Editorial: The Gringos
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*Just at the turn of eight o’clock Atlantic time I heard a shout from my husband that The O.C. was on. I quickly scrambled to get it recording and then came out to the living room to watch it with him. I had foolishly put off searching for when CTV would be playing the next episode that Fox had suddenly shifted to a new night because of all-time low ratings of the premiere. Thankfully my husband is a proud channel surfer or I may have missed it completely.
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It’s true, despite the overwhelming positive reviews prior to Fox’s airing of the season four premiere, I wasn’t swayed so easily and found a number of key faults that kept me from truly embracing and loving the episode. This week things were immensely different. From the moment I caught my grounding, after scrambling just to get it recorded without having any prior knowledge it was on, I sensed a slightly different tone. To better sum it up, I sensed an episode that was more inline with what had always defined the best episodes of The O.C. It wasn’’t about the sugary cliché happy Fab Four moments, the frustratingly tiresome Ryan and Marissa love story, or the true-to-character but worn-out use of Ryan punching someone or something. I’m aware that not all these elements defined the premiere. It was impossible with Marissa’s death as the center. But the approach and style seemed off. It was in many respects un-O.C. And that is just as much a problem as being tiredly formulaic.
What this episode was, and the best episodes are about, is love, family and the personal struggles that define who the characters were, what they’ve become and who they will be. These characters are driven by the most universal feelings. And while their problems, as they are written, aren’t likely to fall in line with what the average viewer has had to endure, simplified and stripped we find we can relate. It’s those feelings of love and pain that we take with us, especially when they are so wonderfully conveyed through the acting, writing and scene direction, as was the case here.
The greatest surprises were the attention and detail paid to the supporting cast characters. Taylor was warm, funny and honest. And she was interestingly the female counterpart to Seth. She is caring and loyal when necessary realistic, but also easily susceptible to fumbling and making mistakes often in humorous and likewise authentic ways. Her reveal of what had happened back in Paris was exactly this. And never has the character seemed more genuine and honest. And she was the wisest character as well offering her loving, sage, advice to Summer throughout the episode.
Che was not only authentic but also crucial to the further exploration of Summer post Marissa’s death. He felt, unlike so many supporting cast members of the past, necessary. He is as essential as Luke or Anna was in season one but without obvious romantic entanglements to lead characters. The Summer and Che closer at the tree sight wasn’t about signaling a flawed romance to come, but rather to enhance the hurt, confused, broken and complacent Summer we have come to know. And it was poignant coming in soon after the heartbreaking scene where Summer attempts to put her feelings on paper and write Seth a letter.
The guest stars, which I normally balk at, were either strangely funny or, at the least, tolerable. Steve-O’s deranged brand of humor and physical movement played surprisingly well along side Adam Brody‘s wavering and indecisive humor that has always wonderfully matched the muted geek in the character of Seth.
Love and deep-rooted connections were represented in all facets. We had human and touching child-parent love with Julie and Kaitlin, and Ryan, Seth and the Cohens. The scene where Sandy confronts Julie over what she could of cost their families was also sharp and a great return to form for Peter Gallagher. We had satisfying friendship love, whether it was Che’s unfailing devotion to Summer or Taylor’’s bold but loving concern for Summer. We had romantic love in the subtleties of Sandy and Kirsten’s relationship and the heart-wrenching confessions of Summer who wrote sadly, “Dear Seth… I love you”. And we had the show defining man-love of Seth and Ryan. The moment where Seth looks out into the pool-house only to have Ryan give a detached look and close the blinds was distressing and pleasantly tender all in the same scene. Watching these characters so easily be moved and shaped by their relationship and the feelings they have for each other has always been my weakness.
The core drive behind the current arc was Ryan’s ultimate need for closure and revenge over Marissa’s death. But all was stalled when Seth predictably chose to save Ryan’s pending police record and jail time by finding Volchok and letting him escape out into the vast lands of Mexico. But it wasn’t before Seth, in the greater act of betrayal yet to be discovered by Ryan, tries to offer Volchok a deal and the assistance of Sandy’s DA skills to lure him back to the states and the American judicial system. It was a gentle, physically undamaging, approach to bounty hunting. But ultimately it was the perfect way to reinforce the characteristics of Seth. His loyalties are not without foolish choices and behaviors. Best of all in keeping Seth in character they kept things open ended with Volchok.
Having Kaitlin and Julie’s tattered bonds exposed and further explored left Kaitlin as an adequate character. But the moment she is back with her flat and personality lacking cohorts known as Luke’s brothers she is nothing more than annoying and vapid. And it becomes evidently clear how damaging her character can be to the show as soon as they deal with the teenage trials un-connecting to her family. Plus, it doesn’t help that except for some chest shaving and their, however miniature, muscle bound bodies they are nothing like Luke. Luke was played with a deft mix of masculinity preserving behaviors and dim-witted choices. But he still had heart and personality. Unlike his brothers, Luke was created with depth and layering allowing you to connect with the character. But seeing them only for minutes of the show never allows for the characters to override the quality that was almost fully restored in this episode.
The Gringo’s was gloriously satisfying and a pure joy to watch.
**** stars out of ***** stars
