window. Liam drives Naomi back to school so she can get her car. She's about to go when he kisses her goodnight. Annie is lying on a picnic table with the random theater guy when Ethan shows up. Ethan wants to end things and he gives her a speech about needing to find out who he is without a girlfriend. Ryan leaves Kelly a voicemail about the film. Silver is waiting for him in her apartment. She blames him for all her problems, saying he set her up in order to have revenge against the nasty blog she wrote that almost got him fired. She says he ruined her relationship and she wants him to fix everything.
Starring[]
- Rob Estes as Harry Wilson
- Shenae Grimes as Annie Wilson
- Tristan Wilds as Dixon Wilson
- Dustin Milligan as Ethan Ward
- AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi Clark
- Ryan Eggold as Ryan Matthews
- Jessica Stroup as Erin Silver
- Lori Loughlin as Debbie Wilson
Recurring cast
Guest starring
- Aimee Teegarden as Rhonda Kimble
- Kelly Blatz as Max
- Ken Luckey as Jamie
- Angela Gots as Ms. Casey
- Juan Monsalvez as Mr Sinton
Trivia[]
Opening Tagline: Harry
Quotes[]
- Silver: (voice breaking) You didn't think I'd put it together, did you?
Ryan: What are you doing...?
Silver: No! Just stop talking! Stop. It was a nice try, Matthews. You think I'm dumb? Well, I'm not dumb! It took me a while, but I figured out what you were up to. You said to me that you liked movies better than blogs. You think you could possibly be referring to the one that I posted about you? Huh, I wonder? You never got over it, did you? You pretended to! You pretended to forgive me! You even invited me back into your classroom! All so that you could encourage me to make this movie! This was all a setup!
Ryan: Silver...
Silver: No, stop! Just drop the puppy-dog face, I'm over it! (crying) I know that you don't want me to succeed. All you wanted was revenge.
Ryan: Listen to me. You know that's not true.
Silver: You managed to turn Dixon against me. You managed to ruin my relationship, the one thing I care the most about in this entire world!
Ryan: Wait, wait. Dixon...?
Silver: (screaming) Stay away from me! (she brandishes a bottle of wine)
Ryan: (terrified) Okay.
Silver: Do you want to know how I figured it out? Last night, in the media lab, you said to me, "Are you out of your mind?" And then tonight, Dixon just now said to me "Are you out of your mind?" That is not a coincidence! You got to Dixon! You told him lies about me! All so that you could teach me a lesson! What kind of teacher are you?
Ryan: Silver, listen! (Silver throws the bottle at Ryan, who dodges as it shatters against the wall) Okay! What do you want from me?
Silver: (enraged): I want you to fix all of this!
Music[]
- "Cheap and Cheerful" by The Kills
- "The Palace at 4AM" by A.C. Newman
- "Turn Me Off" by Audrye Sessions
- "You and Me" by Attack! Attack! UK
- "The Last Summer" by The Forward
- "Auctioneer" by The Broken West
- "Magic Show" by Electric Owls
- "Sirens of the Sea" by Longwave
- "Gymnopedies, No. 1" by Erik Satie
- "What a Wonderful World" by Joey Ramone
- "Blue Day" by Darker My Love
- "Put in a Little Gas" by Colourmusic
- "Alone" by The Morning After Girls
