Editorial: The Dearly Beloved
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“You've come full cirlce, now you're home
Without the gold, without the chrome
And this is where you've always been
You had to lose so you could win
And rise above your troubles while you can.”
- Elton John, “The Measure of a Man”
Life is full of choices. Without going existentialist on you, I want everyone to remember that every moment of your life is a choice. Do you want soup or salad? Do you want the red pill or the blue pill? Do you want to keep reading this or not? Do you want to die now or die later?
I’m not saying that we have complete free will and that our final destination isn’t predetermined. It may be. But I’m not saying otherwise. What I’m saying is that we’re presented with opportunities day in and day out and there are consequences or rewards to each choice.
And that’s what “The Dearly Beloved” was about: choices. It was about how we can choose to fix our problems, how we can magnify them, and how some situations have choices with no rewards. It was about dealing with the worst hand that life can deal you.
And also, it was about family and its power.
Most importantly, it worked. It worked on all cylinders. In the hands of Josh Schwartz, we got, for the first time on the show, writing that hit on an emotional level, that elicited true feelings, and that made these characters feel as if they were friends and family. And then it shocked the hell out of us (and for all the right reasons—there was no “I can’t believe they did that” groan but there was a “They did that” shout).
The episode took everything that we’ve seen since the beginning of the series, not just this season, and put into this episode. Whether it’s Ryan’s final stance against the brother who has caused him so many problems or the actualization that there is no such thing as the moral center of any society because all families have problems, this episode began the rebuilding of shattered lives. True, it began a heap of other problems, but one chapter closed and in season three, another will open.
Ryan and Marissa. . .
They’ve been through a lot, huh? Whether it was Luke or Julie or Oliver or now Trey, they’ve had to endure a lot side-by-side. Despite the fact that I don’t particularly care for them as a couple, I have to admire the persistence of this relationship and how it seems to survive anything. And I think this episode illustrated just how strong these two are together.
Ryan had a choice. He could give his brother the benefit of the doubt and let him get out of town while maintaining at least, in theory, a respectable rapport. Or he could react just like Ryan Atwood used to do and just like he should have and step up and defend the honor of someone who loves him. Despite their ups and downs, Marissa is family in a broad sense. Whereas his father is in prison, his brother almost got him in jail several times, and his mother abandoned him, Marissa remains a constant. So when Seth told Ryan what happened, Ryan had to define what family was. Is family simply blood and a name? Or is family a group of people who stick by you no matter what? The look in Ryan’s eyes, possibly the most telling face and single best acting moment of the entire show, said it all.
The fight between Ryan and Trey was the culmination of two seasons of frustrations. What Ryan got from Trey’s mistakes is a new life, a life of luxury and a life with a real family. But what he lost was a family member by blood. He lost someone he probably looked up to. And that may have sent his mother over the edge and may be one reason she left. So as much as he gained, he lost an equal amount. And even if Ryan is happy now, there still has to be built up frustration and it all came to a head in that moment. How the fight played out, how Trey got the upper-hand despite Ryan completely destroying him, is a little difficult to figure out but it was an intense moment, as intense as anything ever done in the show. And I have to wonder, why did Trey want to kill Ryan? I’m not even sure that’s a sign of him being a bad guy. I just think it’s a sign of him being scared and not knowing how to react. I’ll never justify actions like Trey’s, but there was a certain fear that surrounded his character and almost made his actions seem normal.
As for the big shot at the end, that’s going to be interesting. Certainly Marissa acted in the moment. She could have shot him in the arm or hit him in the head with the gun. She could have done a lot of different things, but instead she chose to shoot him. It wasn’t technically in self-defense, though it was to protect a loved one. She’ll get off, there’s no doubt about that, but Sandy’s got his work cut out for him here. I think the most interesting thing about the story will be to see what it does to Ryan and Marissa. The writers have two options: they can break them up and have Ryan get pissed at Marissa for killing his brother or they can have these two work together to pick up the pieces. I know which one I want. And I know which one would be a better story. Let’s hope the writers pick the same one.
Sandy and Kirsten…
There’s an episode of Family Guy that cuts to a flashback of Peter’s family and friends staging an intervention for him. They want him to stop wearing a green, foam hat. And when you think about it, staging an intervention almost seems stupid. After all, what person wouldn’t stop something that would hurt their family? Why wouldn’t a person stop something that’s so damaging to himself?
But that’s just it. Sometimes, things are out of our control. Whether you want to consider alcoholism a disease or not is irrelevant because you can’t deny the effect it has on people. It hurts families. It affects everyone around the alcoholic. Everyone pays. And there’s just nothing the alcoholics can do on their own. That’s where family comes in. That’s where loved ones step in and take charge no matter how bad it hurts the accused. It has to be done and Seth, Sandy, Ryan, and Hailey did exactly what they should. It hurts everyone involved but if it doesn’t happen, it’s going to hurt even worse.
Even though the ending of the episode was the most shocking, this story was where the writing, the cast, and episode shone. It managed to take something simple—no psychos, no guns—and make it the most emotionally intense storyline the show has ever done. The characters were honest. They showed that they love each other. Every family has their issues Sandy rightfully claims, but the best families overcome those issues.
And not only did the intervention scene really tug at the heart strings, the scenes with Sandy and Seth did as well. Those two are so far into their roles by now that they appear to be a true father and son pair and their talk was honest, a little awkward, and painfully true. Sandy’s willingness to admit that he should have told Seth, Seth’s willingness to admit that he has been so self-involved that he’s lost sight of his family, and their mutual understanding that Kirsten needed help, no matter what, was simply a thing of beauty. Sandy kissing Seth on the head added to the realism of the scene and to the simple, but powerful nature.
Kirsten probably won’t be perfect right away. Even when she comes out, the family will have to walk on eggshells around her. She’s going to have to deal with her company, she’s still going to have to clean up her father’s mess, and she’s going to have to keep her family above water. The marriage will probably be stronger, though, and that’s important.
Kirsten could have chosen to ignore Seth’s final plea, but she didn’t. She chose her family, not herself, and that was the ultimate decision in this episode and a beautiful way to wrap up the story.
Seth and Summer…
There’s not much to say about these two. They showed a devotion to each other. Summer didn’t force her condolences about Caleb onto Seth. She quietly sat with him, offered up Princess Sparkle, and just gave him someone to be with.
The most pleasant thing last night was Summer’s interaction with Marissa. While everyone talks about Seth being self-involved, Summer has been just as bad, wrapping herself up in Seth and Zach’s war and forcing them to choose to benefit her. But just like Ryan, Summer knows that Marissa is family and she recognized a problem. And she did what she had to do. She knew what the outcome would be once it got to Ryan, but she had to protect her friend. And I’m glad she did.
Seth’s decision to tell Ryan was very similar. No doubt he knew that it would cause problems and that Ryan would get himself in trouble, but he understood that Ryan had to know because Ryan’s family and Ryan needed to fight for another member of his family.
The most surprising thing to me about Seth was this realization that Caleb and Seth were close. I don’t recall many scenes with them together and I really don’t recall any scenes where they got along. But it worked in the story and so I’ll take it. It was tough to see Seth sad. For the first time in the show, he seemed to truly open up and act vulnerable.. We’ve seen him act sad and heartbroken in his own goofy way but this episode showed him act unsure of what he wanted or how to fix anything. He knew his mom needed help, he knew he had to get over Caleb’s death, and he knew Ryan needed to know about Trey. This was far different than being sad over Summer but knowing that he ultimately had to get her back. This was about not knowing what’s going on in and with his world. It’s about the complexities of life and how things aren’t cut and dry. It’s about choices.
Jimmy and Julie…
May I just take a moment and express my enthusiasm for the return of Jimmy Cooper sans curly mullet. It was great to see him back. I’m not lying when I say that I think the fact that the show’s poor run coinciding with Jimmy’s departure was not a coincidence. He’s just a delight to see on screen because you know he’s good. Hearing “kiddo” made the episode an automatic thumbs up for me.
But how is this going to work? He and Julie want to get back together and have for a while. Can Jimmy just drop his past with Hailey, a past that seems a little unresolved? Can Jimmy trust that Julie will not turn back into the person she was? At the moment she’s clearly hurting and she’s vulnerable, so the idea of starting over sounds good, but what happens when this smoke clears? Whether these two want the marriage to work for each other or to give their daughters a good life is foggy at the moment though I’m sure it will clear up.
What I hope is that Jimmy stays and that he’s the same Jimmy. After racking my brain for every twist possible, the only negative one I could come up with would be that Jimmy wants to take Julie’s money in a bit of irony. That would be the nail in the coffin for the show and I beg Josh, if he’s reading this (and he does read things online so it’s not too far from the realm of possibility), to not do that. I would guarantee a significant decrease in viewers. Jimmy’s a fan favorite, without question. People moan and groan about the possible returns of Theresa and Oliver but no one has a cross word to say about Jimmy Cooper. He’s awesome. Keep Jimmy as the loveable good guy. Keep him flawed, but keep him good. Please.
The hug between Marissa and Julie was another excellent moment in the show. Whether Julie can express her love for Marissa or not, she does love her and she does want to protect her. She just wants to do it on her terms. The fact is that she’s still young and she’s still a bit pretentious and she doesn’t understand that she can’t get her way. Caleb’s death hopefully opened up a different side to Julie, a side that allows her to give a little more than she takes. Their relationship will obviously be strained here, though this isn’t a Tijuana incident where Marissa just did something stupid, so it’ll be interesting to see how their relationship plays out when Julie finds out what happened. I’d like to believe she’ll rally to Marissa’s side, but you never know.
Still, the most important thing is that Jimmy seems to be back. Maybe next year I’ll get that hour on a boat that I clamored for this year. You never know.
Other Thoughts…
I’m usually the first one to jump down the writers’ throats when they don’t bring the funny, but they didn’t this week (with the exception of a few lines) and it worked incredibly well. This was a very dark episode and the comedy would have been incredibly unnecessary.
So Marissa’s shot and she’s in a wheelchair at the funeral? I loved watching the message board squirm this week as people tried to figure things out and others claimed to know exactly what was happening.
Oliver’s back! Wait, no he’s not. Didn’t we learn anything after last year’s finale spoilers included the Cohen’s house burning down and Caleb having a heart attack? Josh played us all for suckers and Seth’s line about Oliver was truly wonderful.
Josh Schwartz really should write every episode. I’m not lying. I’ll continue to say it until it happens. It might send him to an early grave due to stress but the show’s only got four or five years left in at most anyway. He can outlive that. (Okay, okay, I kid, I kid…)
Glad to see Tate Donovan cut his hair. That scary curly thing he had going on at the beginning of the season didn’t work for him.
It was a smart move to not show much of the funeral. The episode wasn’t about the funeral, it was about everything around it, much like the wedding last season. I did like that we got excerpts of Sandy’s speech and I’m glad he was honest about not getting along with Caleb.
Nice North Shore reference. I’d like to see Hailey stick around for a while. She’s not developed yet and there seem to be a lot of facets to her character. I’m not particularly interested in seeing she and Julie fight again, but I am interested to see her life explored some. I’m sure she won’t be around for too long, though. And I’d like to take this time to express my anger over the fact that North Shore was cancelled. It was just starting to come around. Woe is television, though, right?
I have to wonder why Lindsay wasn’t there. From a writer’s point-of-view, I understand that they mangled that story and they probably don’t want people to remember it, but still, it was her father, a father she apparently wanted to know.
The music in the final scene was interesting. Wasn’t sure what to think of it at first, though the second time around, I liked it. Not as fitting as “Hallelujah” was last year but what could be?
I like that they addressed Ryan’s change this season. He recognizes that he’s changed and he did it purposefully. It was solid justification for his actions and it was intriguing all at once.
Did anyone notice Zach wasn’t in this episode? I sure didn’t until after it was over.
So who gets the company now? Who runs it while Kirsten is in rehab? And really, who’s been running it? Julie can’t handle all that work and Kirsten’s been busy with the magazine. And speaking of that, who gets to handle the magazine now? No Carter to pick up the pieces.
Where will next season pick up? Will time have passed? Or will we get summer episodes that pick up right after the big shot and we’ll see how that goes before a baseball hiatus? I vote for that one. Apparently Kelly Rowan said that the show will come back before baseball. Who knows, though? FOX can be difficult.
Final Thoughts on “The Dearly Beloved”
I don’t think anyone can question my love for this episode. Whereas last year the show claimed that it would end with an “emotional cliffhanger” (and it did, don’t get me wrong), it never quite hit the same level of emotion that this episode did. The characters overtook the writing and it made for something meaningful.
At the same time, they managed to throw a real cliffhanger in and it was a good one, simple as that. It was slightly reminiscent of Tijuana with a bit of wonderful O.C. melodrama that had Trey looking over his shoulder with that wide-eyed look on his face. The show hasn’t done that in a while and it was due now.
What an amazing way to end this season. That’s all I can say about it, really.
Thanks for reading.
- Drew
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