 Among the reviews were several negative ones, which compared the series negatively to the original. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe felt that like the original, 90210 was "pretty bad". Gilbert said that the episode "seemed to take forever to set up some remarkably bland plotlines", which he found had been executed with more finesse by other teen soaps. The reviewer criticized the writers for their "unimaginative material", exemplified by the risqué anal sex scene which he opined would no longer be considered outrageous for a series targeted at teenagers. Gilbert claimed that the characters lacked depth and distinction, especially Naomi, whom he compared negatively to Gossip Girl's Blair Waldorf. By contrast, Tom Gliatto of People magazine gave Naomi Clark a favorable review, but stated that he felt the cast as a whole had yet to gel. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described the pilot as "corny but trying to be hip, crammed with subplots until the producers figure out which ones the audience responds to." Tucker praised Walters acting as a "slashing panache that no one else on screen approaches", and found the only time he laughed with pleasure throughout the pilot was when her character exclaimed, "I'm gonna call Dan Tana's for some takeout!". Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel described the pilot as "a blah variation on Beverly Hills, 90210", and being too "extravagant and less believable". Boedeker expressed disappointment in the series, and predicted that it would be canceled within a year.
