Beverly Hills, 90210

Things continue to plug along at a rapid and highly dramatic pace in season three for the privileged teens of Aaron Spelling's 90's TV classic Beverly Hills 90210. This season the gang tackles eating disorders, gambling addiction, birth, death, incest, infidelity, car accidents, racism, homelessness, and one whopper of a love triangle, along with, of course, the standard high school fare of college applications, SAT scores, and graduation anxiety. 90210 continues to revolve around Minnesota transplants Brandon (Jason Preistley) and Brenda Walsh (Shannon Doherty), though with every season the twins' Midwestern roots seem to matter a little less. The summer before senior year begins with Brenda and boyfriend Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) still deeply in love, much to the chagrin of Brenda's disapproving parents. To force a little distance, they send Brenda to Paris for the summer with Donna (Tori Spelling), herself the subject of an enjoyable and incredibly absurd French modeling subplot—while halfway around the world Dylan and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) discover a growing mutual attraction and begin an illicit summer fling. But it's clear the love triangle between Dylan and best friends Brenda and Kelly remains the heart of the show. Taking a break from all the drama, there are some entertaining subplots this year, many of them involving surprising guest stars (before they were stars), including Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), David Arquette (Scream), and Dean Cain (Lois & Clark). As in the first two seasons released on DVD, the lack of the original early 90's music is a major disappointment, but the entertainment value doesn't suffer for it. The highlight of the special features is the return of VH-1's Best Week Ever's John Aboud and Michael Colton. The two comedians' hilarious lampooning of season three in "Everything You Need to Know About Beverly Hills 90210 - Season Three" gently mocks some of the more outlandish dream sequences, Brenda's horrible french accent, and of course, the ridiculousness of many of these highly entertaining but entirely silly plot-lines. Beverly Hills 90210 - Season Three is addictive as ever and incredibly fun to watch - a time capsule, over-the-top soap opera and teen drama trailblazer all rolled into one. --Kira Canny