All apprehension gone, my show hasn’t disappeared into the dangerous territory of C-grade soapie dramas. In fact it’s exceeded itself – this episode achieved the impossible for me. It made me laugh out loud TWICE and again it made me look forward to every single episode. It beat The Last Waltz and all the episodes of season three, and god, it was genuine, it was funny and it was the best.
Julie Cooper-Nichol. Finally I have something discredible to say about her. Out of all the conniving sneaky bitches in Newport, I would’ve thought one look at Charlotte’s motives would have had her pulling out her handgun again, yet she surprised me through by accepting Charlotte’s generous condo. We all know that this won’t be a smooth sailing story, but it will be damn interesting.
Charlotte obviously is going to use this to her advantage, but I think the conniving Julie has something up her sleeve too. In one of the previews you can see Julie calling Charlotte a manipulative bitch, which just shows how rocky this will be. I’m looking forward to it though. Very much so. Kudos to Jeri Ryan who plays Charlotte Morgan. Excellent acting in this episode, she made her character seem so genuine, up-beat and heartfelt, while also knowing how opposite she really is. While I complained about her storyline getting too “heavy” overt he last few weeks, when it’s with Julie, it doesn’t seem so bad.
While I’m focusing on the adults, Sandy and Kirsten’s story has been taken largely off the spotlight, and this is how it should be for a while. In season one, we had only brief adult drama with this couple, and the main focus was on the struggling teenagers. This is how it’s becoming in season three, and it’s great. They’re slowly returning to their old self, except as improved people, and that’s what marriage and love is about. To improve yourself and get through the difficult times to become stronger. Admittedly, the second season storylines were somewhat tedious, and it looks like the cast and bringing the adult cast’s viewing to a minimum, so The OC’s roots can be firmly placed again.
Out of the few scenes where Adult and Teen actually mingled, I have to say the going away dinner was in my top five favourite [hilarious] scenes. This is when I laughed out loud, the awkwardness and true character of this cast was brought out, and it was done excellently. Everything from Kirsten’s new skill, to Sandy’s overuse of “tofu”, to Summer squawking. I mean, come on Summer, what the hell was that? Funny stuff though! And Seth Cohen! He came around last episode, but he just upped last week’s performance last week by ten.
Again, the crew has got Seth in the right place. As Summer’s back up for any of her ambitious outgoings, and it just works so well! I want one of those Side-kicks too. Buy me one. Now. I love this couple. While it’s pretty obvious where Ryan and Marissa’s recycled storyline is heading, Summer and Seth’s potential for love triangles has stayed surprisingly tame and I’m grateful. They are a pleasure to watch on screen, and are both the characters that were born in the first season. Good on ya Josh.
It looks like we’ve seen the end of Dean Hess for now, which is a great move. While a definitely good add to the cast, he was definitely getting on my nerves, and the break is great. It was interesting to see how Summer and Seth would handle the discovery. In the end, Sandy was the most sensible decision and they surprised me by telling him to do it. For a couple that had spent the whole of last year arguing over a comic book, the maturity to let Sandy handle it (viz. such a seemingly stupid relationship) was inspiring for their future.
Ryan and Marissa! If this site weren’t family friendly, my swear jar would be overflowing. While keeping me watching, I hated the drama that was going on here. I hated watching my favourite couple screwing themselves over again. But for the first time, I felt it was justified, and it explained itself extremely well. It also led to one of the most heartfelt endings that the show has had in a while. If I were to choose heartfelt versus cliffhanger, I’d go for heartfelt.
There isn’t too much to harp on about here, because once again its just a recycled plotline, although I was kind of hurt by Ryan’s selfishness. When he said goodbye to Sandy and Kirsten… I mean, could he have been any colder? He didn’t know what he was throwing away when he requested cutting off the guardianship, and he was having a tantrum. Go Marissa for spelling it out for us at the wharf. I’m glad Marissa didn’t apologize with some teary goodbye and Ryan goes sailing off to god knows where. She said what was on her mind and it was refreshing.
I was scrolling the boards earlier today, and was shocked as to the amount of hate directed towards Johnny. I understand where you guys are coming from, but come on! There is no obvious hate for Ryan, and at least no intent for corruption (yet). When he arrived at the diner he had no idea of Ryan’s intentions, so that means he wasn’t fueling a hair-brained scheme in his car about how to get Marissa’s boyfriend deported. He was just there to offer Ryan help and perhaps an opportunity. I’m sure there will be some obvious chemistry fused between Johnny and Marissa, but for now I will stay detached and uncritical.
Casey seems genuine and sweet to Marissa, and her part seemed a little less cliché and lame this week, which was nice. And Chili took the “I’m so bloody annoying, punch me in the face please” sign off his head this episode and offered above average comic relief.
So that’s it for this week. Sorry if this review is poor – It was typed over four time periods, one of which I was sick, one I was drunk, and two I was fine, which leaves a messy situation. But let it be known for the record that this episode is in my definite top five and next week can only be A-Class OC. See you next week!