Editorial: The Showdown
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What has happened?
When did this show go from the pits of television hell to must-see television? When did this show realize its strengths and play off those? When did it get a heart transplant and make me care about these characters again?
I don’t know. It came so fast that no one can really figure it out but it’s happened.
Welcome folks to another week of
O.C. chatter. Hope everyone’s week is going well and I hope that you enjoyed last night’s episode as much as I did. Coming off a strong “The Return of the Nana” this episode had a lot to live up to and it did and then some. It addressed issues that needed to be addressed, took on the right tone to the stories, and was thoroughly entertaining for the entire hour. Plus, it left us with the biggest ending the show has had since Ryan brought Marissa out of the ally in TJ.
Ryan/Marissa: Ignoring the obvious idiocy of Marissa not wearing a t-shirt to cover her bruises and the even bigger idiotic move of not telling Ryan (hey, if Ryan can convince Oliver to put the gun down, I have a feeling the man can do anything), I’m really impressed with how this is all playing out. It’s what I’ve been looking for since these two started heading down the familiar path: a story about their relationship that’s not about their relationship. It’s about how they’ll cope with something that neither of them can help (unlike the Oliver story where Ryan spotted everything from onset) and not how quickly they can be broken up. At least that’s how I’m seeing the story, but who knows? In some ways this story has been building for a while and I’m actually glad to see it happen. If there’s one thing that’s been completely horrible about Marissa is that she drinks. A lot. And look, I’m 19 and so I appreciate the fact that people drink. A lot. Especially teenagers. But despite that it’s been pretty distressing week after week to watch Marissa do the same thing and not learn anything and that’s probably because even with all the small problems, TJ withstanding, her drinking has caused, she hasn’t had anything major happen. Now she drinks with Trey and ends up almost raped. And she’s scarred horribly. It’s like hitting rock bottom just so you can begin climbing to the top. So what about Ryan? The ending left us to believe that he feels that Trey and Marissa are sneaking around behind his back and certainly that’s logical given everything that’s happened since he got back from Miami. But even so I have to wonder if that’s what Ryan really believes. Ryan is smart and is able to see into things. He was the one who knew about Oliver and he’s the only one who’s been willing to challenge Trey’s stance about being a changed guy. I’m not sure he’s thinking rape, but I definitely think there’s more to it than just believing that Trey and Marissa are sneaking. How will he react when he finds out? That’s difficult to gauge. How do you respond to something like that? Regardless of whether or not he doubts Trey he does love him. And rape is such a vile act that I can only associate it with hate. How can he begin to hate someone he loves? It’s the only family he even maintains contact with. Does Marissa mean enough to Ryan that he will jeopardize his family? I’m hoping he will just because of my disdain for rape but truthfully, I would imagine it’s a tougher call to make. And with that, I want to express my pleasure with the Ryan and Marissa scene where she kept seeing Trey’s face. Extremely intense and well-edited. It reminded me a lot of the scene in
Dawson’s Creek where Andie sees Abby in the mirror after she’s dead. It’s just completely scary because it’s in your mind and no matter what you can’t escape your thoughts.
Seth/Summer: Okay so I still don’t like the fact that their relationship had to be thrown right back in the blender after the Spider-man kiss. But I can’t avoid what’s already been done. An even bigger mistake, however, has been this ridiculous graphic novel storyline. It’s been done to keep Zach in the picture and in the process it’s turned Seth into an even more unlikable character (hey, he was great last year but anyone who thinks his characterization has been
good is completely oblivious). The biggest problem about that story is that it’s been completely serious. It’s just, I don’t know, it’s just wrong. So Thursday night they played it completely tongue-in-cheek. From the music to Seth’s spying to the ridiculous catfight at the end, the entire storyline played out as its own comic book, an Archie comic, for that matter. And that’s how it should be. Last season the show was smart enough to know that when Ryan was on the screen they played the brooding music and when Seth was on they played the goofy music. Seth could stop to be serious long enough to win over Summer but he always worked his best when he didn’t take anything seriously. And now that this story was taken as a fun one, it made it much more enjoyable. And plus we got to see Rachel Bilson look almost as hot as she did as Wonder Woman last year and that’s always a plus. But I’m still not sure I understand the love triangle portion. Each week I ask why Summer left Zach at the airport if she was just going to turn around and fight with Seth? Sure, she didn’t know they’d end up fighting, but it doesn’t change the fact that when you make a declaration like that you should at least attempt to stick by it. And also, as much as I do enjoy the Seth versus Zach war, it’s still come too fast. Zach said that as a water polo player, he’s not nice, but he was nice. He was dull, sure, but he was nice. He was always understanding about the Seth/Summer relationship and his sudden change of heart is a little far-fetched and a little discerning (at least Trey’s change to a rapist seems plausible because we hadn’t seen him enough to make any real statements). Zach’s not going to win Summer back and I think he understands that (or if not, he should). So fighting for her won’t work. But maybe even more obnoxious than the fighting is the fact that Summer allows it. Of all the guys she could date, she can’t find someone to pass her time while these two bicker? Next week it looks like she wants one of them to take her to prom (my guess is that Zach will take her before Seth swoops in by standing on a coffee cart or hot dog stand) and that just seems like a horrible idea. But okay, at least the story was fun in this episode.
Sandy/Kirsten: If these episodes hadn’t been taped before I started my reviews I’d sue for copyright infringement because what Kirsten said in these episodes is the exact thing I’ve been saying all along. Okay, I’m patting myself on the back for stating the obvious but work with me here. What a depressing story this is. Kirsten can’t get anything to work. Every time she reaches for something, it disappears, whether it’s Seth and Ryan, Sandy, or Carter. She’s completely alone and despite the fact that alcohol never solves problems, it’s all she has that will stay with her. And in a sense I don’t blame her for drinking like she does. One of the worst pains in the world is just being alone. Watching her cry out to Sandy was a breath of fresh air. She laid it out there for him and she told him everything. She told him why she hurt and why she needed to drink. And I think Sandy understood although I still think he’s making a mistake by not coming completely clean about kissing Rebecca. I’m sure it’s understood between the two of them that it happened but it was also understood that something happened with Carter (Sandy’s obviously known about their tension since the beginning) and yet Kirsten still opened up. I think one of the most poignant moments of the story was when Kirsten left Sandy to go to the bar. For the first time she was the one walking out. It wasn’t Seth and Ryan heading to Tahiti and Chino and it wasn’t Sandy heading to Rebecca. It was Kirsten taking control. It didn’t exactly work out but she bared her soul and that’s all she can do. Look where keeping things bottled in his gotten her—to the bottle. As for the final scene it was an extremely well-done scene. For a drama, this show has always done a reasonably well job of ending episodes on a high note (even the most intense of the season, “The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn’t” ended happily) and saving the big moments for the beginnings of the next episodes. And so when that car missed Kirsten I figured that it was over and that Sandy would swoop in. But it didn’t. There’s something incredibly symbolic about this entire thing and it all goes back to the fact that Kirsten just can’t get her life together. Even when she’s almost rescued, she crashes. And I have to wonder who suffers the most from her wrath. Is it Caleb who, in the preview, she said caused the family to be screwed up? Is it Seth and Ryan who set off the worst year of her life? Is it Sandy for forgetting her anniversary and then going off with Rebecca? Or is it herself for not confronting her feelings sooner? Happy Mother’s Day, Kiki.
Julie/Caleb: When these two aren’t around they are missed. “The Return of the Nana” was an exceptional episode but without those two something is missing. I truly believe that they are the two best characters on the show at the moment because their marriage encompasses everything in Newport: power, money, looks, and deceit. Caleb Nichol is a smart, smart man. Revealing that he knew all along about Luke and Jimmy was tremendous (and it also led to Julie’s best line: “Ex-boyfriend”) and it showed that Caleb was firmly in control. At times in this relationship I thought that Julie had the upper-hand but clearly not. Caleb exposes Julie for who she is and Julie brings out what Caleb really is. It’s a vicious cycle because neither personalities is particularly endearing. Regardless something is going to be shaken up in their world and I am excited as hell to see what. Beneath Julie’s exterior lies someone who is broken and confused. She’s at her best when she’s bitchy, but it’s clearly only a manifestation of something deeper. Does she have the heart to hurt Caleb? Caleb, on the other hand, despite attempts to use Lindsay to turn him soft, seems to be very solid in his stance. He’s unchanging. Is he prepared to handle whatever Julie throws at him? I think so. Julie’s messing with fire and when you mess with fire you get burned.
So really this was a strong, strong episode overall. It found its tone and it found stories that made these characters seem lively and real. There is nothing extremely groundbreaking or exaggerated about the stories yet they feel completely fresh. Everything since season one seems to be building to these final episodes: if Ryan ceases ties with Trey, then he’s got no Atwood ties any longer; Seth needs to find a way to keep Summer happy constantly; Kirsten and Sandy have been bickering for a long time and their marriage has been morally solid but not all-around solid; and Julie and Caleb have set themselves up to screw each other over. It’s good television. That’s all I can say.
Random Thoughts:
So it looks like John Stephens, producer of this show and writer of this particular episode, actually suffers from John Stevens syndrome. For those who don’t get the reference, Stevens was the redhead crooner on
American Idol last year. He obviously had talent (I loved him) but didn’t fit in the contest. Still every now and then he did something right. Stephens is obviously talented because he has a job in the television industry but he doesn’t belong on this show. But we waited long enough and he did something right. This episode was extremely well written. The characters felt completely right and I won’t cringe to see his name anymore.
Along with the stupidity of Marissa not just wearing a t-shirt, why didn’t Kirsten pour her Bloody Mary out in the sink?
Why don’t Ryan and Marissa kiss with tongue? Wouldn’t those pecks get old after a while?
That kid from
Little Giants hasn’t changed one bit has he?
Before Kirsten got hit did anyone else hear Mitch Leery singing “Drift Away” as he got smashed on
Dawson’s Creek?
Didn’t Trey look kind of stupid just standing around at the school waiting on Marissa? Surprised no one offered to help him look given the completely clueless look on his face.
Yeah, that’s all I have this week. I’m incredibly stressed (hence the late posting of this review) and I’m so tired that I don’t even know what all I’ve written (second time it’s happened recently, I know, I’m sorry). College is tough. Don’t go. That’s my advice to all you high schoolers. Don’t go to college. It’s way too hard. Okay, maybe I’m lying about not going, but it is hard. So be prepared. I do think an episode of
The O.C. where Seth freaks out studying for exams in college would be fun. Josh shouldn’t be so afraid to move the kids on.
Hope everyone who’s celebrating has a good Mother’s Day and I’ll see you all in a week. Will we be talking about the return of Theresa? Only Josh knows for sure, but it’s a strong rumor. Should be interesting as long as she’s not a five-minute guest star. But I’ll get to that next week.
Only comments and concerns this week, no questions because I just don’t have the time to answer them and if you do email them, they won’t be answered. I know that’s harsh, but there’s just way too much going on. I would like to hear your thoughts on the review, this episode, and the show in general, maybe some predictions (but no spoilers!) for the finale and where you think the show could go next year.
- Drew
Questions? Comments? Death threats?
Email Me.
