The End of Innocence. They weren’t kidding.
I have to open to convey my complete annoyance with Ryan. Yes, it’s great that his going all out to help Marissa. Yes, it’s courageous. Yes, it’s hot. Yes, all you girls reading this are just waiting to rip at me for what I’m about to say next. Frankly, Ryan is taking too many liberties with Marissa, and I know I’m right because Marissa didn’t even want to stay in Newport. Sandy was right, and Ryan needs to step back and think about himself.
Wow, straight into it huh? I haven’t even started.
It’d be wrong to say I hated this episode. I didn’t. I was just sorely disappointed from the trailer. I sound like such a critic, after I’m sure many of you loved this episode etc etc, but I’m not a fan of it overall. I’m a fan of the scenes individually, but the whole thing was rushed, and not enough care went into developing the plots.
To be honest, after I finished watching this I felt sick. Casual watchers of the show, after seeing a bad ep, would shake there heads and flick to another channel, or might even drop a line to there mates about the quality and such. Me, being a professional crazed fan, love the show in its entirety and cherish everything about The O.C., hence have a much more magnified disappointment. So many things happened in this episode that made me feel sick, that they snowballed and merged into one big ball of bleargh.
Mainly it was Jimmy.
For a man I deemed with such a high priority for family, for someone who I thought had learned and would get his way out of any situation, the inevitable financial situation he dug for himself just confirmed my predictions. I should have seen it coming, but at the end of the episode, he wasn’t the Jimmy I had known. Not only did he ditch his family again, but he did it with so little backbone, I nearly vomited. Not to mention Caitlin coming home in the future and finding him gone forever.
He appeared a tad cold to Marissa and wouldn’t allow Marissa to hug him (sure, your ribs hurt, but your daughter won’t ever see you again) and then he broke Julie’s heart.
I hated that so much. I actually felt for the bitch of a character, which just shows that the characters are executed well. But when Marissa and Ryan went to see her, and she was all jazzed up for maybe the only marriage in her life that wasn’t appealing because of money, only to be let down, I was pissed and sad, and I felt unresolved. It is merely the beginning of as many problems as commas in my last sentence, which are to affect her and Marissa. The moment where they hugged won the episode a great number of points.
Julie is in many ways more of a child herself then Marissa. When she said “What are we going to do?” she probably was talking about money in a big way, however we know that she’ll probably be alone for a long time. I like how it’s just her and Marissa to start there life over together… it pulls at the heartstrings and will show a side of their relationship which I cherish.
This leads us to the will. I actually thought a huge portion of Caleb’s money would go to Lindsay or something, but it wasn’t the case. It surprised me, that someone who got so much crap from a bitching wife would divide his finances 50/50. Kirsten and Sandy don’t need the money, which is now confirmed as no money anyway. I’m afraid this now truly ends the legacy of Caleb Nichol, as his letter (which I’m SO glad he wrote) was the last part of him left.
I didn’t blame Kirsten for running off either. I’m glad she’s back too. It was so great to see them all together again. But to the serious matters, I’m glad we’ve seen the end of Charlotte for a little while. There is no doubt she’ll be back, but her story is too heavy for me. I am definitely interested and definitely intrigued, but whenever I see her, I’m reminded more of Law and Order then Orange County.
She took the photo. For me, this means two things. That, a) she’s going to stare and brood over that Chrismukkah photo until she pulls up the nerve to go to the Cohen house and take out everyone. Or, b) she’s using the photo as an excuse to rock up at Kirsten’s and return it, and hence drag Kirsten back into her misery, which may lead to option a). I don’t know. It’s confusing and quite depressing actually.
Charlotte’s problems to me, seem beyond alcohol, and more into the Jimmy department. Yes, I think she’s after Kirsten’s money. Her strange rituals to get at it may trigger some psycho behaviour, but I think she truly envies the lifestyle of the average Newpsie. The way she lied to Kirsten about the cottage being her fathers’, and then have the landlord come and confirm the bouncing cheque – it was telling and it was creepy.
Not to mention, she also irritates me to pieces, as well as weirding me out. “So, you’re going to your fathers reading of the will? Sorry, I overheard”. Shut up bitch, you were eavesdropping. Sorry.
I’m also glad to see Mischa naked, in reply to my previous editorial haha, although it didn’t seem to build up the atmosphere as much as it should have. I don’t know – it should have happened and it should have happened at that time, but the way it was shot kind of distracted its intensity a bit. I know the type of effect the producers were going for, by syncing Jimmy’s bashing with the sex scene, although it was all a bit too intense.
And yes, it was heavy.
So, I don’t know what I’m thinking with the episodes, but I definitely enjoy them still, and they are still a high notch above mid-season-two. I apologize for not mentioning Summer and Seth much, but they’re relationship seems the same, and it was really brave how Seth did take his two months detention on the chin, in Summer’s defence.
I didn’t really like seeing them in a school play though; it was too different for me. Taylor is still entertaining though. She’s Such A Bitch. Yes, those capitals were absolutely necessary. The cue for Summer to go crazy at the dean didn’t actually come, but no doubt it will. I’m actually surprised how Dean Hess can be that much against Summer and Seth, to the point that he blatantly ignores a minute-long bitch about Cohen being the biggest geek in Newport, as opposed to him magically appearing when Summer’s two “skanks” actually defends another student.
The Diner. I actually enjoy these mealtimes (peppered by Summer’s oh-so-inspirational speeches) and they are really more appealing then the dungeon-like gloom of the Baitshop which seriously needs to be visited only once this season, if at all. But I wouldn’t mind these bonding-sessions occurring maybe at the Crab Shack, where many of the season one scenes were located. Like Dr. Kim, it’d be a blast from the past that’d be welcomed.
So this week I wasn’t really that impressed with the depressing state it left me in, but the plot is recklessly speeding along, and like the weather in some cities, you just have to wait for another few minutes before the atmosphere changes entirely.
I’ve been looking forward to meeting Johnny and Chili, the two new characters that befriend Marissa in her new school. It’s up next week and I can’t wait. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll also see Julie crying, which really tears me, along with a sinister looking girl finger-shooting Marissa. As if there weren’t enough bitches on this show (I’m joking, I enjoy it). I also enjoyed the soundtrack to next week’s trailer – “Forever Young” by Alphaville. It also played in Napoleon Dynamite which cracked me up a bit.
Watch this space for next week’s review!