Editorial: The O.C. Confidential
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The best teen drama on television is back, baby!
Yes, that’s right,
One Tree Hill returned Tuesday night.
What? Oh, you thought I was talking about
The O.C.. Really? You thought that? After this week, I don’t see how anyone could reasonably suggest that this show is even keeping itself above water.
“The Rainy Day Women” seemed to set things straight. They put Zach out of the picture in the Seth and Summer romance. They sent Lindsay on her merry way so they could begin working on the Ryan and Marissa relationship again. They sent Rebecca packing so they could fix Sandy and Kirsten’s relationship. Things looked right.
Adding Carter, Lance, and Trey was a good step for the show. The Carter storyline gave Kirsten something to do and it was something that made sense. The Lance story was trashy enough to fit Julie and it was interesting enough to make you feel sorry for Julie. The Trey story allowed Ryan to take become his brother’s own big brother and help steer him in the right way.
The show added parties, fights, sleaze, and everything that made the first season so great. And it worked for a few episodes. The nostalgia trip was fun. But the show’s lacking now because instead of taking last year’s formula and trying to move the show forward, it’s taking last year’s formula and just trying to recreate last year. They’ve created a lot of illegitimate children and while that story worked with Lindsay, it’s not something the show wants to become itself. Think about it:
Seth/Zach/Summer is the bastard child of Seth/Anna/Summer. Last season’s triangle was wonderful. It was exciting because the characters were all likeable and the relationships all made sense. This triangle is boring. It’s been horrible since the start. Taking characters that people enjoy and like and ripping them a part in order to have tension doesn’t work. Seth became obnoxious and self-absorbed early on and now Zach, a nice (if dull guy) and made him an ass.
Sandy/Kirsten/Carter is the bastard child of Sandy/Kirsten/Jimmy and even Sandy/Kirsten/Rebecca. The first worked pretty well because Jimmy was a good guy and in a really troublesome place. It’s also why I liked Kirsten and Carter together at first because Kirsten was in an extremely dark place. Now it’s just plodding and limping to its death.
Ryan/Marissa is the bastard of, well, Ryan/Marissa. It sucked from the beginning and it’s starting to suck again now (hey, I still like this year’s incarnation better than last year but it doesn’t mean that it’s perfect and believe me, it’s getting less perfect as the story goes on).
So I’ve decided I’m going to skip the plot summary from now on and just incorporate aspects of it in my analysis. The plot summary is what episode guides are for. And besides, if you’re reading this, you’ve likely either seen it or are going to see it so it’s just extra work to summarize the whole plot. And it’s pretty tedious. Just like this paragraph.
Ryan/Marissa: So that was it? Weeks of build-up and there’s that kiss? In a car. With no passion. Nothing. I was all for bringing it to an end quickly, but that was the most anti-climatic kiss I’ve seen on television in a long time. But before that, we dealt with the two of them on a mission to find out who actually gave Jess the drugs. They tried to go undercover and it well, it might have worked. I actually have no idea what happened in the last scene. The dialogue was so awkward and stilted that it just didn’t make sense to me. Whatever, though. I honestly have nothing to say this week because this was just a brutal storyline. The acting was off, the writing was off, and the characters just didn’t work. Never thought I’d run out of things to write, but I have.
Seth/Summer: I would have been content with seeing Seth and Summer go out on a date and have a horrible time. Dramatic? Nah, probably not. Fun? Definitely. Instead we get this triangle where the characters change from week-to-week and there’s no clear path. Since the Spiderman kiss we’ve seen them argue over Zach’s fake girlfriend, argue over Seth’s obsession with last year, argue over the graphic novel, argue over Reed, and well, yeah, just argue. We’ve seen Seth go from noble to whiney to obsessive to horndog to scared (of Summer). We’ve seen Summer become a complete bitch and not in the way that I enjoy (though, wasn’t it great when she was in the Bait Shop and asked Marissa if she was on coke?). Zach, always nicer than dull, has suddenly changed into a jerk. But here lies the ambiguity: should we hate Zach? After all, he was nothing but understanding throughout his relationship with Summer and she leaves him at the airport. He comes back and suddenly sees them every week. If nothing else, Seth and Summer are the bad guys. It’s completely
normal for Zach to be jealous. But here lies another problem: why is he just now getting his revenge? Why wait so many episodes? Sure, there’s the idea that maybe he just was waiting for the perfect moment to screw Seth up, but he’s smart and would know that if he blows this graphic novel thing then his potential career is over as well. And why do it so quickly? Why just come out of nowhere with this vengeance? I don’t buy that he was just setting it up all along because that’s not who Zach is. It’s not who he was at the beginning of the season, at the middle of the season, and it shouldn’t be who he is now. So basically what we have is this: a bitch who left her boyfriend at the airport, a whiney kid who changes his mind every week (though he spent months pining after one particular thing), and a nice guy who suddenly decided to be an ass despite weeks of playing it cool. The writers appear to be setting up a good versus evil thing here, but there is no good. Or maybe they’re setting up Summer’s ultimate choice, but how is that even a story? She’s going to pick Seth in the end. Why can’t Zach get his own story? Why can’t he just fade off into the sunset? He wasn’t needed last year and so what difference would it make if he just started hanging out with old friends? Contrary to what these writers would have you believe, just because you change circles of friends for a little while doesn’t mean that you can’t go back.
Sandy/Kirsten: I don’t get Sandy. He obviously picked up on the Kirsten/Carter vibe early on but now he’s completely blind. And deaf too. Kelly’s performance has been nothing short of phenomenal with her eyes telling a wonderful story and her voice being shaky enough to suggest that she really does like Carter. Too bad that the story has lost all appeal. What exactly did Kirsten need to go to the winery for? She’s not a writer. Doesn’t she have more to do? Is the Newport Group not doing anything else? She basically runs the company now (not in title but Julie’s position is a figurehead position) and instead of actually working, she’s going to help Carter drink. Convenient. So convenient. I know it was supposed to be a couples thing and so it would be romantic, but still, it was just too convenient. Sandy was a good guy for letting Kirsten go, but for someone with a law degree, he’s not exactly smart. I do find it nice continuity that their marriage got in trouble when he was too busy with work (Rebecca) and now he’s so busy with work (Trey) that he’s letting his wife go off with Carter.
Julie/Caleb: Easily the storyline of the night. I cannot praise Alan Dale enough. Despite the inconsistencies with his character following the Lindsay revelation and the way they dropped the ball on his feud with Ryan, he’s breathed incredible life into the character. Melinda Clarke, similarly, has been amazing. On screen, there’s such a contrast in styles that it works. Alan Dale is subdued and expressionless while Melinda Clarke explains her character’s emotions through facial expressions. But together, it works. And this marriage, which started off as something no one wanted to see last year, ended up being the saving grace. There are a lot of unresolved questions and that’s what makes this exciting. Who took those pictures? Does Julie really buy into Caleb’s sudden change of heart at the end? Did Caleb ever really want a divorce or does he have something else planned?
So again, not a good episode by any stretch. That’s two in a row that they’ve dropped the ball on and it’s the same mistakes: weak and wavering characterization and recycled storylines.
Random Thoughts (some related, many not)
How great was that
That ‘70s Show commercial that they aired? Maybe it didn’t air in all markets but it aired in mine and wow, it was chilling. Set to a cover of the Beatles’ “In My Life,” it showed clips from the final episode include a beautiful scene with Red and Eric that almost made me cry just from the commercial.
Gas dropped to $1.99 in my area, but I just read that in the real Orange County, gas is up to an average of $2.605 a gallon. Wonder if these means Seth will have to get back on his skateboard more often?
Seriously, what the hell was up with that final scene? I still don’t understand what was going on.
Did I mention last week that Jimmy Cooper is returning for the season finale? In my opinion, it should be a two hour episode of Jimmy just sitting on his boat.
Did I mention that Oliver is rumored to return for the finale as well? Yeah, that’s a spoiler. Who cares? If the show is stupid enough to have Oliver return, then the world needs to be spoiled. Of course, last season, the finale spoilers included a fire at the Cohen’s house and Caleb’s heart attack, so you can’t believe everything.
They finally put the grade issue to rest. They aren’t seniors. The end. Quit asking. They were juniors last year and they are likely juniors again this year though, for all I know, Josh might have actually sent them BACK in time and they’re sophomores. Doubt it, but we’ll see.
I mentioned Kelly Rowan doing a great acting job but everyone else seems to be going through the motion. When the actors are as apathetic as the writers and the reviewers, you know it’s not going well.
Okay, so that wraps it up.
I want to apologize for this review. It’s not my best by any means. But it’s all I have. Not only was I so disheartened about the episode that I had nothing interesting to say, I also had a troubling day yesterday (Thursday), and I’m also suffering from serious allergies leaving me miserable. So writing is tough. I think I got my point across, though.
- Drew
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