Welcome to the Fourth Season, Bitch!
"The O.C." / The TV Whore
November 11, 2006
Previously, on “The O.C.,” things sucked. However, Season 3 did leave on the highest of high notes, with the unintentionally hilarious death of Marissa Cooper (and again I’ll link to this fantastic clip by the folks over at TVgasm). Mischa Barton was absolute dead weight on the show — skinny, untalented dead weight — and her loss is clearly a step in the right direction for the upcoming Season 4.
Now, I’ve only seen the first episode (which you, too, can catch online right here, or tomorrow night at 8 on Fox), so I don’t have any big season spoilers for you. And I’ll try to avoid telling you too much about even tomorrow night’s premiere, which picks up five months after the aforementioned death. But I do have to share these four wonderful little words with you:
Ryan Atwood, Cage Fighter!
Much of at least the early part of this season is clearly going to be focused on how some of the Orange County gang deals with the passing of dear Ms. Cooper. And Ryan, for his part, is dealing with it by tending bar at the Thunderdome. Momma Cooper, meanwhile, is back to her friends the pills, and also doing all sorts of house and yard work (and if that’s a side effect of the pills she’s popping, someone please tell me how I can get a prescription for my girlfriend). Summer is off at Brown and apparently dealing with things by diving head-first into the pro-environment circuit. And Marissa’s sister, Kaitlin, appears to be dealing with things by taking advantage of an opportunity to blackmail step-daddy Dr. Roberts.
Now, towards the end of the show, there’s an intervention for Ryan, trying to pull him out of his Mad-Maxian ways. I won’t tell you the precise setup of the intervention, but suffice it to say that it’s really fucking cheesy, and it’s utterly inexplicable that it appears to have more-or-less actually worked. That’s the first warning sign that this season won’t be any better than the last. On the plus side, however, while Ryan appears to be leaving the Thunderdome behind, his new storyline has the potential to keep him in a rather dark and dirty place, at least for a little while. And that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing because his character simply works better when he’s dark and moody and punching people. But more importantly, it’s a good thing because Benjamin McKenzie was by-and-far the standout in this episode, and I can only hope for more of the same in the future. In particular, he has a great little scene where he emotes with nothing more than an eye-twitch, and his last line in the episode (and the accompanying delivery), while not death-scene hilarious, is pretty damn funny. So as far as I’m concerned, Ryan is walking a fine line between dark and brooding character, and unintentional comedic genius, and I’m all for keeping him toeing that line. They need to milk McKenzie’s “acting” ability for all its worth.
Meanwhile, Seth appears to have been moved back on the nerd scale, at least temporarily, as he is currently working in a comic book shop and trying to deal with the fact that Summer is moving on in college without him (you’ll recall that he’s not scheduled to join her out in Rhode Island until January). Like the Ryan development, this is a positive change. But this time, I’m not at all being facetious when I say that it’s this type of Seth that lets Adam Brody shine the most. Brody’s got a lot of comedic potential (of the intentional variety), and he was one of the things that made the first season so damn enjoyable. But as the show and seasons progressed, Seth started to move away from the nerdy, trying to be all trendy and hip and overly ironic (and Adam Brody was no doubt becoming somewhat self-enamored). And somewhere along the line, the character simply stopped being any fun. So if they are planning to get back to what really works with his character with the lack of self-confidence, self-deprecation, etc., that would be another step in the right direction for this season.
Of course, not everything in this episode skews towards the positive. For one, there’s this new guy who’s befriended Summer up there at Brown. He’s one of these cliched “thoughtful” hipster types who is trying to save the world (his name is Che, which should tell you all you need). You know these guys — they’re annoying as hell. Well, he’s just as annoying. To be fair, there are certainly plenty of guys like this at college. So maybe I’m just showing my age here, but I’ve already done my time with annoying fucks of his ilk, and don’t really feel the need to do so again. Particularly where the actor doesn’t appear to be adding anything to the mix to make the character appear interesting in the least bit (I know this guy was on “Everwood” and I’m sure someone will claim he’s a fabulous actor, but I’m just going off what I saw here). But, this dude’s apparently signed on for nine episodes, so he’s here to stay. One assumes that he’ll at least be used to further schism the already rocky Summer/Seth relationship and, I suppose if that’s handled properly, it could be another good development for the season.
Another bad sign is the full-time addition of Willa Holland as the mini-Cooper. Again, I applaud the show trying to get back to its roots, and a spoiled and bratty rich-bitch is certainly part of that equation. I just find Holland and her mush-mouth annoying as hell. But again, I guess if they use her well and go the right direction, things could be good. And at least they’ve countered this annoying cast addition by making Autumn Reeser’s Taylor a full-time character. She’s been the highlight of the show for me recently; not just ‘cause she’s cute as hell, which she is, but because her character was the only source of amusement for much of last season. Again, if they continue to use her in the right way, no complaints here.
Ultimately, these past few paragraphs really highlight the problem here, which is that it boils down to a lot of ifs. And based on the direction of the show the last few seasons, it’s hard to put too much faith into the hope that they’ll get these ifs right. Fox apparently had some doubts too, as it backed away from the usual mid-twenties episode order — this season, there will be just 16 episodes. Now, it is worth noting that I’ve seen two different places where reviewers screened the first four episodes and both were very positive. “EW” even claims that it’s close to season-one-form by the end of those four episodes (but I long ago learned to take every “EW” review with several enormous grains of salt). So, ultimately, it’s all a big If. My take on it is this: If you’ve actually stuck with the show this far, it’s probably worth sticking around a little more, since there is potential that this season could be at least kinda’ back on track. But if you’ve already bailed on the show, I don’t know that there’s enough to justify a reinvestment.
And one final complaint. During the episode we got to see Marissa’s tombstone, which reads “Beloved daughter, sister, friend.” Yet another misstep on their part — how could they leave out “bitch, slut, druggie, drunk, bore and whore?” Ah, Marissa Cooper, you are dearly missed.
Seth Freilich is Pajiba’s television columnist. Inspired by Ryan Atwood, he’s currently in training to make his own cage fighting debut this winter - stay tuned!
Pajiba Love 10/31/06 | | Pajiba Love 11/01/06
Comments
The semi-positive reviews for this season of the show are really pleasing to me. I was a hardcore fan of The O.C. in its first season and continually insisted to people, "No, really! It really IS good! You HAVE to watch it! It's surprisingly smart!" Which was, of course, when we entered the season and The O.C. turned into The M.C., when it ceased to be about Ryan's relationship with the Cohens and became all about Marissa effing Cooper. A character who bothered me much less on paper, which is testament to how much ass Mischa Barton really did suck.
I checked out after the laughably awful third season premiere and didn't check in again until Theresa returned for two episodes in April. But when I found out they were killing Marissa, well, that felt like a love letter from Josh Schwartz to me.
And because they killed her, I feel like I owe it to them to at least watch the first four episodes. The show works the best when it's about Ryan and Seth's relationship, not Seth and Summer being a nauseating fictional reenactment of Brody abnd Bilson, or about Ryan and Marissa fighting and kissing and fighting and kissing. I'll be really pleased if they return to that dynamic.
Posted by: molly at November 1, 2006 4:09 PM
Never having seen Dallas or Dynasty or Falcon Crest (I grew up in a "books over tv" home), or BH 90210, Melrose Place and Dawson's Creek (I was in my 20s and way too "cool" even to check them out), The OC is my first-ever so-called night-time soap and I'm not too proud or over-educated to admit it.
I've only seen Seasons 1 and 2--the latter a bit of a let-down--and I'm ambivalent about getting back into it when Season 3 hits DVD...Season 1 seemed like something kind of crazy-wild-bursting so-bad-it's-good (like Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, in my mind), maybe even with something to say, but that kind of thing is hard to maintain on network television. Writing off weakest-link Mischa Barton sure seems like a great move to me, though. And Seth has my heart if only for "Christmaska" alone. And who knew anything could ever recoup Peter Gallagher, who I had a massive crush on in my teens (Summer Lovers, anyone?) but who I'm the first to admit isn't much of an actor. I want parents like Sandy and pre-alky Kirsten.
OK, will keep watching--I need to make up for all the missing-out of my youth, even if it makes my teeth hurt.
Posted by: ranylt at November 1, 2006 4:30 PM
you lost respect from me there seth, sorry, but u cannot pick on my man chris pratt! you didn't watch everwood, i forgive you, but DO NOT TRASH BRIGHT!!!!! :))
Posted by: irina at November 2, 2006 1:01 AM
They killed off Marissa, and I'm a woman of my word, so I am obligated to give it a try. I couldn't stand chick from day one; how do you have eyes that large and lovely, still only successfully convey three mental states; confused, in denial, and wasted?
I am pleased that all my jedi-mind-tricks are starting to work. Maybe if I practice, I'll get down to it taking only two seasons for something to happen. Stay tuned, folks - Un-Arrested Development!
Posted by: thatbeeschick at November 2, 2006 12:57 PM
(Damn, I suppose that ought to read "Christmakka".)
Posted by: ranylt at November 2, 2006 1:24 PM
Am I the only one who found Marissa TOLERABLE and dare I say it, HUMAN (for the OC, anyway)? She certainly wasnt a static character, and when she developed, sometimes she fell back into her old ways, but seriously....in the season finale, it seemed like Marissa was going to get her life back together. And she died. Whether you liked her or not, you cannot deny that she was part of the show that made it worth watching [the Boobs,the Brawn,The Brain,and the Beauty...come on people]. Without her, I STILL don't see much hope for the OC, as an avid-watcher since the beginning. Plus Marissa's sister is such a little bitch. Who wants to watch her? Really. It seems like this season cannot be saved, but since I am dedicated, I will watch it anyways. Thanks for the review.
Posted by: Kim at November 2, 2006 3:00 PM
Am I the only one who didn't find the addition of mini-Coop to the cast that awful? She's bitchy, underhanded, and a lot like her mother which is actually quite refreshing. I loved Julie when she was evil, and last season they tried too hard to make her human. Maybe her devil's spawn can take that mantle back up since Julie's too busy with her happy pills to remember that there was once a time when she would have taken Volcheck into her own hands rather then giving the job to Ryan (who the old Julie would have also been blaming for her daughter's death). Not to mention what the old Julie would have done to Dr. Roberts after finding out he's been cheating.
So far I like where this season is going: no more of that happy Ryan crap, Seth is a nerd again, Kirsten and Sandy are a happy couple once more, and this time instead of Marissa we get Taylor who has possibly become one of the more entertaining parts of this show. She's the Anya to my Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love it.
Posted by: McGeek at November 2, 2006 3:18 PM
The mini Cooper's voice reminds me of the Clark Peters character on "King of the Hill". She's a terrible actress, worse than Mischa, and if they are going to use her as a main character I can't see the show making it to a fifth season.
Posted by: Jess at November 2, 2006 4:30 PM
I'd love to see your thoughts on all the other shows you previewed earlier in the fall (Heroes, Lost, etc). I hope you consider posting a midpoint review at some point!
Posted by: Daeyeth at November 2, 2006 7:41 PM
Seth, I couldn't agree with you more on everything, particularly on all things Seth Cohen. Season 2 sucked, particularly because he wasn't the Seth I adored from Season 1. Here's hoping he gets back to his nerd roots. And maybe we should say the same of one JD Dorian, aka ZACH BRAFF.
Posted by: bonnie at November 3, 2006 12:16 PM
i thought the episode was pretty darn good and showed a lot of potential. i like when ryan is mad, but does he REALLY have to be cage-fighting? it seems a little extreme to me. but i loved the moment when he pushed seth. it just seemed real for once.
as a fan, i feel that one of the main problem that the show faced was that it focused on style over sustance for two seasons straight. finally, with season four we can see some actual relationships, problems we care about, and characters we can relate to.
in addition, i am so glad that they ended the episode w/o a mantra of either lovey-dovey or melancholy scenes. we are left wondering what the fuck is going to happen next week.
i really hope i'm not dissapointed with season 4
Posted by: grant at November 3, 2006 5:30 PM
I love Mischa Barton! i can't believe she is not anymore in the show!!!! i thought that all thing about marissa being death was a marketing strategy but i was wrong!!.. :(
i don't know if i'm gonna continue watching the oc!..
thedarkside1986@hotmail.com
Iñaki
Posted by: Iñaki at November 3, 2006 10:41 PM
i loved the episode, and all the positive reviewing of the first four episodes makes me very optimistic. i've stuck with the show since day one and i'm not going anywhere, so the thought that i mighta actually get some good tv out of it again makes me ever so happy. i really effing can't wait to see more.
Posted by: betsy at November 4, 2006 12:44 AM
"I've already done my time with annoying fucks of his ilk, and don't really feel the need to do so again."
WORD.
Posted by: cole at November 6, 2006 2:58 AM
I could have used the lack of environmentalist Summer and that asshat on the digiridoo (or however it's spelled). Also, the whole 'intervention'? LAME. Dr. Roberts working out? DISTURBING. Ryan looked hot though.
Posted by: em at November 6, 2006 10:06 AM
The OC is at its best when Ryan is a dark, skeptical, brooding character. When they took away his wifebeaters, he became much less interesting.
Also, season 1 was fantastic, but really only for the first 12 or so episodes. As soon as they got away from the main story (saving Ryan, Seth's a nerd), the show lost its voice. The turning point came when they introduced Oliver. God were those episodes awful. Anyway, here's my recipe for returning The OC to its former glory:
1) Bring back Luke as the asshole, not the castrated nice guy he became. He was never meant to be just a short story arc - he was actually in the opening credits for the first few episodes (whereas Rachel Bilson was not).
2) Turn Julie back into a two-timing, money-grubbing bitch.
3) Bring back Jimmy Cooper and Haley Nickell. He was a decent character, and she was hot.
4) Atwood needs to punch at least one person per episode.
5) Reduce bit characters' story arcs to a maximum of 4 episodes. Almost every character they introduce sucks, so why stretch it out over 9 eps?
Posted by: DougDascenzo at November 6, 2006 11:48 AM
Good, I am SOO glad I am not the only one who though Mini-cooper's speech was a bit off. For a few episodes I wondered why I always had such a headache once the show was over. Then I realized, that I was listening extra hard and furrowing my brow every time she spoke. She doesn't get paid to make my head hurt, she gets paid to entertain me. So someone get her a voice coach or kill her off too.
Posted by: dyani at November 9, 2006 4:57 PM
Ben McKenzie is a rare talent. He is way too good for a show that gets only 3.5 million viewers.
Posted by: Diki at November 13, 2006 1:02 PM
People! People! Listen. If you were a male the only two reasons any of you even got into the PC initially was because of Rachel Billson or Marissa Fucking Cooper. Hell, acting or no acting (more no then yes) she is damn gorgeous. Who made us feel that 17 should be a legal age in all 50 states (and Puerto Rico?)Who brought lezbo action with an equally hot girl? Who made us hate guys named Oliver, Johnny, and Volchek? Who made Ryan fight in the first place? Well the answer to all is Mischa. Now we are stuck with Cool Guy Cohen, the Chino Kid, and Granola Girl Summer? Plus we have Poor man's Mischa, Marissa's Sister. Who can seem to not talk coherently and raise an eyebrow at the same time? When they killed Mischa they killed the show. Fi'ne!
p.s. God that death scene was pathetic.
Posted by: matt at December 1, 2006 6:24 PM
plssss willa give youre email address plss i wont tell anyone im such a huge huge fan of you.and i wish i could meet you one day i hope.
Posted by: to willa at December 12, 2006 3:06 AM