BH90210 Honors Luke Perry in Premiere (Plus, Grade Fox’s Super Meta Reboot!)

Wednesday’s long-awaited premiere of BH90210 reunited the stars of Beverly Hills, 90210 like we’ve never seen them before. And that’s not an exaggeration — it’s actually the entire concept of the show.

To put it simply, the Fox reboot stars (in alphabetical order) Gabrielle Carteris, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Jason Priestley, Tori Spelling and Ian Ziering as fictionalized versions of themselves, brought back together to celebrate their iconic soap’s 30th anniversary at a fan convention in Las Vegas. (Doherty is unable to attend the event, but the moderator surprises everyone by broadcasting her Instagram live stream on the screen behind them… for some reason.)

As the premiere rolls on, we gradually discover that everyone’s personal lives are falling apart: Spelling and her husband (played by Ivan Sergei) are drowning in debt after the cancellation of their latest reality venture; Garth’s (third) husband is filing for divorce; Priestley’s wife (played by Vanessa Lachey) is more interested in being his publicist than his partner; Green feels overshadowed by his wife, R&B superstar Shay (played by La La Anthony); and Ziering’s Real Housewives-bound wife accidentally FaceTimes him while having sex with someone else. Oof!

There’s also plenty of in-cast drama afoot: Garth claims to hate “golden boy” Priestley, though the sex they have after the panel suggests otherwise; Spelling is nervous about seeing Green, to whom she apparently lost her virginity during the show’s run; and as for Doherty… well, no one wants to see her. But the most intriguing storyline belongs to new grandma Carteris, who begins to explore her sexuality after developing an unexpected connection with a female fan who grew up with a huge crush on Andrea.

But things really get wild when a drunken Spelling steals Donna’s legendary Spring Dance dress from a display case at the convention — something everyone has to answer for upon returning to Los Angeles in Green’s wife’s private jet. But rather than looking at the whole “getting arrested” thing as something negative, Spelling is inspired by the group’s chemistry and decides that this is the perfect time for a true Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot.

Wednesday’s premiere makes several mentions of Luke Perry — whose death in March is what convinced Doherty to participate in Fox’s reboot — including a touching toast to his memory during the gang’s flight home. But the biggest tribute comes in the episode’s final moments, as Spelling and Garth watch a poignant clip of Dylan and Brandon driving along the coast. “Welcome to paradise, man,” he says. “Welcome to your dream come true.”

Now that you’ve spent an hour with the Peach Pit crew, what are your thoughts on BH90210? Grade the reboot below, then drop a comment with your full review.