If you were hoping 90210 actors Gillian Zinser and Justin Deeley would be given lofty sendoffs at the start of the CW soap’s fifth season tonight (8/7c), prepare to be disappointed in 3, 2…

“We will see Austin in the premiere, but there’s not a big farewell,” co-showrunner Patti Carr tells TVLine of one-half of the departing duo. “Just because a character moves on for a bit doesn’t mean we expect to never see them again. It’s not so much a goodbye to Austin as it is that he’s just not in ongoing episodes based on where the storylines launch in the premiere, the events of which really effect everybody’s lives as they move in different directions.”

Meanwhile, Zinser doesn’t even appear in the opener, though Carr says she could potentially return at some point.

”Gillian had some other interests this season, and we wanted to make her available to pursue those,” Carr explains. “But we do have a deal for her to appear on the show, and we’re hoping that the character does come back at some point in the year.”