the o.c. rewatch blog

this episode was written by melissa rosenberg & allan heinberg, directed by michael lange

The box set description for this episode:

It can’t stay in Mexico. Not after heartbroken Marissa Cooper took all those pills. And not with Marissa’s mom trying to have her institutionalized - something Ryan, Seth, Summer, and Marissa don’t want to happen.

episode superlatives and statistics:

best lines:

seth, always interesting to see you

i don’t know what that means cohen, i wasn’t in panama

it’s pronounced tijuana, you’re so white mom

best and worst outfits:

best: everyone wears the same outfit for most of the episode so there wasn’t a lot to choose from but i did like kirsten’s getup here

worst: oof this one is bad. who wear a rhythmic gymnastics tube top with ribbon down the side to visit her daughter in the psych ward. oh right, julie does!

best song:

Keep It Together by Guster plays as they fade to credits. One of my personal favorite bands, anyone interested should listen to their other stuff, it’s fantastic.

Also honorable mention to La Femme De Argent by Air that plays in the background of the Sandy/Rachel/Kirsten/Jimmy scene. It’s an instrumental song off of the album Moon Safari, also definitely worth a listen.

function of the week:

does back to school day count as a function?

ratio of punches to bagels:

you’ll never believe it, we had our very first bagel in this episode. very odd first entry though since they are talked about but nobody eats one - so is this a 0:0 or a 0:1 ?

worst secondhand embarassment:

that whole sandy, rachel, and kirsten interaction. “kirsten, you’re lucky to be married to someone so hilarious” is what really got me

general thoughts:

not a ton of plot to recap today so its gonna be more of an opinion style.

starting with the main conflict, marissa’s mental health. her, jimmy, and julie go back and forth about what is best for her. oddly enough i find jimmy’s perspective to be the most rational in this scenario. i don’t think marissa would have improved by going to san diego but that girl definitelyyyy needed therapy. it was really interesting to see her conversation with the therapist because you could see marissa slowly realizing that maybe she did need help. its crazy how much i rooted for jimmy of all people in this episode and just despised julie. she eventually comes around to me as one of my favs but she is BRUTAL in this first season.

onto the teen couples of this episode, obviously ryan and marissa are front and center. he has to take a placement exam to get into harbor school but drops the whole thing when he realizes marissa is in trouble lmao. like what was the point of you giving that whole ass “give me a shot!” speech to dr. kim just to dip mid-test. in addition, he also goes toe-to-toe with julie cooper, one of the only characters in the show willing to do such a thing which is very exciting to the viewer because you see how much he cares about marissa.

now onto a minor side plot, seth and summer have some important bonding time this episode. while originally summer tries to avoid him now that school is back, they are brought back together by marissa’s emergency and share some very endearing moments. every viewer is so much more invested in sethmer than ryissa at this point honestly. summer just seems so much more genuine and relatable of a character by this episode that its easy to see why they decided to make her a main cast member in just a few episodes.

my least favourite plot of the episode, the whole sandy and kirsten thing. the amount of like emotional cheating, distrust, and dishonesty between these two is so tiring that i would quit being invested if it was anyone but sandy and kirsten. they are so perfect when they are good, but i would not put up with some of the shit they give each other. it’s not as horrible with rachel and jimmy as it gets with future characters but still mildly infuriating. kirsten still withholds the info about the jimmy kiss which is ok. i get not wanting to worry sandy over nothing, but i still feel like its not ideal. rachel very obviously is coming onto sandy which isn’t his fault, but he doesn’t do a ton to make kirsten feel more secure in their relationship.

this episode closes with marissa being able to stay in newport and live with jimmy, which will keep the peace briefly. ryan fights for a chance to attend harbor again and prevails!

random observations:

we get our very first appearance of captain oats today!!! one of my favorite tv props of all time

i love how they introduce summer’s smarts with the madame bovary thing. nobody can convince me that she’s ditzy

luke has a miniature role in this episode by allowing marissa to run away and i am SAT for the luke redemption arc.

honestly what was the purpose of kaitlin cooper before season 3. like we hardly hear about her or see her. Her sister OD’d and was almost institutionalized and kaitlin isn’t at the hospital, she isn’t even mentioned at all here

we had a long hiatus but i promise i am going to be doing this regularly for awhile here.

this episode was written by josh schwartz, directed by samford bookstaver

The box set description for this episode:

What happens in Mexico stays in Mexico. But the secrecy surrounding a summer’s-end teen trip to Tijuana can’t stop Marissa from feeling the way she feels when she sees Luke with Holly.

episode superlatives and statistics:

best lines:

her parents are getting divorced you stupid slut!

i love authentic mexican culture

don’t you mean manaña?

my hair is frizzing out, i look like howard stern.

best and worst outfits:

best:

oh summer you take the cake this time. it’s too iconic not to pick. her peasant blouse she wears in mexico is one of my favs too

worst: i didn’t hate anything this episode tbh. everything was either normal or good 🤷‍♀️

best song:

I can’t pick Into Dust since it played in an earlier episode so im gonna go with Movie Script Ending by Death Cab even though its one guitar and a whole lotta complaining!

function of the week:

we’re going to TJ!! I thought this was insane growing up as a midwesterner but ive met some people from the valley who say that teen trips to Baja and Tijuana actually happened a lot.

ratio of punches to bagels:

still no bagels guys. however ryan punches luke, yay!! 1:0.

worst secondhand embarassment:

everyone thank holly fischer for inspiring a new category. this was created just to highlight her baby voice when she says “i give it a week !” after luke told her he’s back with marissa

general thoughts:

it’s the annual end of summer trip to tijuana. seth suddenly wants to go now that he actually has a shot with summer in a post-kiss world. ryan’s a little hesitant bc of the whole marissa situation but is eventually convinced. summer and marissa always go and luke is excited for the romance (?) in tijuana, ok bud.

however jimmy has to move out this weekend because of the divorce. he acts weird as fuck, convincing marissa to stay behind. but jimmy doesn’t want her to watch him move out so he hides the divorce and says “i can’t take care of the both of us”. boy shes like 17. this is ryan’s conversation with dawn in episode 3 all over again i swear. so now marissa is actually going but with seth and ryan… uh oh

in other news, sandy gets pitched by a private firm. hes very tempted to take the job because for whatever reason a progressive sandy feels emasculated by kirsten’s fat paycheck. Here, he reconnects with an old lawyer friend, rachel. they have uncomfy sexual tension that only gets worse in latter eps yay! speaking of, kirsten is helping paint jimmy’s bachelor pad and he kisses her in a hard to watch scene. kirsten handles it well and removes herself from the situation. ultimately, sandy takes the job to kirsten’s disappointment, and kirsten doesn’t tell sandy about the kiss

back to TJ, summer and seth argue so much that they crash the car and have to stay in a motel. we get ryan/marissa angst part 99 over ding-dongs and cheese sticks: “do you ever wonder why i came to the pool house to see you” “every day!” jeez guys. seth and summer somehow get into a “theres only one bed” trope despite there being two beds. shoreeee. as ryan and marissa return from the vending machine debacle, jimmy calls because now is supposedly the time to drop the divorce bomb, leaving marissa rightfully distraught. but she still decides to go to tijuana thanks to summer’s advice.

once in tijuana, the core four stumble upon luke and holly. its gotta suck being cheated on by whatever the fuck is going on here. i’d rather they just fuck like…

marissa is very upset, steals summer’s stepmother’s painkillers and overdoses in a shady bar. they actually did a good job filming that: the music and dizzy camera shots make it genuinely uncomfortable to watch. wish they didn’t include the unnecessary mexican stereotyping with the men there though. ryan finds marissa in an alley and we get a repeat of the into dust carrying scene. this is basically ryan’s savior complex wrapped up in one neat package. someone give marissa a damn break.

random observations:

take a shot everytime someone says TJ and you’ll be as incoherent as marissa.

was not an OG watcher so its hard to believe people waited a week for the next episode after this ending

that range rover just got trashed at donny’s party and now the axle broke. she going through it

ryan and marissa conveniently waking up cuddling. righttttt

everyone sleeps in their regular clothes and summer in like near lingerie. diva!

this ep marks the exact moment i start believing in sethmer. they’re so cute

they did not even bother trying to make the tijuana set look real. it looks like you’re at disney world mexico epcot

ryan is all of us when sandy calls summer “hot stuff”

written by debra j. fisher and erica messer

The synopsis for this episode:

Kirsten’s father, Caleb Nichol, comes to town with his new 24-year-old girlfriend, Gabrielle. Sandy encourages Kirsten to leave her father's business after his constant criticism. Marissa isn't ready to pick between Luke and Ryan, and things get even messier when Caleb's girlfriend makes advances toward Ryan. Summer's growing feelings for Seth begin to show.

episode superlatives and statistics:

best lines:

two sandy quotes abt gabrielle: “well im sure she is very well paid” & “she seems so mature for her age”

summer debates if her dress is too slutty to wear to caleb’s party “i don’t want the dude to have a coronary”

are you still smoking the weed ?

best and worst outfits:

best: summer’s terry cloth coverup. its like juicy couture beachwear. also kirsten’s red party dress is so so beautiful

worst:

i dont think seth looks in a mirror before he dresses himself. the shirt is cute but why those pants with that jacket.

best song:

kind of a mid music episode. which is why i have to go with (more bounce in) california by soulkid #1. it was a skating montage i couldnt help myself

function of the week:

caleb nichol’s birthday party which is a weirdly popular event.

ratio of punches to bagels:

0:0. we’re still bagel-less and luke is nice now so theres no one to hit.

general thoughts:

we meet kirsten’s father caleb in this episode. hes sort of a dick but i find him hilarious. more importantly for this episode, his new girlfriend gabrielle is 24 and pretty damn hot. caleb is in town for his birthday but decides to demote kirsten while hes in town. that part of the episode is kinda mid because it just causes sandy to tell her to quit but she doesnt and theres a sweet moment with her and her dad at the end. its just a one episode arc though so i feel like theres no interest.

gabrielle decided to prey on ryan this episode (gotta love the 00s). who the fuck in the writing room made gabrielle explicitly say “you’re not legal” when ryan’s serving her at the crab shack JUST for them to almost fuck later. if we’re gonna pretend the age gap is okay, at least make it believable please.

ryan and marissa have the first of MANY back and forths in their almost dating stage. cherish it now because it gets old very fast. she is choosing between him and luke, chooses luke, second guesses, but then catches ryan and gabby macking in the pool house. there would be so much less conflict in the show if the pool house bed wasn’t right by the door. this causes marissa to now want to go fuck luke I guess and we get a sex scene that nobody wanted to see. im grateful only because the marissa virginity plot line was so sexist and weird and im ready for it to be over. ryan then tries to apologize but marissa's like "its too late 😔" she already sold her soul to luke

in the cooper household julie spends five minutes guilt tripping jimmy just to tell him she wants a divorce. I love her so much. jimmy tries to get a job from caleb and im honestly surprised caleb declined. like I dont know how rich people work but I feel like they make exceptions SO OFTEN. like yes he stole money but ive seen ceos hire much worse. however, win for julie cooper because she gets a promise of some opportunity from caleb which is a nice set up for whats to come.

now to my fav part of the episode ! seth wants to ask summer to be his date at his grandfather's birthday party and she beats him to it by basically inviting herself lmao. she really wants to bag a 25 year old finance bro apparently. seth is understandably annoyed by summer using him to meet random men and confronts her about it by reciting a poem she wrote in 3rd grade I think. hes so shameless about him liking her I think its really cute. after he recites the poem, they kiss. I will say im kinda disappointed this was their first kiss though because it feels really inauthentic on summer's part. I dont really think she liked him yet and the kiss was just spur of the moment/ for fun. like she has a stage of denial about him later but im not sure we're quite there yet. very very soon though dont worry.

random observations:

idk if gabrielle's actress was kinda playing herself or not but either way she has the perfect voice for the role

summer calls caleb the "donald trump of the west" which unfortunately still might check out to this day

are we symbolizing gabrielle's future behind bars lmao

been a hot second but we’re back !!

written by melissa rosenberg, directed by jesús salvador treviño.

The box set description for this episode:

Ryan hangs out with a youth not from the moneyed Newport set, causing Seth to feel blown off. Jimmy’s family faces hard choices because of his old business crimes.

episode superlatives and statistics:

best lines:

“don’t say pool house”

“so this happened in the parking lot of the IMAX movie theater?”

“no, what’s uncalled for is your 500 dollar a day coke habit in college.”

theres two jokes about ryan’s wife beaters in this episode but i prefer marissa’s “can i borrow your tank tops so i look as cool as you”

best and worst outfits:

best: i’ve always wanted to try and find seth’s “now start a band shirt”

worst: no horrible offenses in this episode so that means i get to hate on seth. he eats lobster in a bumblebee esque yellow, black, and white striped polo on top of a bright green shirt.

best song: no contest, its “the way we get by” by spoon. i am a sucker for a ryan/seth skating montage.

function of the week: for the kids, just a couple of house parties. for the newpsies, a spa trip.

ratio of punches to bagels: cap’n crunch STILL outrules bagels. 0 bagels. also 0 punches because in this episode, we opt to shoot people instead.

general thoughts:

ryan gets a job!! i like the crab shack, i think its still here in episode 10 but then it kinda disappears which is sad. through his job, he meets donnie (paul wesley) who is a fellow outsider (peep the episode title). marissa and summer are out tanning but they unfortunately cannot go shopping OR get exfoliated because marissa’s dad is broke now. its so weird that these teens have no money of their own. nevertheless, summer sets up a talk with marissa and luke that goes so so well (“its not holly’s fault your dad stole all their money”).

later on the boardwalk, ryan asks marissa out and it was kinda hot im not gonna lie. however, seth ruins their first attempt by tagging along with donnie and ryan to a long beach party where the range rover gets demo’d. in any other show the totaled car would be a whole plotline, but not the OC don’t you worry!

i really loved the adult’s conflict this time around. julie, kirsten, and the newpsies are all at the spa where julie convinces everyone to feel sorry for her but it rubs kirsten the wrong way. sandy becomes jimmy’s lawyer despite their previous differences. they have some bro time where they both reveal that their best years in life we’re when they met kirsten. now i also feel sorry for julie. the main issue is that jimmy can only avoid jail by selling the house, something that would cause julie to divorce him and take the kids. julie is already contemplating divorcing him which kirsten finds completely evil. i get her point but i feel like she needs to mind her own damn business. later, julie and kirsten have a really honest conversation in the limo about it. i think this is when i really started to root for julie in the show because why is there so much emotional cheating with these couples. kirsten is amazing, i get jimmy’s point but he is married to a different woman, he needs to let it go.

back to the kids, ryan and marissa have a new date !! they eat grilled cheese, marissa vents about her family concerns and ryan shoves her in the pool. i love when they have cute moments because their relationship is like 80% angst, 20% sweet but the sweet moments are so so worth it. unfortunately when they’re about to kiss, seth calls ryan and makes him come to holly’s beach party because uh oh he brought donnie but donnie has a gun on him. meanwhile, luke and holly are fucking upstairs where he says “do you know how long ive wanted to do this?” 🫣 brother no. thankfully, we are spared from a holly/luke sex scene because donnie breaks a blender causing them to come downstairs and for donnie to pull a gun on luke. he asks seth how much he hates him and seth says “yeah he’s definitely flawed” which yk at least he is honest. ryan is to the rescue though and tackles donnie causing luke to just get shot in the arm instead. seth and ryan opt to stick together because “divided, people get shot”

random observations:

dustin the golden retriever is back!! i missed him.

jimmy says that he lives with 3 vegetarians. i feel like this HAS to be a plot hole so someone tell me if julie and/or marissa ever eat meat canonically.

another unbelievable jimmy reveal: he still has his prom photo with kirsten on the wall?? maybe julie should’ve divorced him a long time ago…

the exact photo is impossible to find but marissa does like a radio rebel in the mirror before her date with ryan

also yall HAVE to rewatch the part when donnie shows seth the gun. seth’s face is straight out of a PSA video for peer pressure they made you watch in 6th grade. i got deja vu.

written by allan heinberg & josh schwartz, directed by daniel attias

The box set description for this episode:

Ryan promised to stay out of trouble. But trouble finds him as he, Seth, Marissa and others take part in one of the biggest events on the Newport Social Calendar: the Debutantes Ball

episode superlatives and statistics:

best lines: completely unintentional but 3/4 of these are by seth

dude you're a cohen now

you're a really good barbecutionist

a quickie huh?

no no we're gonna go this way

best and worst outfits:

summer's cotillion dress is GORG in a very 2000s kind of way. makes me a little sad that she didn't actually end up coming out but it was her own fault so

for worst outfit im gonna kick jimmy cooper while he's already down. this is such a minor offense but he wears a yellow shirt this episode thats like the color of a deviled egg yolk and it only works to make him look sleazier. maybe that was the writer's intention...

best song: it is so obviously To Sheila by The Smashing Pumpkins. I am a huge smashing pumpkins fan so I had to pick it for that but also because if you listen to the background guitar of this song it kinda sounds like something christopher tyng would have composed for the show.

function of the week: cotillion obviously. the most important function of the year according to julie cooper. ngl I fw a good teen drama cotillion episode even though I would physically recoil if I was asked to come out in real life

ratio of punches to bagels: where are the bagels hiding from us. 0 bagels. 3 whole punches. luke sucker punches ryan in the stomach at holly's party and then holly's dad hits both jimmy and sandy before ryan tackles him.

general thoughts:

ryan is officially a cohen !! but unfortunately that means he cannot punch anyone. believe it or not my bagels to punches ratio was not negatively affected by this rule. even more unfortunate for ryan is that he has to participate in cotillion. so ryan and seth go to get their tuxes and enlighten marissa, luke, and summer with the fact that ryan is now staying in newport. I admire the fact that marissa doesn't even try to hide her feelings for ryan in front of her loser boyfriend, like she is THRILLED that ryan is staying. summer is also randomly into ryan for this episode and I feel like this does not carry at all into later episodes. however luke is much less happy about the ryan situation which causes ryan himself to reconsider cotillion because he doesn't want to get in a fight with luke. however this lasts for like a day because when he goes to tell marissa that he won't be there he has to fasten her dress for her and apparently this is so intimate that he just HAS to go to cotillion now.

I feel like the adult vs kid plot is this episode has such a disparity in terms of seriousness lmao. we're worrying about ryan zipping up marissa's dress and then all of a sudden its like "jimmy copper is siphoning money out of his client's accounts" Kirsten and sandy are now also under investigation since they loaned him 100K. Kirsten stands by him but sandy's moral compass is too strong and he refuses. jimmy is in especially hot water since one of his client's (holly's dad) needs to pull out money to buy a second house or something and jimmy does not have that money anymore

back to the kids, ryan and seth have to take dance lessons for cotillion and ryan hits us with the "I really... don't dance" because hes just such an outsider. this also gets us the introduction of his date and a fellow not-dancer ANNA STERNNN. I love her so much, especially as the season goes on. I really like anna and ryan's dynamic and I wish we saw more of it. but anyway the two of them are such bad dancers that marissa just HAS to instruct ryan one on one and of course there is yet another dramatic moment when the show takes 5 whole seconds to show ryan slowly moving his hand down marissa's back just in case we as watchers were unaware that they liked each other yet. Seth and summer are also each other's cotillion date now, much to summer's distaste. after the dance lesson we move to holly's cookout party where seth tries to talk to summer and she is absolutely repulsed. I will never forgive the show for trying to convince us that adam brody is not a conventionally attractive man. I dont care how many goofy outfits you put him in, he is still hot! in other news, luke hits ryan in the stomach because marissa shamelessly talks to him at the party and ryan defends her choice,

these continue to get longer each episode, I sincerely apologize but its cotillion time now!! marissa, ryan, and sandy are all skipping cotillion so there is a big date switcharoo here that im going to try my best to concisely explain. luke is marissa's date so he is now snatched up by summer, leaving seth alone. but since anna is also left alone, her and seth are now dates (and they're adorable omg). but now ryan and marissa pull back up to cotillion which makes luke very mad and he says something along the lines of "you and me? we're done!" to marissa and leaves. which is eerily similar to what he said to ryan last episode. josh Schwartz needs to release the ryuke cut, im curious. now since luke is gone, summer doesn't have a date so she crawls back to seth but he sticks up for himself and stays with anna, leaving ryan and marissa as each other's date (howww convenient). at this time, holly's dad figures out that jimmy lowkey stole his money and punches him mid cotillion dance, sandy tries to defend jimmy even though he was against him in the first place but ultimately ryan tackles greg to end the fight. marissa is obviously distraught from learning her dad is a thief and chooses herself (aww) instead of walking home with Ryan and Luke in the end

random observations:

which is worse: ryan's leather choker or luke's puka shell necklace

speaking of leather choker, ryan also wears a fat leather cuff in this episode to remind us that he is the outsider of course

I appreciate how sandy was completely devoted to bringing ryan to cotillion when he realized he was going with Marissa (salt his game my ass)

whoever the extra was that played anna's dad looked bored as fuck during the coming out scene lmao

can't get a good photo but luke really gave marissa that abandoned dog look when he apologizes to her at the end of the night

I felt like I was watching an audrey hepburn movie during this scene with anna and seth. not the dialogue obviously but something with the lighting felt very old Hollywood

Written by Jane Espenson, directed by Ian Toynton

The box set description for this episode:

Luck is in the house during a Vegas Night fundraiser: Seth becomes Summer's lucky charm and Marissa reconnects with Luke. In the aftermath of events involving Ryan's mom, Kirsten takes a chance and opens her home to the boy.

episode superlatives and statistics:

best lines:

a star wars convention? im sorry, her top was off, you couldn't have at least said x-men for me??

sandy's "gotta find the next kid to jeopardize the community" killed me

he said i was from riverside !

"blow on these" "what"

best and worst outfits:

apologies for the blurry photo but I loved Julie's asymmetrical casino night dress. it fit the vibe so well

for worst outfits there was really nothing too bad. the men mostly wore suits this episode so I can't be mean to seth this time around. marissa wears ungodly amounts of body glitter to casino night but her dress is cute !

best song: Rain City by Turin Brakes which plays when Dawn leaves the Cohens house. it always makes me so emotional

function of the week: casino night? vegas night? monte carlo night? no one really knows.

ratio of punches to bagels: ryan punches the guy at juvie that catcalls kirsten. no bagels. what is up with the lack of bagels in these early episodes.

general thoughts:

a LOT happens in this episode. we open with ryan having to stay 30-60 nights in juvie because he cannot be released to a guardian. seth convinces kirsten to visit, shit goes down, and they end up taking ryan home but so far it's only temporary until they find his mom. the three of them help set up for casino night where ryan and luke have such an emotionally charged conversation you would think they're the ones dating. luke word-for-word says " you and me? we're done !" like why are they breaking up.

meanwhile, sandy tracks down ryan's mom and brings her back, she immediately wants to be a mother to ryan again but he is rightfully skeptical since she did abandon him in the first place. she tells him that she's changed and is sober now and he begins to be more open to hearing her out. seth convinces kirsten to let the atwoods stay for a little bit so that way they can keep an eye on dawn. in the cooper household, julie comes home very angry at the cohens after sandy stuck his fingers in her blueberry muffin (not a euphemism I promise) but jimmy tells her she has to be nice to the cohens since they loaned them $100,000. thus, casino night shenanigans ensue.

I know this is already getting long but so much happens at vegas night. ryan and his mom have some moments of sweetness at the beginning but ultimately the gambling nerves get to her and she starts drinking a tad too much. summer takes seth hostage (jk he's right where he wants to be) as her good luck charm. tbh I can't get on the sethmer train until like episode 10 but I must admit it's cute how happy seth gets being called sid, stanley, etc. bc hey at least she got the first letter right. moreover, in the relationship department, luke and marissa reconcile, as shown when they touch both their hands on the same slot machine handle (soooo romantic). in less happy news, julie tells an unknowing sandy about the 100K which causes a mini argument between sandy and kirsten but the major impact is that it stops kirsten from babysitting dawn who is unfortunately farrrr too drunk. she stumbles and causes quite the scene

the next morning, dawn tries to pull the atwood favorite by leaving without saying anything but kirsten catches her and tries to convince her to stay. dawn argues that she's too fucked up to raise ryan and I see the reasoning behind her decision but ryan is like 17 at this point. what raising does he really need? his formative years are long gone. despite that, she leaves, ryan waves goodbye, and the cohens choose to adopt ryan. although it is heartbreaking to see his mom walk away like that, his smile when he says "I'll unpack later" makes up for it.

random observations:

the cohen's maid rosa is still present in this episode but im thinking she disappears after this

could you imagine being dawn and telling someone you're a recovering alcoholic and they're like "oh, come to vegas night!!"

it always makes me cackle when Luke and Ryan arrive at the casino night set up and Julie goes "now that our big, strong, strapping men are here, time for some heavy lifting" and the show immediately cuts to Seth blowing up balloons.

dawn orders a seven and seven at the bar this ep which is what Ryan ordered back in episode one.

someone get dawn a new pair on sunglasses. what in gods name is going on here

that image is HUGE my bad.

Written by Allan Heinberg & Josh Schwartz, directed by Doug Liman

The box set description for this episode:

When Ryan is faced with being shuffled into the child-services system, Seth comes up with a plan: Ryan can secretly live in an unfinished home owned by Seth’s mom. It’s a foolproof plan - for a while.

episode superlatives and statistics:

best lines: i have a lot this ep so bear with me.

in response to kirsten saying she builds model homes ryan says “can you build me one?”

china has alopecia!!

“i just said you’d look nice in a sweater vest, that’s all”

oxycontin is gnarlyyy

sandy says that he knew he would never take an easy breath after seth was born and seth replies “so i’m like asthma”

best and worst outfits:

guys am i crazy or is the best outfit marissa again. the floral strapless dress she wears at the model home is actually really nice

for the worst outfit im thinking when seth is at the diner and wears a brown striped polo over a very bright blue longsleeve. i must admit im a fan of the short sleeve over long sleeve combo but his color combo here is questionable

best song: Hallelujah by jeff buckley is the obvious best song this episode. does anyone have mandela effect with this though and remember it playing when the house was burning down not just during the marissa and ryan moment.

also i have to mention Caught by the River by Doves which is another amazing song choice

function of the week: summer’s birthday party is a minor background event.

ratio of punches to bagels: Ryan punches luke at the diner and then there are several punches in the model home. no bagels. they eat pancakes at the diner. disgrace

general thoughts

you forget how incredible the first season of the show is when you’re deep in the trenches of the later seasons. the model home is an exceptional episode. every minute is either important to the plot or funny and really what else can one want?

this episode continues the ryan conflict well with him running away to avoid being placed in child services. seth and him conspire to keep him in newport and marissa susses this out and joins along. the seth, marissa, and ryan trio is so so fun and marissa’s character is especially fleshed out in this episode. her and seth banter quite a bit and i dont ship but their chemistry is really good even platonically. marissa also comes to stay the night with ryan before he leaves at the model home. he hits her with the quintessential “we’re from different worlds !” which is a lame excuse but i understand his point in leaving the next day. luke is also introduced more this episode and we see more sides to him than just dick surfer boy. he gets clocked by ryan in the diner and then comes back to beat his ass after watching marissa run out of the model home. which how did he know that ryan was in the model home am i crazy? i dont remember him learning about this but he just pulls up. anyway him and his buddies beat up ryan and leave him to burn in the model home but luke ultimately shows some humanity and pulls him out. at the end of the episode he also admits to being a part of the fire. cherish the luke ryan niceness because it goes away very soon.

the parent conflict this episode is the reveal is that jimmy’s job has gone severely downhill and he has lost a lot of his clients money. julie refuses to listen to his mistake and he has to ask kirsten for 100k but marissa overhears this conversation. later when jimmy comforts a crying marissa he says “we tell each other everything” and she hits him with a “do we?” ouch.

random observations

ryan wears his leather choker IN THE POOL.

at the model home ryan tells marissa that his “mom is a trainwreck and his dads in jail” which i found extremely foreboding for marissa’s future

in n out burger is shown in this episode

those ryan pull ups feed a generation of editors

the model home cd is cute.

ok why was ryan lighting that many candles in the model home. no wonder there was a fire, did he really need that much light ?

seth has a surfboard in his room in this episode which feels mildly out of character. i know he sails and sandy surfs a lot but i just cant imagine him using it.

Written by the show runner Josh Schwartz, directed by Doug Liman

The box set description for this episode is so poetic lmao:

Just a freeway's drive away, and yet worlds apart. Rejected by his parents after a brush with the law, Ryan Atwood moves temporarily into the pool house of his attorney's posh Newport Beach home... and finds both friends and foe among the privileged O.C. youth.

episode superlatives and statistics:

best lines: "Are you gonna wear the Donna Karan Maris? I thought it was very forgiving" - julie is pretty annoying in this episode but this funny.

best and worst outfits:

best outfit goes to Marissa's black and pink dress she wears before the fashion show. I actually liked the majority of her pilot outfits which will not remain the case through the rest of the series lmao.

there was nothing too atrocious in the fashion realm this episode. Seth wears some ugly shorts to go sailing in but I can't blame someone for their outdoorsy clothes. Summer's Pucci (I think) dress at the fashion show is an aughts monstrosity but also pretty iconic

best song: would it count if I said California by Phantom Planet for this ep? it's used in the show not as the theme yet. My second choice is Into Dust by Mazzy Star which plays as Ryan carries Marissa to the pool house

function of the week: the fashion show !!

ratio of punches to bagels: Ryan punches AJ, the phone booth, luke, and maybe one other guy at the beach fight. there are no bagels consumed.

general thoughts

I never like pilot episodes, but I do really like this one. The issue I have with pilots in general is that they have to make most characters a caricature at first so the audience understands their general vibe. makes sense but it can be a little difficult to really get involved when the people feel fake. I thought the O.C. did a good job at introducing the characters' personality but also giving them complexity. Like, Seth is awkward but also endearing, Ryan is a bad boy but also smart, Kirsten is protective yet caring, summer is a bitch and deeply iconic. the only characters lacking so far are minor ones like luke that the audience isn't required to care about yet.

the episode obviously introduces Ryan's family conflict and absent parents. his tough guy demeanor is sooo over the top at the beginning (esp in his convo with Marissa at the driveway) but he is very likable the entire episode and you just want to root for him. In addition, we get the whole Seth/Summer dynamic brought in, Jimmy's big dilemma, and Ryan and Marissa's early flirtiness. In general, I think it does a good job of giving you a lot to ponder over and await in the next episode without shoving too much down your throat.

random observations

they should've kept trey's eyebrow piercing when they switched actors

what happened to the cohen's maid and also jimmy's golden retriever dustin ?

I just thought everyone should know that Ryan wears his thin leather choker underneath his suit

If I was in the OC, I would be the diva cater waiter that offers the cohens the mushroom leek crescent & crab and brie phyllo (someone tell me wtf that food is supposed to be)

you're telling me EVERYONE had time to change before the party except Ryan and Seth

"isn't it like so beautiful? the sand and the water" go girl give us nothing

welcome to the oc rewatch blog: a project i decided to start since i can finally feel my seasonal depression melting away and also bc i found the dvd box sets of the first two seasons at goodwill. starting shortly i’ll be releasing episode by episode recaps and commentary on the o.c, the format will go kind of like this:

credits & box set summary

superlatives (best song, outfit etc)

general commentary and thoughts

random observations